Talk:Robert Arthur Johnstone

too long

The article is way too long and goes into far too much detail about every incident he was involved in , we do not have this much detail on far more important historical figures. At best we need one or two major incidents, and the rest covered by a line each on prose, not a catalog.Slatersteven (talk) 16:25, 2 September 2018 (UTC)

Johnstone was very important historical figure

The article is not overly long considering that Johnstone is a very important figure in Australian history. I agree that the Wiki pages of other important figures are inadequately short.(Dippiljemmy (talk) 00:39, 3 September 2018 (UTC))

OR

Much of this reads like wp:or if (for example) a sources does not say "indiscriminate" neither can we. I am going to give it tell next weekend before I start to remove any unsoruced statements to ensure this article conforms to wp:NpovSlatersteven (talk) 16:33, 2 September 2018 (UTC)

editors already removed sourced material

Editors should read the wp:Npov guidelines which state that "As a general rule, do not remove sourced information from the encyclopedia solely on the grounds that it seems biased. Instead, try to rewrite the passage or section to achieve a more neutral tone. Biased information can usually be balanced with material cited to other sources to produce a more neutral perspective, so such problems should be fixed when possible through the normal editing process". If editors attempt to rewrite sections please use references and spellcheck as appropriate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dippiljemmy (talk • contribs) 00:50, 3 September 2018 (UTC)

No they removed unrelated material. If material is not about him it has no place here is such depth.Slatersteven (talk) 08:35, 3 September 2018 (UTC)

Green Island killings (April and July 1873) - sources?

Hi Dippiljemmy,

Excellent work on this Johnstone page. Just a query re: the "Green Island Killings" section. Your account has Johnstone & party (1) finding the Goodwill abandoned and burnt in Trinity Bay; (2) giving the locals a "proper warm reception" upon his arrival; (3) proceeding inland for 3 miles and "dispersing" another group of Yidinji; (4) sailing to the mouth of the Musgrave and dispursing "a large mob of blacks"; and then (5) sailing to Gladys Inlet / Johnstone River and killing more local people, including one man decorated with pipeclay.

The single reference you give for this paragraph is Johnstone's own "Spinifex and Wattle", originally serialised in The Queenslander during the early 1900s and later published in book form.

The only account of this expedition I can find in "Spinifex & Wattle" is the entry that first appeared in The Queenslander on 19/3/1904 (later pp 62-64 of the book version). However, this entry doesn't include any of the detail you've included on the Wiki page. In his own account, Johnstone gives a brief summary of what happened to the crew of the Goodwill, based on the account given by its sole survivor, and then records his own actions: (1) he telegraphed the police commissioner, who instructed him to investigate; (2) he camps at the mouth of the Mulgrave; (3) he pushes south, pausing for a day to "have a look around" in the hills, and observes "an immense valley of rich jungle lands"; (4) he sails around Point Cooper to the place where the large raft from the Maria had landed; (5) he reaches Gladys Inlet and secures the boat; (6) he examines the place about a mile to the south where the small raft from the Maria had landed, and where someone had apparently exhumed the skeleton of Williams; (7) he saw "a large mob of blacks" but returned to the boat without acting; (8) a group of Aboriginal people approaches him, led by a "huge fellow fantastically whitewashed"; (9) he assumed there would be trouble, so resolved to end it before it began, and (by implication) killed the painted leader; (10) he moved off and observed the "most glorious view" that is now repeated in all of Innisfail's tourism literature.

So, in Johnstone's account, I can only see evidence for your assertion that Johnstone eventually sailed to Gladys Inlet and killed at least one man decorated with white paint/pipeclay. Are you relying on another source for the remainder of your account? If so, are you able to point to it?

(I haven't yet looked into your accounts of most of Johnstone's other punitive expeditions after he was reappointed in 1871, but your account of what followed the shipwreck of the Maria seems consistent with the available sources--so I'm expecting that you are relying on a source I'm unaware of, e.g. a contemporary report?) Many thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.197.63.188 (talk) 02:33, 7 June 2020 (UTC)