User:Willthorpe

{{Veteran Editor|align=right}}

My editorship of Wikipedia reflects a desire to contribute to the wealth of publicly, freely accessible information and hence contribute to a better informed, and therefore better, society. As a journalist, I write for a local newspaper called City Hub, have been published in the Star Observer and my university's student newspaper Honi Soit, and have self-published articles on Substack. I have had letters published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and have been quoted in The Australian and The Daily Telegraph.

I am a history nut, a railway enthusiast and a politics major. My interest in railways and their preservation, reopening or expansion drove me to become a financial member of the Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway.

Sometimes it is necessary to cull content to improve the encyclopaedia, but likewise it is sometimes necessary to substantially improve content with the addition of rather easy to find sources and rewriting.

Wikipedia contributors are spread too thin. There are about 54 articles for every active editor (check the figures at the top of the homepage). More editors would be ideal, but as important as attracting editors is adhering to good editorial standards ourselves, ensuring the content we compose is well-written and appropriately sourced – and not overly time-sensitive.

A selection from my library!

• 1788 by Lieutenant General Watkin Tench
• William Charles Wentworth: Australia's greatest native son by Andrew Tink MP
• Sarah Wentworth: Mistress of Vaucluse by Carol Liston {{postnominals|country=AUS|AO||sep=comma|size=}}
• The Seahorse and the Wanderer: Ben Boyd in Australia by Marion Diamond

• The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner
• Sybil, or The Two Nations by Benjamin Disraeli {{postnominals|country=UK|MP||sep=comma|size=}}
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Baa Baa, Black Sheep by Rudyard Kipling
• On the City Wall by Rudyard Kipling

• Jan Christian Smuts by his son Jannie Smuts
• The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner

Feminism

• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
• Concerning Wollstonecraft's strong republicanism and negative outlook toward landed wealth, it is fitting to read her essay within a close time frame of Disraeli's Sybil, a book which impresses me with its feminist themes and representations of powerful women. Both Wollstonecraft and Disraeli, from very different perspectives, paint compelling pictures representative of the lives and lifestyles of those they write about.
• The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner

• Romance of Australian Railways by Patsy Adam-Smith {{postnominals|country=AUS|AO|OBE|sep=comma|size=}}

Australian politics

• The Liberal Case for National Reconciliation by Andrew Bragg {{postnominals|country=AUS|MP||sep=comma|size=}}

• The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

The creation of some of these articles involved substantial amounts of copyediting.

• Sarah Wentworth
• Statue of James Cook, Hyde Park
• Hunter River Railway Company
• Railways in Canberra

Sandown railway station, Hardies railway station, Goodyear railway station, Cream Of Tartar Works railway station, Nanardine railway station, Fish Hoek railway station, Pippita railway station, Enfield Loco railway station, Somersby Airfield, Forster (Wallis Island) Airport, Airly

[https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1xaD_WvA7ROBqR8fegYNImAbXTMjQ6sI&usp=sharing Map of subjects of articles I've written]

List of Commonwealth organisations (largely re-wrote to reflect correct terminology)

File:Mudgee station 8.png]]File:William Charles Wentworth, Wentworth Falls 3.png, a great Australian]]I have made significant contributions to various articles, including that for the University of Sydney student newspaper Honi Soit, and:

• Railway-related articles, including:
• High-speed rail in Australia
• Railways in Sydney
• Light rail
• Articles related to light rail in Sydney, particularly concerning light rail stations
• Resurrected the articles for Lilyfield and Wentworth Park light rail stations whilst attempting to better integrate light rail at heavy rail stations (see Dulwich Hill)
• Improved the adjacent stations module for Sydney light rail services
• Mudgee railway station
• I have made some contributions to articles concerning the South African railways
• Commonwealth-related articles, including:
• English in the Commonwealth of Nations
• Liberalism in South Africa
• British influence in Pakistan
• Australian history articles, including:
• William Wentworth and articles related to him and his family

The authoring of the article for the Hunter River Railway Company was an interesting task, combining my love of history – in this case, Australian colonial history – with my love of railways. More specifically, it combined my fascination with railways with my fascination with the colonial-era statesman William Charles Wentworth, who I have discovered was among many other things something of a railway pioneer like his great-grandson. Articles I've written about railways in Sydney and most particularly in the Inner West where I reside also reflect a convergence of interests!

Category:Wikipedians in Sydney

Category:Wikipedians in New South Wales

Category:Wikipedians interested in politics

Category:New South Welsh Wikipedians

Category:Wikipedians interested in rail transport