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Hertford

Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.

The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, near its confluences with the rivers Mimram, Beane, and Rib. The Lea is navigable from the Thames up to Hertford. Fortified settlements were established on each side of the ford at Hertford in 913AD. The county of Hertfordshire was established at a similar time, being named after and administered from Hertford. Hertford Castle was built shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066 and remained a royal residence until the early seventeenth century.

Hertfordshire County Council and East Hertfordshire District Council both have their main offices in the town and are major local employers, as is McMullen's Brewery, which has been based in the town since 1827. The town is also popular with commuters, being only 20 miles north of central London and connected to it by two railway lines.

Toponymy
The earliest reference to the town appears in the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written by Bede in 731 AD, which refers to Herutford. Herut is the Old English spelling of hart, meaning a fully mature stag; thus the meaning of the name is a ford where harts are found. The Domesday Book of 1086 gives a spelling of Hertforde.

History
One possible earlier mention of the town was in 672 AD: the first synod of a number of the bishops in England was held either in Hertford or at Hartford, Cambridgeshire. The synod was called by Theodore of Tarsus; decisions included the calculation of the date of Easter.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 913AD, Edward the Elder ordered the construction of two burhs (earthwork fortifications) either side of the ford over the River Lea at Hertford as part of his campaign against the Danes.

By the time of the Domesday Book, Hertford had two churches, two markets and three mills. The Normans began work on Hertford Castle, and Hertford Priory was founded by Ralph de Limesy. King Henry II rebuilt the castle in stone, but in 1216, during the First Barons' War, it was besieged and captured after 25 days by Prince Louis of France. The castle was regularly visited by English royalty and in 1358, Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II, died there. The priory was dissolved in 1536 and subsequently demolished and in 1563, the Parliament of England met at the castle because of an outbreak of plague in London. Hertford grew and prospered as a market and county town; communication was improved by the construction of the Lea Navigation Canal in 1767 and the arrival of the railway in 1843. The Port Hill drill hall was completed in 1898 and Yeomanry House was brought into military use in 1910.

Hartford, Connecticut is named after Hertford.

Governance
Hertford has three tiers of local government at parish (town), district, and county level: Hertford Town Council, East Hertfordshire District Council, and Hertfordshire County Council, all three of which are based in the town.

Hertford has been the county town of Hertfordshire since the county was founded in Saxon times. The town also gave its name to the hundred of Hertford. The town was initially governed by the king's reeves. By the thirteenth century, the reeves had been replaced by a bailiff, elected by the burgesses. Charters of 1554 and 1589 established a common council of eleven chief burgesses and a bailiff. Another charter of 1605 changed the bailiff's title to mayor. Under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, Hertford became a Municipal borough; the ratepayers elected twelve councillors, who chose four aldermen, with the aldermen and councillors together composing the council (also known as the corporation), which elected the mayor.

The Hertford poor law union was established in 1835, covering the town and surrounding rural parishes.

Hertford Corporation used part of the Shire Hall as a Town Hall until 1911, when it moved into the surviving gatehouse of Hertford Castle.

Under the Local Government Act 1972, Hertford Municipal Borough was abolished, merging with other districts to become part of the district of East Hertfordshire with effect from 1 April 1974. A successor parish was created covering the former borough of Hertford, with its parish council taking the name Hertford Town Council. The town council is based at the former offices of the borough corporation at Hertford Castle.

The headquarters of Hertfordshire County Council is at County Hall, built in 1939 to replace the Shire Hall. East Hertfordshire District Council's offices almost adjoin County Hall, being at Wallfields, which prior to 1974 had been the offices of Hertford Rural District Council.

Arms
From at least 1634, Hertford Corporation used an escutcheon (shield) depicting a hart above water to indicate a ford. The borough council was granted the right to complement its arms with a badge in 1925, and supporters were added in 1937. The coat of arms is now used by Hertford Town Council.

Geography
Hertford is at the confluence of four river valleys: the Rib, Beane and Mimram join the River Lea at Hertford to flow east and then south toward the Thames as the Lee Navigation, after Hertford Castle Weir. The shared valley of the Lea and the Beane is called Hartham Common and this provides a large park to one side of the town centre running towards Ware and lying below the ridge upon which Bengeo is situated.

The town centre still has its medieval layout with many timber-framed buildings hidden under later frontages, particularly in St Andrew Street. Hertford suffers from traffic problems despite the existence of the 1960s A414 bypass called Gascoyne Way which passes close to the town centre. Plans have long existed to connect the A10 with the A414, by-passing the town completely. Nevertheless, the town retains very much a country-town feel, despite lying only 19.2 mi north of Central London. This is aided by its proximity to larger towns such as Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and Stevenage where modern development has been focused. Suburbs and estates
 * Bengeo
 * Foxholes Estate
 * Horns Mill
 * Pinehurst, Hertford
 * Rush Green
 * Sele Farm

Nearby Hertford
 * Hertford Heath
 * Hertingfordbury
 * Waterford

Economy
A fair amount of employment in the town is centred on County Hall (Hertfordshire County Council), Wallfields (East Hertfordshire District Council) and McMullens Brewery, one of a dwindling number of independent pre-1970 family brewers in the United Kingdom. Many residents commute to work in London.

Hertford differs from neighbouring towns as it lacks a modern shopping development (mall). However, it has most of the usual supermarkets. A Tesco store occupies part of the former Christ's Hospital Bluecoat Girls School, which closed down in 1985. Sainsbury's opened a new store on part of the McMullens Brewery site in June 2012. A Waitrose occupied a reasonably large store in the Bircherley Green Shopping area that closed on 12 September 2017. The local branch of Woolworths closed for good on 27 December 2008, after the collapse of that store chain. There are fewer of the usual chain shops found in most high streets and this makes Hertford stand out from other "clone towns". There are a high number of independent shops in the town, with a variety of boutiques and salons.

Sport and leisure
Hertford has a leisure centre and swimming pool, skatepark, bowling green and tennis courts on Hartham Common.

Football
The town has a Non-League football club, Hertford Town F.C., which plays at Hertingfordbury Park. Hertford Town Youth FC, a FA Charter Standard Football Club, plays at County Hall Playing Fields, situated next to the headquarters of Hertfordshire County Council at County Hall in Hertford. Other clubs in the surrounding area include Bury Rangers, Hertford Heath Youth FC and Bengeo Tigers Football Club (an award-winning FA Charter Standard Community Football Club. )

Cricket
Hertford Cricket Club is based in the town. Records for a Hertford club go back a far as 1825,. However, the club in its present form has been in existence since 1860. The club plays its matches at Balls park, Hertford. Currently the club runs five teams and all the teams play in the local league.

People

 * Frederick Scott Archer (1813 – 1857), son of a Hertford butcher, was an early photographer best known for having invented the photographic collodion process
 * The band Deep Purple formed in Hertford in 1968.
 * Alfred Russel Wallace who proposed a theory of natural selection at the same time as Charles Darwin lived in Hertford from ages five to thirteen and attended Hertford Grammar School.
 * John Wilkes, the radical politician, was educated in Hertford.
 * Sergeant Alfred Alexander Burt VC, soldier in the Hertfordshire Regiment who was born and lived in Hertford. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour on 27 September 1915 during the Battle of Loos.
 * Captain W E Johns, Writer of the Biggles books was born in Bengeo, attended Hertford Grammar School and lived in Hertford.
 * Samuel Stone, Puritan minister who established the American town of Hartford, Connecticut with Thomas Hooker. He lived in Fore Street, Hertford and was baptised at All Saints Church. There is a statue commemorating him, close to the Hertford Theatre.
 * Jane Wenham was tried at the Hertford Assizes for witchcraft in 1712. The jury found her guilty, one of the last in England to be convicted of this offence. Judge Powell had no choice but to condemn her to death, but through his influence she was later given a Royal Pardon.
 * Jack Trevor Story, the author of "The Trouble with Harry" and other works, was born in Hertford in 1917.
 * Television and radio reporter and presenter Tom Heap was born in Hertford.
 * Actor Rupert Grint comes from Hertford, and although he now lives outside the town, he lived within Hertford when he began filming for the Harry Potter film series. He attended Richard Hale School until finishing his GCSE exams in 2004. Other famous former pupils of Richard Hale School are listed on the school's page.
 * Dani Filth, singer of Cradle of Filth was born in Hertford, but grew up in Ipswich.
 * Singer George Ezra was born and grew up in Hertford, attending Simon Balle School.
 * International rugby union players Robbie Morris and Jamie George.
 * Cricketers Stuart Cradock, John Hughes and Lawrence Wright were born in Hertford.
 * The Labour Party MP for Liverpool Walton between 1964 and 1984, Labour Chairman, government minister and shadow cabinet minister Eric Heffer was born in Hertford in 1922

Landmarks

 * In the town are the remains of the original Hertford Castle, principally a motte. The castle's gatehouse, the central part of which dates to a rebuild by Edward IV in 1463, is the home to Hertford Town Council. The Motte, from the original Motte and Bailey castle in Hertford, can be found just behind Castle Hall, a short distance from the modern castle.
 * There are several churches in the town. All Saints' and St Andrew's are late and mid 19th century respectively, although both stand on the sites of medieval places of worship. In the northern suburb of Bengeo lies St Leonard's, a two-celled Norman church of considerable architectural interest.
 * In Railway Street can be found the oldest purpose-built Quaker Meeting House in the world, in use since 1670.
 * The Parliament of England temporarily moved to Hertford during a plague outbreak in London in 1563. This is why the main square in the town, Parliament Square, is so named, although it is a twentieth-century creation.
 * The home of Alfred Russel Wallace (see above), now named Wallace House, can be found at 11 St. Andrew St. and is marked with a plaque.
 * Built in 1779, the Shire Hall was designed by Robert Adam. The ground floor houses Court Rooms.
 * The Corn Exchange was built on the site of a former gaol. After years in the doldrums it is now a live entertainment venue.
 * The Egyptian House in Fore Street, built c. 1824, is an early example of Egyptian revival architecture. It was a grocery store from the Victorian era until the 1960s, and is currently a restaurant.
 * In Cowbridge, there is a Prince Albert Cottage. The first of these cottages was originally built in Hyde Park by the Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes in 1851 at the time of the Great Exhibition. Prince Albert was involved in their design and financing.
 * Hertford Museum is housed in a 17th-century historic town house, with a Jacobean-style knot garden.
 * A stained-glass window in St Andrew's Church is part of a fringe theory that links Hertford to the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail.

Rail
Two railway stations serve Hertford - Hertford East and Hertford North. Transport for London Oyster cards are valid for payment and travel at both stations.

Hertford East
Hertford East is the north-western terminus of the Hertford East Branch Line. Greater Anglia manages the station and operates trains between Hertford East and London Liverpool Street in the City of London.

The Hertford East Branch Line along with the West Anglia Main Line provide the town with direct connections to Ware, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross, Tottenham Hale and Hackney Downs. At Broxbourne - the south-eastern terminus of the branch line - the West Anglia Main Line runs northbound towards Bishop's Stortford, Audley End and Cambridge.

Hertford North
Hertford North is on the Hertford Loop Line, a branch of the East Coast Main Line.

Great Northern operates trains northbound towards Watton-at-Stone and Stevenage. Southbound, Great Northern trains run towards London Moorgate in the City through Enfield Chase, Alexandra Palace, Finsbury Park and Highbury and Islington. Some timetabled services run southbound into London King's Cross instead of Moorgate. North of Stevenage, trains run towards Hitchin, Peterborough, the North and Scotland, and towards Letchworth, Royston and Cambridge. South of Finsbury Park, services run towards King's Cross, London St Pancras, Farringdon, Gatwick Airport and Brighton.

Road
The A10 runs north-south through the east of Hertford. Kingsmead Viaduct carries the A10 across the River Lea between Hertford and Ware. Southbound, the route runs towards the M25 London Orbital motorway and the City of London, through Cheshunt, Enfield and Tottenham. Northbound, the route runs towards King's Lynn in Norfolk via Buntingford, Royston, Cambridge and Ely.

The A414 runs east-west through Hertford, along Hertingfordbury Road, Gascoyne Way and London Road. The primary route runs eastbound towards the A10, Harlow, the M11 motorway, Chelmsford and Maldon. Westbound, the route carries traffic towards Hatfield, the A1(M) motorway, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead.

The A119 runs eastbound from Hertford into Ware. The route runs northbound from Hertford towards Watton-at-Stone and the A602 for Stevenage.

Bus and coach
Hertford Bus Station lies to the east of Bircherley Street in Hertford town centre.

Long-distance routes through Hertford include:

 * 724 (Arriva Green Line) - Harlow (via Ware), or Heathrow Airport (via Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, St Albans, Watford, Rickmansworth, Denham and Hillingdon)
 * 737 (National Express) - Stansted Airport (via Harlow), or Oxford (via Hatfield, Luton Airport, Luton and Milton Keynes)

Hertfordshire County Council manages the Intalink enhanced partnership which choreographs the local bus network. In January 2024, the local town network was connected into an integrated group of routes numbered H1-H6, operated by Vectare under the Central Connect brand.

Bus routes in Hertford include:

 * 308/380 (Arriva) - Cuffley and Bayford
 * 310 (Arriva) - Waltham Cross (via Ware, Broxbourne and Cheshunt)
 * 324 (Arriva) - Ware, or Welwyn Garden City
 * 331 (Arriva) - Royston (via Ware, Puckeridge and Buntingford)
 * 333 (Diamond West Midlands) - Bengeo circular
 * 341/641 (Uno) - Broxbourne (via Ware and Hoddesdon), or Hatfield (via Essendon)
 * 351 (Central Connect) - Bishop's Stortford (via Much Hadham)
 * 378/379 (Arriva) - Stevenage (via Tewin and Datchworth)
 * 383/384 (Central Connect) - Stevenage (via Tonwell), or Ware
 * 390 (Arriva/Centrebus) - Stevenage, or Ware
 * 395 (Arriva) - Ware

Cycling
National Cycle Route 61 runs east-west through Hertford. Between Welwyn Garden City and Ware, through Hertford, the route is also known as Cole Green Way. The route's western terminus is near Taplow in Berkshire, near Slough and Maidenhead. To the east, NCR61 meets NCR1 near Hoddesdon.

Hertford is the northern terminus of the Lee Navigation and the associated towpath, which carries NCR61 for part of its route. The towpath's southern terminus is in Limehouse, East London. The cycle route passes through Ware, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne, Enfield Lock, Tottenham, Leyton and Hackney Wick.

River
Hertford is the northern terminus of the navigable River Lea, which is managed by the Canal and River Trust. Southbound, the river runs towards Bromley-by-Bow in East London, through Ware, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne, Enfield Lock, Tottenham, Leyton and Hackney Wick. The river meets the navigable River Stort at Hoddesdon, which runs northbound through Harlow, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop's Stortford.

The Hertford Union Canal and the Limehouse Cut connect the Lee Navigation with the Regent's Canal in London.

Lee and Stort Boat Company runs a waterbus at various points throughout the year, with a route between Hertford and Ware.

Education
Secondary schools in Hertford include the Sele School, Richard Hale School and Simon Balle All-through School (which also includes primary provision; other primary schools include Hollybush JMI, Millmead Community School, Bengeo Primary School, Morgans Primary School and Nursery, Abel Smith School (named after banker and MP Abel Smith (1788–1859)), St Andrew's School, St. Josephs RC School and Wheatcroft School.

Private schools include St. Joseph's in the Park in Hertingfordbury, Duncombe School, (a preparatory school in Bengeo) and Haileybury College in Hertford Heath.

Pinewood and Middleton Schools are special needs schools that are available in neighbouring Ware.

Former schools include The Pines JMI School, which was built on the Pinehurst estate in 1977 and closed in 2003.

Media
Hertford is within the BBC London and ITV London region. Television signals are received from the Crystal Palace TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Three Counties Radio on 90.4 FM and Heart Hertfordshire on 106.9 FM. Hertford's local newspaper is the Hertfordshire Mercury.

Entertainment
Hertford Theatre, previously known as Castle Hall, is a modern theatre, cinema and art gallery complex at The Wash in the town centre. The Hertford Corn Exchange is a building where entertainment such as comedy and art exhibitions take place. Hertford has many food, drink and entertainment establishments which have grown in number considerably since the eighties and nineties. It attracts people from nearby towns, and often the North London suburbs. There are approximately 25 pubs and clubs in the area, and around 35 restaurants, takeaways and snack bars. Hertford also benefits from public swimming pool and gym facilities and a small skatepark, all situated on Hartham Common.

Town twinning

 * 🇫🇷 Évron, France
 * 🇩🇪 Wildeshausen, Germany
 * 🇺🇸 Hartford, Connecticut, United States

title: Hertford


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Talk:Roman Abramovich

Chelsea FC page. Mistake in second paragraph.
The second paragraph states that since the Abramovich takeover, Chelsea are the second most successful club after Man Utd (16 to 17 trophies respectively). The Chelsea total is correct- and only mentions ,correctly, MAJOR trophies, but the Man Utd total should be 14. One just needs to add up the trophies of 2003/04 onwards. At first I wondered if the author had wrongly included the Community Shield, but this is not the case. I also thought the use of the word ‘decade’ might explain it, but the trophies included obviously go up to this year(2021). So, the article should state Chelsea have won the most major trophies in England, since his takeover. 16 to 14. In honours including the Community Shield, then it becomes Chelsea 18 Man Utd 20 Many thanks for your attention Enkayaitch (talk) 21:56, 4 March 2021 (UTC)

Alexei Navalny
Should it be added to this article that Alexei Navalny has called for sanctions against Roman Abramovich? 173.88.246.138 (talk) 06:13, 17 March 2021 (UTC)

Portugal
The article has been edited to say that he is now Portuguese. While I am quite prepared to believe that is the case, it should be noted that the first citation, from Público, is based on the change to the Wikipedia article and the second citation is sourced from the Público article. So, we have a circular citation. Someone changes Wikipedia. It gets picked up by a newspaper and then that newspaper article is used to justify the change to Wikipedia. Without independent citations I propose to delete the section on his Portuguese nationality. Roundtheworld (talk) 11:49, 18 December 2021 (UTC)
 * I have changed the citations to two that quote his spokesman as confirming the fact.Roundtheworld (talk) 18:42, 19 December 2021 (UTC)

Nationality
Currently the article leade describes him as "Russian-Lithuanian-Israeli-Portuguese", while he does in deed have citizenship of all of these countries I feel it should just describe him as Russian is that is what he is primarily known for being and what I assume he would identify as Russian more than anything else else. What does everyone else think? C. 22468 Talk to me  13:29, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

Does he actually have a Lithuanian passport- think its accepted he has the other 3 passports. Know his father was Lithuanian- and some of his kids apparently have that nationality but does he in fact have a Lithuanian passport ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:8084:255D:9380:8C48:D501:B464:C0AA (talk) 13:21, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Net_worth element in info box.
Doesn't appear to be working, not sure if that should be adjusted or removed from the infobox. Govvy (talk) 13:31, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Funding of Israeli settlement
The section "Funding of Israeli settlement" is lifted verbatim from the linked BBC article, and as a result, lacks this article's context. It should probably be revised. (I've added an internal link to the organization Abramovitch funds but that's about it.) Rxtreme (talk) 03:02, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

Special request for edit
This page is locked and this is a new account. I need it stated that now that Abramovich, the Putin lover, is no longer the owner of Chelsea that Chelsea can no longer be buying their trophies. Now the world is going to see the real Chelsea as they used to be before all that money was getting pumped into the club, a mid-table middle sized club. Just another Southampton. Look at what Chelsea were winning before 1996 time (with money pumped in my Matthew Harding), and what they won before that. One league title, one FA cup, and one League Cup. This all needs to be said on the Roman Abramovich article. Marching on Leeds (talk) 09:27, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done:, it would be a blatant violation of WP:BLP and you don't seem to have a source for this. C. 22468 Talk to me  21:41, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 March 2022
"government" is misspelled:

"Abramovich was one of seven oligarchs hit with sanctions by the UK gvernment, including asset freezes and travel bans." 97.101.202.37 (talk) 13:06, 10 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Pictogram voting wait.svg Already done Thanks Ed6767. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 13:13, 10 March 2022 (UTC)

Photo is not good
The COVID mask photo is not appropriate. Surely, better photos exist? Snooganssnoogans (talk) 20:41, 28 March 2022 (UTC)

Death maybe
If he dies of the supposed poisoning, we could edit it. (talk) 28 March 2022 (UTC) 2ofthe22ofthe2022

First Paragraph of this Article
Can someone give me some info about the opening paragraph? I would like to hear this first hand, because I'm very confused unfortunately! One does "Russian-born...", other does "Russian...". Or can someone explain to me what the concept of nationality is "what" for Wikipedia? I researched, but my research was in vain. It looks like we have 3 possibilities: 1  ... is a Russian ... 2  ... is a Russian-born ... 3  ... is a Russian–Israeli–Portuguese ... According to MOS:FIRSTBIO and MOS:CONTEXTBIO, I vote for the 3rd one. I'm curious about other users' opinions. Please be objective. Acratopotes (talk) 14:15, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

Ashkenazi/Sephardi Jew
The article states that he's an Ashkenazi Jew or of Ashkenazi decent. But he obtained Portuguese citizenship. This is only possible for people that are Sephardic Jews, that got expelled from the Iberian peninsula, not for Ashkenazi Jews. KingOfRay (talk) 10:43, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

 * The addition of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry seems to have been original research and or user assumptions due to his family origins. I removed mention of it a couple months ago because the sources provided at the time did not explicitly state it. Anyways, there's a likely possibility that Abramovich's vetted Sephardi Jewish ancestry was falsified as part of a scheme to gain Portuguese citizenship and therefore gain access to the European Union. There are an investigation and allegations against a rabbi who helped verify Sephardi ancestry and grant citizenship. It doesn't change the fact that he was granted Portuguese citizenship, but the circumstances now seem kind of sketchy. Clear Looking Glass (talk) 23:50, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

Funding of Vitesse Arnhem
A story recently came out that Roman secretly funded Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem. The source is included below. Might be worth mentioning as a seperate subheading under Football related investments.

[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/29/roman-abramovich-secretly-bankrolled-dutch-football-club-leaked-documents-suggest#:~:text=This%20was%20a%20huge%20investment,signings%20of%20world%2Dclass%20stars. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/29/roman-abramovich-secretly-bankrolled-dutch-football-club-leaked-documents-suggest#:~:text=This%20was%20a%20huge%20investment,signings%20of%20world%2Dclass%20stars.] Instantwatym (talk) 19:53, 1 July 2023 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Roman Abramovich


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Humberstone

Humberstone may refer to:

Place-names

 * Humberstone, Leicestershire, now part of the City of Leicester, England
 * Humberstone & Hamilton, an electoral ward and administrative division of the City of Leicester, comprising in part the suburb Humberstone
 * Humberstone railway station
 * Humberstone Road railway station
 * Humberstone Speedway, Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada
 * Humberstone, Chile, a mining town in the Atacama Desert

Other uses

 * Humberstone (surname)
 * Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works, World Heritage sites in northern Chile
 * Matthew Humberstone School (1882–2010), Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England

title: Humberstone


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Technological utopianism

Technological utopianism (often called techno-utopianism or technoutopianism) is any ideology based on the premise that advances in science and technology could and should bring about a utopia, or at least help to fulfill one or another utopian ideal.

A techno-utopia is therefore an ideal society, in which laws, government, and social conditions are solely operating for the benefit and well-being of all its citizens, set in the near- or far-future, as advanced science and technology will allow these ideal living standards to exist; for example, post-scarcity, transformations in human nature, the avoidance or prevention of suffering and even the end of death.

Technological utopianism is often connected with other discourses presenting technologies as agents of social and cultural change, such as technological determinism or media imaginaries.

A tech-utopia does not disregard any problems that technology may cause, but strongly believes that technology allows mankind to make social, economic, political, and cultural advancements. Overall, Technological Utopianism views technology's impacts as extremely positive.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, several ideologies and movements, such as the cyberdelic counterculture, the Californian Ideology, cyber-utopianism, transhumanism, and singularitarianism, have emerged promoting a form of techno-utopia as a reachable goal. The movement known as effective accelerationism (e/acc) even advocates for "progress at all costs". Cultural critic Imre Szeman argues technological utopianism is an irrational social narrative because there is no evidence to support it. He concludes that it shows the extent to which modern societies place faith in narratives of progress and technology overcoming things, despite all evidence to the contrary.

From the 19th to mid-20th centuries
Karl Marx believed that science and democracy were the right and left hands of what he called the move from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom. He argued that advances in science helped delegitimize the rule of kings and the power of the Christian Church.

19th-century liberals, socialists, and republicans often embraced techno-utopianism. Radicals like Joseph Priestley pursued scientific investigation while advocating democracy. Robert Owen, Charles Fourier and Henri de Saint-Simon in the early 19th century inspired communalists with their visions of a future scientific and technological evolution of humanity using reason. Radicals seized on Darwinian evolution to validate the idea of social progress. Edward Bellamy's socialist utopia in Looking Backward, which inspired hundreds of socialist clubs in the late 19th century United States and a national political party, was as highly technological as Bellamy's imagination. For Bellamy and the Fabian Socialists, socialism was to be brought about as a painless corollary of industrial development.

Marx and Engels saw more pain and conflict involved, but agreed about the inevitable end. Marxists argued that the advance of technology laid the groundwork not only for the creation of a new society, with different property relations, but also for the emergence of new human beings reconnected to nature and themselves. At the top of the agenda for empowered proletarians was "to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible". The 19th and early 20th century Left, from social democrats to communists, were focused on industrialization, economic development and the promotion of reason, science, and the idea of progress.

Some technological utopians promoted eugenics. Holding that in studies of families, such as the Jukes and Kallikaks, science had proven that many traits such as criminality and alcoholism were hereditary, many advocated the sterilization of those displaying negative traits. Forcible sterilization programs were implemented in several states in the United States.

H. G. Wells in works such as The Shape of Things to Come promoted technological utopianism.

The horrors of the 20th century – namely Fascist and Communist dictatorships and the world wars – caused many to abandon optimism. The Holocaust, as Theodor Adorno underlined, seemed to shatter the ideal of Condorcet and other thinkers of the Enlightenment, which commonly equated scientific progress with social progress.

From late 20th and early 21st centuries
A movement of techno-utopianism began to flourish again in the dot-com culture of the 1990s, particularly in the West Coast of the United States, especially based around Silicon Valley. The Californian Ideology was a set of beliefs combining bohemian and anti-authoritarian attitudes from the counterculture of the 1960s with techno-utopianism and support for libertarian economic policies. It was reflected in, reported on, and even actively promoted in the pages of Wired magazine, which was founded in San Francisco in 1993 and served for a number years as the "bible" of its adherents.

This form of techno-utopianism reflected a belief that technological change revolutionizes human affairs, and that digital technology in particular – of which the Internet was but a modest harbinger – would increase personal freedom by freeing the individual from the rigid embrace of bureaucratic big government. "Self-empowered knowledge workers" would render traditional hierarchies redundant; digital communications would allow them to escape the modern city, an "obsolete remnant of the industrial age".

Similar forms of "digital utopianism" has often entered in the political messages of party and social movements that point to the Web or more broadly to new media as harbingers of political and social change. Its adherents claim it transcended conventional "right/left" distinctions in politics by rendering politics obsolete. However, techno-utopianism disproportionately attracted adherents from the libertarian right end of the political spectrum. Therefore, techno-utopians often have a hostility toward government regulation and a belief in the superiority of the free market system. Prominent "oracles" of techno-utopianism included George Gilder and Kevin Kelly, an editor of Wired who also published several books.

During the late 1990s dot-com boom, when the speculative bubble gave rise to claims that an era of "permanent prosperity" had arrived, techno-utopianism flourished, typically among the small percentage of the population who were employees of Internet startups and/or owned large quantities of high-tech stocks. With the subsequent crash, many of these dot-com techno-utopians had to rein in some of their beliefs in the face of the clear return of traditional economic reality.

According to The Economist, Wikipedia "has its roots in the techno-optimism that characterised the internet at the end of the 20th century. It held that ordinary people could use their computers as tools for liberation, education, and enlightenment."

In the late 1990s and especially during the first decade of the 21st century, technorealism and techno-progressivism are stances that have risen among advocates of technological change as critical alternatives to techno-utopianism. However, technological utopianism persists in the 21st century as a result of new technological developments and their impact on society. For example, several technical journalists and social commentators, such as Mark Pesce, have interpreted the WikiLeaks phenomenon and the United States diplomatic cables leak in early December 2010 as a precursor to, or an incentive for, the creation of a techno-utopian transparent society. Cyber-utopianism, first coined by Evgeny Morozov, is another manifestation of this, in particular in relation to the Internet and social networking.

Nick Bostrom contends that the rise of machine superintelligence carries both existential risks and an extreme potential to improve the future, which might be realized quickly in the event of an intelligence explosion. In Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World, he further explored ideal scenarios where human civilization reaches technological maturity and solves its diverse coordination problems. He listed some technologies that are theoretically achievable, such as cognitive enhancement, reversal of aging, self-replicating spacecrafts, arbitrary sensory inputs (taste, sound...), or the precise control of motivation, mood, well-being and personality.

Principles
Bernard Gendron, a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, defines the four principles of modern technological utopians in the late 20th and early 21st centuries as follows:

 * 1) We are presently undergoing a (post-industrial) revolution in technology;
 * 2) In the post-industrial age, technological growth will be sustained (at least);
 * 3) In the post-industrial age, technological growth will lead to the end of economic scarcity;
 * 4) The elimination of economic scarcity will lead to the elimination of every major social evil.

Rushkoff presents us with multiple claims that surround the basic principles of Technological Utopianism:

 * 1) Technology reflects and encourages the best aspects of human nature, fostering "communication, collaboration, sharing, helpfulness, and community".
 * 2) Technology improves our interpersonal communication, relationships, and communities. Early Internet users shared their knowledge of the Internet with others around them.
 * 3) Technology democratizes society. The expansion of access to knowledge and skills led to the connection of people and information. The broadening of freedom of expression created "the online world...in which we are allowed to voice our own opinions". The reduction of the inequalities of power and wealth meant that everyone has an equal status on the internet and is allowed to do as much as the next person.
 * 4) Technology inevitably progresses. The interactivity that came from the inventions of the TV remote control, video game joystick, computer mouse and computer keyboard allowed for much more progress.
 * 5) Unforeseen impacts of technology are positive. As more people discovered the Internet, they took advantage of being linked to millions of people, and turned the Internet into a social revolution. The government released it to the public, and its "social side effect… [became] its main feature".
 * 6) Technology increases efficiency and consumer choice. The creation of the TV remote, video game joystick, and computer mouse liberated these technologies and allowed users to manipulate and control them, giving them many more choices.
 * 7) New technology can solve the problems created by old technology. Social networks and blogs were created out of the collapse of dot.com bubble businesses' attempts to run pyramid schemes on users.

Criticisms
Critics claim that techno-utopianism's identification of social progress with scientific progress is a form of positivism and scientism. Critics of modern libertarian techno-utopianism point out that it tends to focus on "government interference" while dismissing the positive effects of the regulation of business. They also point out that it has little to say about the environmental impact of technology and that its ideas have little relevance for much of the rest of the world that are still relatively quite poor (see global digital divide).

In his 2010 study System Failure: Oil, Futurity, and the Anticipation of Disaster, Canada Research Chairholder in cultural studies Imre Szeman argues that technological utopianism is one of the social narratives that prevent people from acting on the knowledge they have concerning the effects of oil on the environment.

Other critics of a techno-utopia include the worry of the human element. Critics suggest that a techno-utopia may lessen human contact, leading to a distant society.

Another concern is the amount of reliance society may place on their technologies in these techno-utopia settings. For example, In a controversial 2011 article "Techno-Utopians are Mugged by Reality", L. Gordon Crovitz of The Wall Street Journal explored the concept of the violation of free speech by shutting down social media to stop violence. As a result of a wave of British cities being looted, former British Prime Minister David Cameron argued that the government should have the ability to shut down social media during crime sprees so that the situation could be contained. A poll was conducted to see if Twitter users would prefer to let the service be closed temporarily or keep it open so they could chat about the famous television show The X-Factor. The end report showed that every respondent opted for The X-Factor discussion. Clovitz contends that the negative social effect of technological utopia is that society is so addicted to technology that humanity simply cannot be parted from it even for the greater good. While many techno-utopians would like to believe that digital technology is for the greater good, he says it can also be used negatively to bring harm to the public. These two criticisms are sometimes referred to as a technological anti-utopian view or a techno-dystopia.

According to Ronald Adler and Russell Proctor, mediated communication such as phone calls, instant messaging and text messaging are steps towards a utopian world in which one can easily contact another regardless of time or location. However, mediated communication removes many aspects that are helpful in transferring messages. As it stands, most text, email, and instant messages offer fewer nonverbal cues about the speaker's feelings than do face-to-face encounters. This makes it so that mediated communication can easily be misconstrued and the intended message is not properly conveyed. With the absence of tone, body language, and environmental context, the chance of a misunderstanding is much higher, rendering the communication ineffective. In fact, mediated technology can be seen from a dystopian view because it can be detrimental to effective interpersonal communication. These criticisms would only apply to messages that are prone to misinterpretation as not every text based communication requires contextual cues. The limitations of lacking tone and body language in text-based communication could potentially be mitigated by video and augmented reality versions of digital communication technologies.

In 2019, philosopher Nick Bostrom introduced the notion of a vulnerable world, "one in which there is some level of technological development at which civilization almost certainly gets devastated by default", citing the risks of a pandemic caused by a DIY biohacker, or an arms race triggered by the development of novel armaments. He writes that "Technology policy should not unquestioningly assume that all technological progress is beneficial, or that complete scientific openness is always best, or that the world has the capacity to manage any potential downside of a technology after it is invented."

title: Technological utopianism


text:
Aomen (Bikini Atoll)

Aomen, also known as Aomoen, is an island twelve kilometers northwest of Bikini Island, Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands. The portion of the island covered by vegetation is approximately 93,078 m2 in area. The ruins of a concrete bunker constructed during the nuclear tests at the atoll is located on the southern tip of the island.

title: Aomen (Bikini Atoll)


text:
User:Paul-L~enwiki

My name is Paul

I mainly work on the Welsh version of Wikipedia, and sometimes on the French and Italian version providing interwiki links. I'm trying to learn all three languages.

Here I work on articles to do with Laurel & Hardy, Queen, Wales and any other things I may be interested in.

Subpage: User:Paul-L/Queen II

cy:Defnyddiwr:Paul-L fr:Utilisateur:Paul-L it:Utente:Paul-L scn:User:Paul-L

title: User:Paul-L~enwiki


text:
Torque wrench

A torque wrench is a tool used to apply a specific torque to a fastener such as a nut, bolt, or lag screw. It is usually in the form of a socket wrench with an indicating scale, or an internal mechanism which will indicate (as by 'clicking', a specific movement of the tool handle in relation to the tool head) when a specified (adjustable) torque value has been reached during application.

A torque wrench is used where the tightness of screws and bolts is a crucial parameter of assembly or adjustment. It allows the operator to set the torque applied to the fastener to meet the specification for a particular application. This permits proper tension and loading of all parts.

Torque screwdrivers and torque wrenches have similar purposes and may have similar mechanisms.

History

The first patent for a torque wrench was filed by John H. Sharp of Chicago in 1931. This wrench was referred to as a torque measuring wrench and would be classified today as an indicating torque wrench.

In 1935, Conrad Bahr and George Pfefferle patented an adjustable ratcheting torque wrench. The tool featured audible feedback and restriction of back-ratcheting movement when the desired torque was reached. Bahr, who worked for the New York City Water Department, was frustrated at the inconsistent tightness of flange bolts he found while attending to his work. He claimed to have invented the first torque limiting tool in 1918 to alleviate these problems. Bahr's partner, Pfefferle, was an engineer for S.R. Dresser Manufacturing Co and held several patents.

Beam
The most basic form of torque wrench consists of two beams. The first is a lever used to apply the torque to the fastener being tightened and serves also as the handle of the tool. When force is applied to the handle it will deflect predictably and proportionally with said force in accordance with Hooke's law. The second beam is only attached at one end to the wrench head and free on its other, this serves as the indicator beam. Both of these beams run parallel to each other when the tool is at rest, with the indicator beam usually on top. The indicator beam's free end is free to travel over a calibrated scale attached to the lever or handle, marked in units of torque. When the wrench is used to apply torque, the lever bends and the indicating beam stays straight. Thus, the end of the indicating beam points to the magnitude of the torque that is currently being applied. This type of wrench is simple, inherently accurate, and inexpensive.

The beam type torque wrench was developed in between late 1920s and early 1930s by Walter Percy Chrysler for the Chrysler Corporation and a company known as Micromatic Hone. Paul Allen Sturtevant—a sales representative for the Cedar Rapids Engineering Company at that time—was licensed by Chrysler to manufacture his invention. Sturtevant patented the torque wrench in 1938 and became the first individual to sell torque wrenches.

A more sophisticated variation of the beam type torque wrench has a dial gauge indicator on its body that can be configured to give a visual or electrical indication when a preset torque is reached.

Deflecting beam
The dual-signal deflecting beam torque wrench was patented by the Australian Warren and Brown company in 1948. It employs the principle of applying torque to a deflecting beam rather than a coil spring. This is claimed to help prolong the accuracy of the wrench throughout its working life, with a greater safety margin on maximum loading and provides more consistent and accurate readings throughout the range of each wrench. The operator can both hear the signal click and see (and feel) a physical indicator when the desired torque is reached.

The wrench functions in the same general way as an ordinary beam torque wrench. There are two beams both connected to the head end but only one through which torque is applied. The load carrying beam is straight and runs from head to handle, it deflects when torque is applied. The other beam (indicating beam) runs directly above the deflecting beam for about half of the length then bends away to the side at an angle from the deflecting beam. The indicating beam retains its orientation and shape during operation. Because of this, there is relative displacement between the two beams. The deflecting beam torque wrench differs from the ordinary beam torque wrench in how it utilizes this relative displacement. Attached to the deflecting beam is a scale and onto that is fitted a wedge which can be slid along the length of the scale parallel to the flexing beam. This wedge is used to set the desired torque. Directly facing this wedge is the side of the angled indicating beam. From this side protrudes a pin, which acts as a trigger for another pin, the latter pin is spring loaded, and fires out of the end of the indicating beam once the trigger pin contacts the adjustable wedge. This firing makes a loud click and gives a visual and tactile indication that the desired torque has been met. The indicator pin can be reset by simply pressing it back into the indicating beam.

Slipper

A slipper type torque wrench consists of a roller and cam (or similar) mechanism. The cam is attached to the driving head, the roller pushes against the cam locking it in place with a specific force which is provided by a spring (which is in many cases adjustable). If a torque which is able to defeat the holding force of the roller and spring is applied, the wrench will slip and no more torque will be applied to the bolt. A slipper torque wrench will not overtighten the fastener by continuing to apply torque beyond a predetermined limit.

Click
A more sophisticated method of presetting torque is with a calibrated clutch mechanism. One common form uses a ball detent and spring, with the spring preloaded by an adjustable screw thread, calibrated in torque units. The ball detent transmits force until the preset torque is reached, at which point the force exerted by the spring is overcome and the ball "clicks" out of its socket. This design yields greater precision as well as giving tactile and audible feedback. The wrench will not start slipping once the desired torque is reached, it will only click and bend slightly at the head; the operator can continue to apply torque to the wrench without any additional action or warnings from the wrench.

A number of variations of this design exist for different applications and different torque ranges. A modification of this design is used in some drills to prevent gouging the heads of screws while tightening them. The drill will start slipping once the desired torque is reached.

"No-hub" wrench
These are specialized torque wrenches used by plumbers to tighten the clamping bands on hubless soil pipe couplings. They are usually T-handled wrenches with a one-way combination ratchet and clutch. They are preset to a fixed torque designed to secure the coupling adequately but insufficient to damage it.

Electronic torque wrenches
With electronic (indicating) torque wrenches, measurement is by means of a strain gauge attached to the torsion rod. The signal generated by the transducer is converted to the required unit of torque (e.g. N·m or lbf·ft) and shown on the digital display. A number of different joints (measurement details or limit values) can be stored. These programmed limit values are then permanently displayed during the tightening process by means of LEDs or the display. At the same time, this generation of torque wrenches can store all the measurements made in an internal readings memory. This reading's memory can then be easily transferred to a PC via the interface (RS232) or printed. A popular application of this kind of torque wrench is for in-process documentation or quality assurance purposes. Typical accuracy level would be ±0.5% to 4%.

Interchangeable Head Torque Wrenches
Interchangeable head torque wrenches are designed to connect several different types of wrench heads, thereby reducing the number of torque wrenches needed. These wrenches are ideal for applications that require multiple fastening tools. They typically have a standard mounting interface that allows for quick changeover from one wrench head to another while ensuring that the torque applied remains accurate. Common interface sizes include 9×12mm and 12×14mm, and interchangeable heads include open-end, ring-end, adjustable, ratchet, etc.

Programmable electronic torque / angle wrenches
Torque measurement is conducted in the same way as with an electronic torque wrench but the tightening angle from the snug point or threshold is also measured. The angle is measured by an angle sensor or electronic gyroscope. The angle measurement process enables joints which have already been tightened to be recognized. The inbuilt readings memory enables measurements to be statistically evaluated. Tightening curves can be analyzed using the software via the integrated tightening-curve system (force/path graph). This type of torque wrench can also be used to determine breakaway torque, prevail torque and the final torque of a tightening job. Thanks to a special measuring process, it is also possible to display the yield point (yield controlled tightening). This design of torque wrench is highly popular with automotive manufacturers for documenting tightening processes requiring both torque and angle control because, in these cases, a defined angle has to be applied to the fastener on top of the prescribed torque (e.g. 50 N.m + 90° – here the 50 N.m means the snug point/threshold and +90° indicates that an additional angle has to be applied after the threshold).

In 1995, Saltus-Werk Max Forst GmbH applied for an international patent for the first electronic torque wrench with angle measurement which did not require a reference arm.

Mechatronic torque wrenches

Torque measurement is achieved in the same way as with a click-type torque wrench but, at the same time, the torque is measured as a digital reading (click and final torque) as with an electronic torque wrench. This is, therefore, a combination of electronic and mechanical measurements. All the measurements are transferred and documented via wireless data transmission. Users will know they have achieved the desired torque setting when the wrench "beeps".

ISO
The International Organization for Standardization maintains standard ISO 6789. This standard covers the construction and calibration of hand-operated torque tools. They define two types of torque tool encompassing twelve classes, these are given by the table below. Also given is the percentage allowable deviation from the desired torque.

The ISO standard also states that even when overloaded by 25% of the maximum rating, the tool should remain reliably usable after being re-calibrated. Re-calibration for tools used within their specified limits should occur after 5000 cycles of torquing or 12 months, whichever is soonest. In cases where the tool is in use in an organization which has its own quality control procedures, then the calibration schedule can be arranged according to company standards.

Tools should be marked with their torque range and the unit of torque as well as the direction of operation for unidirectional tools and the maker's mark. If a calibration certificate is provided, the tool must be marked with a serial number that matches the certificate or a calibration laboratory should give the tool a reference number corresponding with the tool's calibration certificate.

ASME
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers maintains standard ASME B107.300. This standard has the same type designation as the ISO standard with the addition of the type 3, (limiting) torque tool. This type will release the drive once the desired torque is met so that no more torque can be applied. This standard, however, uses different class designations within each type as well as additional style and design variants within each class. The standard also separates manual and electronic tools into different sections and designations. The ASME and ISO standards cannot be considered compatible. The table below gives some of the types and tolerances specified by the standard for manual torque tools.

Tools should be marked with the model number of the tool, the unit of torque and the maker's mark. For unidirectional tools, the word "TORQUES" or "TORQUE" and the direction of operation must also be marked.

Precision
Click type torque wrenches are precise when properly calibrated—however the more complex mechanism can result in loss of calibration sooner than the beam type, where there is little to no malfunction, (however the thin indicator rod can be accidentally bent out of true). Beam type torque wrenches are impossible to use in situations where the scale cannot be directly read—and these situations are common in automotive applications. The scale on a beam type wrench is prone to parallax error, as a result of the large distance between indicator arm and scale (on some older designs). There is also the issue of increased user error with the beam type—the torque has to be read at every use and the operator must use caution to apply loads only at the floating handle's pivot point. Dual-beam or "flat" beam versions reduce the tendency for the pointer to rub, as do low-friction pointers.

Extensions
The use of cheater bars that extend from the handle end can damage the wrench, so only manufacturer specified equipment should be used.

Using socket extensions requires no adjustment of the torque setting.

Using a crow's foot or similar extension requires the use of the following equation:

$$T_w = \frac{T_dA}{A+B}$$

using a combination of handle and crow's foot extensions requires the use of the following equation:

$$T_w = \frac{T_d(A+C)}{A+B+C}$$

where:
 * $$T_w$$ is the wrench indicated torque (setting torque),
 * $$T_d$$ is the desired torque,
 * $$A$$ is the length of the torque wrench, from the handle to the center of the head,
 * $$B$$ is the length of the crow's foot extension, from the center of the torque wrench head to the center line of the bolt,
 * $$C$$ is the length of the handle extension, from the extension end to the torque wrench handle.

These equations only apply if the extension is colinear with the length of the torque wrench. In other cases, the distance from the torque wrench's head to the bolt's head, as if it were in line, should be used. If the extension is set at 90° then no adjustment is required. These methods are not recommended except for extreme circumstances.

Storage
For click (or other micrometer) types, when not in use, the force acting on the spring should be removed by setting the scale to its minimum rated value in order to prevent permanent set in the spring. Never set a micrometer style torque wrench to zero as the internal mechanism requires a small amount of tension in order to prevent components shifting and reduction of accuracy.

Calibration
As with any precision tool, torque wrenches should be periodically re-calibrated. As previously stated, according to ISO standards calibration should happen every 5000 operations or every year, whichever comes first. It is possible that torque wrenches can fall up to 10% out of calibration in the first year of use.

Calibration, when performed by a specialist service which follows ISO standards, follows a specific process and constraints. The operation requires specialist torque wrench calibration equipment with an accuracy of ±1% or better. The temperature of the area where calibration is being performed should be between 18 °C and 28 °C with no more than a 1 °C fluctuation and the relative humidity should not exceed 90%.

Before any calibration work can be done, the tool should be preloaded and torqued without measure according to its type. The tool is then connected to the tester and force is applied to the handle (at no more than 10° from perpendicular) for values of 20%, 60% and 100% of the maximum torque and repeated according to their class. The force should be applied slowly and without jerky or irregular motion. The table below gives more specifics regarding the pattern of testing for each class of torque wrench.

While professional calibration is recommended, for some people it would be out of their means. It is possible to calibrate a torque wrench in the home shop or garage. The process generally requires that a certain mass is attached to a lever arm and the torque wrench is set to the appropriate torque to lift said mass. The error within the tool can be calculated and the tool may be able to be altered or any work done adjusted for this error.

title: Torque wrench


text:
Talk:Civil Society

http://CivilSocietyIraq.seedwiki.com

seedwiki host for Civil Society Research in Iraq.

sponsored by Kenneth Tyler of seedwiki.com

and

http://www.ercomer.org

Moved this - it's a little esoteric.2toise 12:45, 9 Nov 2003 (UTC)

The Civil Society claims that the keystones of civil society are:

 * limited government,
 * popular elections, and the rule of law;
 * free association and expression;
 * regulated, but open and market-oriented economies;
 * aid to the poor, orphaned, elderly, sick, or disabled; and finally,
 * civic cultures that value pluralism and individual liberty but also respect human needs for community and shared visions of the common good.

title: Talk:Civil Society


text:
User talk:Humanist

Hey Humanist :) I hope you like the place and choose to stay.

Some links that may be of use:
 * Welcome, newcomers
 * How to edit a page
 * Village pump - ask questions you may have here, or leave a message on my talk page

Keep contributing, and have fun :) Dysprosia 12:49, 9 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Hi Humanist, I have a small tip for you regarding talk pages. On most talk pages you may see, the horizontal rules are used to seperate different conversations altogether, not different responses, where a simple line/paragraph break and an indent usually suffices. You can sign your responses and such using 4 tildes: ~, which automatically places a link to your user page and the date and time as well. Thanks :) Dysprosia 00:53, 10 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Done. Humanist

Greetings fellow INTJ! Nice edits so far, however if you could use the preview function more often and do more for each editing session, then the history of the pages you edit will not be filled with too many different versions. Cheers! --mav 00:15, 15 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Yes, I can understand your comment. Unfortunately I have a strong tendency to write iteratively, with many changes over time. It would be a change of style to write in nice complete blocks, and certainly take me more effort. (I do this as a relaxation.)
 * I will try to use the preview function more, although I am also an inveterate "saver" of documents, in order not to lose anything written so far. This has become even more ingrained in my wikipedia writing after quite early on losing longer edits due to parallel editing by others.
 * How detrimental is my hit-and-run style? Is it just cosmetic, or does it cause real problems?
 * Cheers, Humanist

 * It does result in your user name dominating the page history of whatever you are working on. Just use a good text editor to edit in. I use KWord and I save all my edits to a file named "temp.kwd". When I'm done editing I simply copy the text I was working on and put it into Wikipedia. If something then goes wrong with Wikipedia or my browser crashes then all I do is copy the text again. Then for the next article I do the same thing (using temp.kwd - overwriting my previous text). --mav 04:05, 15 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Hey! It's good to finally see someone else from Perth on here. I've been editing Wikipedia on-and-off for between one and two years. I really can't remember how long. But on my preferences page it says my user ID number is 120 or something like that. I doubt I joined that early on. Strange.

Anyway, I hope you find Wikipedia rewarding. I tend to get the inspriation and time to have short bursts at it, but lose interest really quickly.

It'd be good if you could contribute to Perth, Western Australia. I really want it to be better than the pages for all the other Australian capitals. :)

Mark Ryan 12:23, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Hi Mark!
 * That is an impressive ID number. I think mine is 29,700.
 * I started writing a short time ago on Wikipedia because of a page I happened to find when I was searching through Google. I did have a look at the Perth, WA page with the intention that if it needed some work I would move it along.  I fact, I decided it was already pretty good.  The aerial photo is a nice touch.
 * If I can find some bits to add, I will.
 * Cheers, Humanist 13:40, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Hi. THis is just a notice to let you know that The discussion regaridng OpenOffice moved from Village Pump to Talk:OpenOffice.org. Optim 15:03, 1 Feb 2004 (UTC)

hello
Hello! :) I thought you might be interested in this. Check it out and add your name under "Participants" if your interested. Have a nice day and happy editing! --Grrrlriot (talk) 18:53, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:54, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Humanist


text:
Mist Trail

The Mist Trail is one of the most popular short hikes in Yosemite National Park, California, USA. The steep hike follows the Merced River, starting at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley, past Vernal Fall and Emerald Pool, to Nevada Fall.

Description
Along the trail, the Merced River is a tumultuous mountain stream, lying in a U-shaped valley. Enormous boulders, some the size of a house, are dwarfed by the sheer faces of exfoliating granite, which rise 3000 feet (914 m) from the river. Through it all, the Merced River rushes down from its source in the High Sierra, and broadens on the floor of Yosemite Valley.

A trail which links to the John Muir Trail starts after crossing from the Happy Isles. Depending on one's conditioning, a bridge which re-crosses the river - the halfway point of a hike to the foot of Vernal Fall - can be reached in 15 to 30 minutes.

To the side of Vernal Fall, the mist from the river blankets the trail, which was improved during the WPA projects of the 1930s. Here is where raingear becomes handy: in the spring, hikers often become completely drenched from water sprayed off Vernal Fall. This is one of the few places where a complete circular rainbow can be viewed. The trail now crosses a sheer face which is made somewhat easier by a single guard rail. At the top of Vernal Fall, the Merced River traverses a shelf of granite, and the hikers frequently sun themselves to dry off. The Emerald Pool is named for the color of the river here.

Up the trail, Nevada Fall, a waterfall that is almost twice the height of Vernal Fall, awaits the hiker, although there is no cascade of mist over the trail at that waterfall. Behind Nevada Fall is Liberty Cap, an impressive lump of granite. The Mist Trail then rejoins the John Muir Trail: the hiker can travel in Little Yosemite Valley, or take a side trip to the top of Half Dome, using cables to climb the rock. Permits must be obtained in advance to hike Half Dome, and back country permits are required to stay overnight along the John Muir Trail.

The distance from Happy Isles trailhead to the Vernal Fall foot bridge is 0.8 miles (1.3 km) with an elevation gain of 400 ft (120m); to the top of Vernal Fall is 1.2 miles (1.95 km ) with an elevation gain of 1000 ft (300m); and to the top of Nevada Fall is 2.7 miles (4.35 km) one way with an elevation gain of 1900 ft (610m)( data per NPS information ).

Related hikes

 * The Mist Trail is commonly used as the first leg of the hike up Half Dome. Half Dome can also be reached by the John Muir Trail, but this route is longer and less scenic. However, it is less steep than the Mist Trail, which makes it more commonly used for descent. The mist from Vernal Falls can be a significant factor governing the choice between the Mist Trail and John Muir Trail while climbing Half Dome. For instance, the Mist Trail might be very inviting on warm days or something to be avoided on cool days. Also, the Mist Trail is usually more inviting on ascent, as the mist helps to cool hikers while climbing the steep trail.
 * The High Sierra Camps provide a loop through the Yosemite backcountry, with tent cabins spaced one day's hike apart. These require reservations.
 * A panoramic view of the Mist Trail can be had from Glacier Point, 3000 feet (900 m) above, looking north. During the summer, shuttle buses from the floor of the valley will take an hour to arrive at Glacier Point. Hikers have the option of taking a shuttle bus one-way from the valley floor to Glacier Point, then hiking on the Panorama Trail from Glacier Point down to the top of the Mist Trail at Nevada Fall.
 * The John Muir Trail starts at the same trailhead as the Mist Trail.

title: Mist Trail


text:
River Lea

The River Lea is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of the largest rivers in London and the easternmost major tributary of the Thames.

The river's significance as a major east–west barrier and boundary has tended to obscure its importance as north–south trade route. Below Hertford the river has since medieval times had alterations made to make it more navigable for boats between the Thames and eastern Hertfordshire and Essex, known as the Lee Navigation. This stimulated much industry along its banks. The navigable River Stort, the main tributary, joins it at Hoddesdon.

While the lower Lea remains somewhat polluted, its upper stretch and tributaries, classified as chalk streams, are a major source of drinking water for London. An artificial waterway known as the New River, opened in 1613, abstracts clean water away from the upper stretch of the river near Hertford for drinking, and lower parts of the river are also abstracted from. The Lea's origin in the Chilterns contributes to the extreme hardness (high mineral content) of London tap water.

Etymology
The name of the River Lea was first recorded in the 9th century, although is believed to be much older. Spellings from the Anglo-Saxon period include Lig(e)an in 880 and Lygan in 895, and in the early medieval period it is usually Luye or Leye. It seems to be derived from a Celtic (brythonic) root lug-meaning 'bright or light' which is also the derivation of a name for a deity, so the meaning may be 'bright river' or 'river dedicated to the god Lugus'. A simpler derivation may well be the Brythonic word cognate with the modern Welsh "Li" pronounced "Lea" which means a flow or a current.

Much of the middle Lea were historically known as 'Mereditch', the first element deriving from the Old English ‘gemaera’, meaning boundary. This was due to that section of the river’s role as the dividing line between territories, for instance separating Middlesex and Essex. By the 20th century 'Mereditch' had evolved to 'Mare Dyke' and referred to just one channel of the river between Chingford and Enfield. The channel was replaced by parts of the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain in the mid 20th century.

The River Lea is the major component in a number of place-names, including Leagrave, the suburb of Luton where the source of the river is located, and of Luton and Leyton: both mean "farmstead on the River Lea".

Spelling
The spelling Lea predominates west (upstream) of Hertford, but both spellings (Lea and Lee) are used from Hertford to the River Thames. The Lee Navigation was established by Acts of Parliament and only that spelling is used in this context. The Lee Valley Regional Park Authority also uses this spelling for leisure facilities. However, the spelling Lea is used for road names, locations and other infrastructure in the capital, such as Leamouth, Lea Bridge, the Lea Valley Walk and the Lea Valley lines (railway). This spelling is also used in geology, archaeology, etc. to refer to the Lea Valley.

Other uses
The term River Lea is Cockney rhyming slang for tea.

Natural boundary
The line of the Lea, and its major tributary, the Stort, has long been used as a political boundary. In the Iron Age the Lea and Stort valleys formed a hotly contested frontier zone between the Catuvellauni to the west and the eastern Trinovantes. The two rivers are assumed to have been the boundary between the core territory of the Kingdom of the East Saxons and its Middle Saxon Province. The whole of the Lea was subsequently used as the boundary between English-ruled territory to the west and the Danelaw, established in the late 9th century, to the east.

From around the ninth or tenth century, and the establishment of counties in this part of England, the Lea-Stort line has formed the historic boundary between Essex to the east and Hertfordshire and Middlesex to the west. Within London the river is always used as a boundary between London Boroughs - which in turn inherit more ancient county and parish boundaries which also used the Lea as a boundary. Between 1889 and 1965, the lower Lea was the eastern boundary of the County of London with Essex.

When reviewing the boundaries of London's parliamentary constituencies, the Boundary Commission treats the Thames and Lea as London's major internal barriers. It will not allow a new or altered constituency that spans either river, viewing such a construct as artificial and not reflective of local communities or identities. They have compromised on this further south, on the lower Lea, where the quality and quantity of cross-lea links is much greater, and the communities on either side better integrated as a result.

Upper Lea
The source is usually said to be at Well Head inside Waulud's Bank, a neolithic henge at Leagrave Common in Luton, Bedfordshire; though very close to that spot the river is fed by Houghton Brook, a stream that starts 2 mi further west in Houghton Regis.

After passing through Luton, the young river passes through the Luton Hoo estate and six miles from its source, enters Hertfordshire. The river then flows east-south-east by way of Harpenden, Wheathampstead - once capital of the Catuvellauni tribe, through the narrow green gap between the new towns of Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City, onto the county town of Hertford.

Middle Lea
At Hertford the shallow river turns briefly north before turning to head due south, the few miles/kilometres between Hertford and the confluence with its largest tributary - the Stort - sees the river and its surrounding areas undergo a number of fundamental changes. The river receives a number of major tributaries; the Mimram, Beane, Rib, Ash and then the River Stort.

The extra volume of water has created a broad flood plain with sometimes steep hills on either side. The river passes through this valley in several channels, which are a result of both human intervention and natural causes. The increased flow made the river navigable from Hertford, a situation improved by the creation of the Lee Navigation, a deep canal which begins at Hertford Castle Weir.

The Stort, the most important tributary of the Lea, joins a short distance from Hertford at Feildes Weir, and is itself navigable as far upstream as Bishops Stortford. A railway passes along the west side of the Lea's flood plain, from Hertford to Tottenham, improving the accessibility of the area and contributing to the ribbon development that made the character of the west side of the valley much more developed than the east.

Just after Hertford, the river passes the medieval river port of Ware and the Hertfordshire bank soon becomes entirely developed. On the west bank the river passes Hoddesdon, Broxbourne and Cheshunt in Hertfordshire; then Enfield, Edmonton, Tottenham and Tottenham Marshes in north London. On the eastern side the river passes Waltham Abbey on the largely rural Essex bank, and then Chingford and Walthamstow in east London.

For many miles/kilometres below Hertford the river is lined by lakes; to the north these are primarily flooded former gravel pits but in London these are reservoirs: the 13 reservoirs of the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain, fed by the branches of the river known as the River Lee Flood Relief Channel and the River Lee Diversion. These reservoirs come to an end on the boundaries of the London Boroughs of Haringey and Hackney and form part of a broad undeveloped green space, a mile (800 m) wide in places, which extends deep into London.

Lower Lea
On Hackney's northern edge, the river shifts to a south-south-easterly direction, the reservoirs end but the broad green corridor continues. The corridor includes Walthamstow Marshes, Leyton Marshes, Hackney Marshes and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. In that park, and just to the south of it, the river's course is split, running almost completely in man-made channels, the Bow Back Rivers; these channels were once much more numerous and originally created to power water mills, including at the southern end, the restored tidal mill called Three Mills. The area around the Bow Back Rivers subsequently became a thriving industrial zone. Around Bow Creek, major industry prevailed, including the Thames Ironworks, Bromley-by-Bow gasholders and West Ham Power Station. In the 1960s and 1970s, changing economic conditions led to a steep decline and deindustrialisation along the Lea.

The river was historically tidal as far as Hackney Wick, but now the tide is held back by Bow Locks between Bromley-by-Bow and West Ham. Although watercraft can follow the Lea down to the Thames, it is generally more practical to follow the Limehouse Cut (which meets the Lea at Bow Locks) down the Limehouse Basin, using the Limehouse Basin Lock to join the Thames.

The communities on the west side of the lower Lea include Hackney, Bow and Bromley-by-Bow. On the east side, they include southern parts of Walthamstow, then Leyton, Stratford and West Ham. The last few miles of the river is known as Bow Creek and the river meets the Thames at Blackwall (on the west side) and Canning Town (on the east).

Crossings
In the Roman era, Old Ford, as the name suggests, was the ancient, most downstream, crossing point of the River Lea. This was part of a pre-Roman route that followed the modern Oxford Street, Old Street, through Bethnal Green to Old Ford and thence across a causeway through the marshes, known as Wanstead Slip (now in Leyton). The route then continued through Essex to Colchester. At this time, the Lea was a wider river, and the tidal estuary stretched as far as Hackney Wick. Evidence of a late Roman settlement at Old Ford, dating from the 4th and 5th centuries, has been found.

In 1110, Matilda, wife of Henry I, reputedly took a tumble at the ford, on her way to Barking Abbey and ordered a distinctively bow-shaped, three-arched, bridge to be built over the River Lea (The like of which had not been seen before), at Bow, the first bridge over the lower Lea. The lower Lea was at that time a wide, tidal and unchannelised river, so the construction of the bridge allowed a far greater degree of social and economic integration between Essex on one side, and Middlesex (including the City of London) on the other, than had been possible before.

Lea Bridge, the second bridge over the lower Lea was built after 1757, to replace the pre-existing ferry. It connected Clapton to the west, and Leyton and Walthamstow to the east. The Iron Bridge carrying the Barking Road over the river to Canning Town was built in 1810. There are significantly more crossings over the more central Lower Lea, than there are over the Middle Lea.

Trade and industry
During the Middle Ages, Temple Mills, Abbey Mills, Old Ford and Bow were the sites of water mills (mainly in ecclesiastic ownership) that supplied flour to the bakers of Stratforde-atte-Bow, and hence bread to the City. It was the channels created for these mills that caused the Bow Back Rivers to be cut through the former Roman stone causeway at Stratford (from which the name is derived).

The River Lea flows through the old brewing and malting centre of Ware, and consequently transport by water was for many years a significant industry based there. Barley was transported into Ware, and malt out via the river, in particular to London. Bargemen born in Ware were given the "freedom of the River Thames" — avoiding the requirement of paying lock dues — as a result of their transport of fresh water and food to London during The Great Plague of 1665–66. A local legend says that dead bodies were brought out of London at that time via the river for burying in Ware, but there is no evidence for this.

The extensive level of waterborne trade led the historian John Stow, writing in 1603, to describe the Lea as “this pleasant and useful river”.

The riverside has hosted a number of major armaments manufacturers, such as the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills, the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock (which is now a housing development known as Enfield Island Village) and the Congreve Rocket Factory on the site of Stratford Langthorne Abbey.

Management of the river
Improvements were made to the river from 1424, with tolls being levied to compensate the landowners, and in 1571, there were riots after the extension of the River was promoted in a private bill presented to the House of Commons. By 1577, the first lock was established at Waltham Abbey and the river began to be actively managed for navigation.

The New River was constructed in 1613 to take clean water to London, from the Lea and its catchment areas in Hertfordshire and bypass the polluting industries that had developed in the Lea's downstream reaches. The artificial channel further reduced the flow to the natural river and by 1767 locks were installed below Hertford Castle Weir on the canalised part of the Lea, now the Lee Navigation with further locks and canalisation taking place during the succeeding centuries. In 1766, work also began on the Limehouse Cut to connect the river, at Bromley-by-Bow, with the Thames at Limehouse Basin.

The Waterworks River, a part of the tidal Bow Back Rivers, has been widened by 8 m and canalised to assist with construction of the Olympic Park for the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2009, Three Mills Lock was installed on the Prescott Channel to maintain water levels on the Lea, within the park at a depth of 2 m. This allowed access by 350–tonnes barges to ensure that at least 50% of the material required for construction could be delivered, or removed, by water. (These figures are under review. It is stipulated that the governing body has re appraised these figures).

In January 2024, the River Lea burst it's banks as Hackney Wick residents tell of 'knee-high' flood water.

War and conflict
Millfields Park on the Lea at Hackney, is the reputed site of a victory of Aescwine of Essex over Octa of Kent in 527, which allowed Aescwine to become the first King of Essex. However, the historicity of these events and the very existence of Aescwine are disputed.

Somewhere between 878 and 890, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was drawn up that amongst other things used the course of the Lea to define the border between the Danes and the English. In 894, a force of Danes sailed up the river to Hertford, and in about 895 they built a fortified camp, in the higher reaches of the Lea, about 20 mi north of London. Alfred the Great saw an opportunity to defeat the Danes and dug a new channel to lower the level of the river, leaving the Danes stranded.

In 1216, during the First Barons' War, the future Louis VIII of France besieged Hertford Castle for a month, leading to its surrender. He only held the castle for a relatively short time as he lost the war soon after.

In 1648 during the second English Civil War a Royalist force crossed the Thames from Greenwich and hoped to cross Bow Bridge, over the Lea and into Essex. After inconclusive clashes with the Tower Hamlets Militia and other Parliamentarian forces, an engagement known as the Battle of Bow Bridge, the Royalists headed for Colchester and were besieged there.

During WWI, parts of London on either side of the Lea were badly hit by German Army and Navy airship raids. It is believed the crews mistook the extensive reservoir chain for the Thames and released their bombs on what they took to be central London.

Environmental issues
The ecological, landscape and recreational importance of the river and its surrounding land has been recognised through inclusion in a number of parks and by several planning policy designations.

Management and designations
Much of the river lies within the Lee Valley Park. Some of the land surrounding the river has been designated as Metropolitan Green Belt or Metropolitan Open Land in order to prevent further urbanisation.

Wildlife
The river contains fish and other wildlife such as the occasional seal.

Some boat trippers reported observing on 5 August 2005 a Canada goose being pulled underwater very quickly. The London Wildlife Trust suggested that this was most likely caused by a pike.

In 2011, Mike Wells claimed that he saw a "goose go vertically down" in the river. Again a pike or mink was suggested as most likely. Vice Magazine suggested that Wells' story may have been invented to publicise authorities' attempts to evict houseboats from the area that year, ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Pollution
The river is threatened by pollution, with sewage frequently discharged into the river as well as less common events causing major damage, such as an oil leak in 2018, or the toxic runoff from a warehouse fire in 2019. The sewage pollution, as well as that of fertiliser washed in from agricultural fields causes eutrophication, an excess of nutrients, which not only unbalances the ecosystem, but also leads to de-oxygenation of the water.

Dumping, litter and microplastics are a major problem on the Lea with much of this waste arriving in the river in sewage. In April 2021, Hackney Council wrote to the Environment Agency calling for action to address sewage discharge and pollution in the river. In November 2021, local volunteers stated they were removing 100kg of plastic pollution from the Lower Lea every month.

Water extraction, for drinking water, farming and industry, has led to a reduction in river flow impacting wildlife and concentrating the pollutants present in the remaining river water.

Projects such as that led by Thames21 installing reedbeds help to remove pollutants whilst oxygenating the water, as well as creating habitat for the likes of water voles and improving the aesthetics of the man-made concrete sections of the canalised river.

Sport
In their early days, Tottenham Hotspur played their games at Tottenham Marshes on the Middle Lea while Leyton Orient have had a number of home grounds in the Lower Lea Valley, with both having their current grounds within a mile of the river. West Ham United was established as the works team of the Thames Ironworks, a shipyard which straddled either side of the Lea at its confluence with the Thames.

The 2012 Olympics was focused in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on the banks of the Lea, and its main Stadium, on an island between two branches of the river, is now home to West Ham United. The Lee Valley White Water Centre in Hertfordshire is another sporting legacy of the games.

London Bridge Is Falling Down
Various versions of the nursery rhyme London Bridge Is Falling Down make reference to Bow Bridge. The oldest known version could be that recalled by a correspondent to the Gentleman's Magazine in 1823, in which he claimed to have heard from a woman who was a child in the reign of Charles II (r. 1660–1685) and had the lyrics:

"London Bridge is broken down,
 * Dance over the Lady Lea;

London Bridge is broken down,
 * With a gay lay-dee."

There are a number of theories about the identity of the Fair Lady, including the idea that it may refer to Matilda, the builder of Bow Bridge and its neighbours, or that it may apply to the River Lea itself.

Other
The poem A Tale of Two Swannes is set along the River Lea. It was written by William Vallans and published in 1590.

The old course of the river is the one featured in the early chapters of the classic fishing book The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton. The author begins at Tottenham and proceeds upriver from there.

A guide to walking along the river valley was written by Leigh Hatts, and an account of a walk along the complete length of the river in 2009 was published as a blog by "Diamond Geezer".

In 2014, German writer Esther Kinsky published a novel, Am Fluß, now available in English as River, translated by Iain Galbraith, based around her walks along the lower Lea from the marina at Horseshoe Point to the river's mouth where it joins the Thames.

In 2015, singer-songwriter Adele dedicated a track to the river on her third studio album, 25.

Notable fisheries

 * Amwell Magna Fishery
 * Carthagena Weir
 * Dobbs Weir
 * Fishers Green
 * Kings Weir

Tributaries

 * For a full list of tributaries, please expand the box entitled 'River Lea / Lee, England' at the bottom of this page.

title: River Lea


text:
James Parrott

James Parrott (August 2, 1897 – May 10, 1939) was an American actor and film director; and the younger brother of film comedian Charley Chase.

Early years
James Gibbons Parrott was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Charles and Blanche Thompson Parrott. In 1903, his father died from a heart attack, leaving the family in bad financial shape, which forced them to move in with a relative. Charley Jr. quit school, so he could go to work, in order to support his mother and brother. Eventually the call of the stage beckoned him, and Charley Jr. left home at age 16 to travel the vaudeville circuit as a singer and comedic performer.

James was forced to leave school at a young age, in order to earn money to support the family. His first job was as a bellboy at the age of 10.Two years later, he was a driver of a horse-drawn carriage. He later became a prop man when his brother Charley was a director at Fox.

Later, Charley's connections in the film industry helped his younger brother to become established in movies, and he would appear during the 1920s in a series of relatively successful comedies for producer Hal Roach. He was billed first as "Paul Parrott", then "Jimmie Parrott". Approximately 75 comedies were produced from 1921 to 1923, with titles continuing to be released through Pathé until 1926. Frequent co-stars included Marie Mosquini, Jobyna Ralston, Eddie Baker, and Sunshine Sammy.

Parrott is probably best known as a comedy director. As "James Parrott", he specialized in the two-reel misadventures of Laurel and Hardy, including Helpmates (1931) and the Oscar-winning classic The Music Box (1932).

Later years
During the 1930s Parrott had acquired serious drinking and drug problems (his diet medications were actually addictive amphetamines) and although still able to direct quality shorts, he had developed a reputation as unreliable. By the mid-1930s his work was spotty: Stan Laurel used him sporadically to contribute gags to the Laurel and Hardy features, and he would direct an Our Gang short in 1934, plus several acceptable entries in Thelma Todd–Patsy Kelly series.

Death
By 1937, Parrott was accepting any jobs that came his way. He could no longer be counted on to direct or write, and relied on his brother to support him financially. There was a brief marriage to Ruby Ellen McCoy in 1937, but as his various addictions worsened, so did his state of mind.

James Parrott died in 1939. His brother Charley was guilt-ridden; he had refused to help James financially until he overcame his substance-abuse problems. Parrott's death at 41 was attributed to a heart attack, but former Hal Roach associates maintained he committed suicide. Chase drank heavily to cope with his loss, and died the following year. Both brothers are interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Spouses

 * Clara Miller m. 1921-?
 * Ruby Ellen McCoy m. 1937-1939

The Sons of the Desert's Twice Two tent (St Neots, UK), researching James Gibbons Parrott, discovered that he married Clara Miller in 1921. However, there is scant information about her: no date of birth, only that she was a housewife, with no available photograph. The tent traced them living together in Beverly Hills, but the trail runs cold by 1930. With lack of evidence, one can only speculate what happened next to the couple; thus far there is no evidence of divorce papers.

This is a piece of evidence showing James Parrott and his wife Clara Miller. In 1922 they were living together in Los Angeles, where James Parrott had a successful career as an actor. Clara Miller was registered here as a housewife. It is the only file located thus far with James and Clara after their wedding in 1921.

Actor

 * 1918 : Hit Him Again
 * 1918 : A Gasoline Wedding
 * 1918 : Look Pleasant, Please
 * 1918 : Here Come the Girls
 * 1918 : Let's Go
 * 1918 : On the Jump
 * 1918 : Follow the Crowd
 * 1918 : Pipe the Whiskers
 * 1918 : It's a Wild Life
 * 1918 : Hey There!
 * 1918 : Kicked Out
 * 1918 : Two-Gun Gussie
 * 1918 : Fireman Save My Child
 * 1918 : Sic 'Em, Towser
 * 1918 : Somewhere in Turkey
 * 1918 : An Ozark Romance
 * 1918 : Kicking the Germ Out of Germany
 * 1918 : That's Him
 * 1918 : Bride and Gloom
 * 1918 : Two Scrambled
 * 1918 : No Place Like Jail
 * 1918 : Why Pick on Me?
 * 1918 : Just Rambling Along
 * 1918 : Hear 'Em Rave
 * 1918 : She Loves Me Not
 * 1919 : An Auto Nut
 * 1919 : Do You Love Your Wife?
 * 1919 : Wanted - $5,000
 * 1919 : Going! Going! Gone!
 * 1919 : Hustling for Health
 * 1919 : Hoots Mon!
 * 1919 : I'm on My Way
 * 1919 : The Dutiful Dub
 * 1919 : A Sammy in Siberia
 * 1919 : Young Mr. Jazz
 * 1919 : Crack Your Heels
 * 1919 : Ring Up the Curtain
 * 1919 : Si, Senor
 * 1919 : Pistols for Breakfast
 * 1919 : Swat the Crook
 * 1919 : Off the Trolley
 * 1919 : At the Old Stage Door
 * 1919 : A Jazzed Honeymoon
 * 1919 : Count Your Change
 * 1919 : Chop Suey & Co.
 * 1919 : Heap Big Chief
 * 1919 : Don't Shove
 * 1920 : His First Flat Tire
 * 1921 : Big Town Ideas
 * 1922 : Try, Try Again
 * 1922 : Paste and Paper
 * 1922 : Loose Change
 * 1922 : Rich Man, Poor Man
 * 1922 : Stand Pat
 * 1922 : Friday the Thirteenth
 * 1922 : The Late Lamented
 * 1922 : A Bed of Roses
 * 1922 : The Sleuth
 * 1922 : Busy Bees
 * 1922 : The Bride-to-Be
 * 1922 : Take Next Car
 * 1922 : Touch All the Bases
 * 1922 : The Truth Juggler
 * 1922 : Rough on Romeo
 * 1922 : Wet Weather
 * 1922 : The Landlubber
 * 1922 : Bone Dry
 * 1922 : Soak the Shiek
 * 1922 : Face the Camera
 * 1922 : The Uppercut
 * 1922 : Shiver and Shake
 * 1922 : The Golf Bug
 * 1922 : Shine 'Em Up!
 * 1922 : Washed Ashore
 * 1922 : Harvest Hands
 * 1922 : The Flivver
 * 1922 : Blaze Away
 * 1922 : I'll Take Vanilla
 * 1922 : Fair Week
 * 1922 : The White Blacksmith
 * 1922 : Fire the Fireman
 * 1923 : Post No Bills
 * 1923 : Watch Your Wife
 * 1923 : Mr. Hyppo
 * 1923 : Don't Say Die
 * 1923 : Jailed and Bailed
 * 1923 : A Loose Tightwad
 * 1923 : Tight Shoes
 * 1923 : Do Your Stuff
 * 1923 : Shoot Straight
 * 1923 : For Safe Keeping
 * 1923 : Bowled Over
 * 1923 : Get Your Man
 * 1923 : The Smile Wins
 * 1923 : Good Riddance
 * 1923 : Speed the Swede
 * 1923 : Sunny Spain
 * 1923 : For Art's Sake
 * 1923 : Fresh Eggs
 * 1923 : Uncovered Wagon
 * 1923 : For Guests Only
 * 1923 : Live Wires
 * 1923 : Take the Air
 * 1923 : Finger Prints
 * 1923 : Winner Take All
 * 1923 : Dear Ol' Pal
 * 1923 : Join the Circus
 * 1924 : Get Busy
 * 1925 : Whispering Lions
 * 1925 : The Caretaker's Daughter
 * 1925 : Are Parents Pickles?
 * 1925 : Whistling Lions
 * 1926 : Between Meals
 * 1926 : Don't Butt In
 * 1926 : Soft Pedal
 * 1926 : Pay the Cashier
 * 1926 : The Only Son
 * 1926 : Hired and Fired
 * 1926 : The Old War-Horse
 * 1931 : Pardon Us
 * 1934 : Washee Ironee

Director

 * 1921 : The Pickaninny
 * 1922 : Mixed Nuts
 * 1924 : Just a Minute
 * 1924 : Hard Knocks
 * 1924 : Love's Detour
 * 1924 : The Fraidy Cat
 * 1924 : Don't Forget
 * 1925 : Should Sailors Marry?
 * 1926 : The Cow's Kimona
 * 1926 : On the Front Page
 * 1926 : There Ain't No Santa Claus
 * 1927 : Many Scrappy Returns
 * 1927 : Are Brunettes Safe?
 * 1927 : A One Mama Man
 * 1927 : Forgotten Sweeties
 * 1927 : Bigger and Better Blondes
 * 1927 : Fluttering Hearts
 * 1927 : What Women Did for Me
 * 1927 : The Sting of Stings
 * 1927 : The Lighter That Failed
 * 1927 : Now I'll Tell One
 * 1927 : Us
 * 1927 : Assistant Wives
 * 1927 : Never the Dames Shall Meet
 * 1928 : All for Nothing
 * 1928 : Galloping Ghosts
 * 1928 : Their Purple Moment
 * 1928 : Should Married Men Go Home?
 * 1928 : Two Tars
 * 1928 : Habeas Corpus
 * 1928 : Chasing Husbands
 * 1929 : Ruby Lips
 * 1929 : Lesson No. 1
 * 1929 : Happy Birthday
 * 1929 : Furnace Trouble
 * 1929 : Stewed, Fried and Boiled
 * 1929 : Perfect Day
 * 1929 : They Go Boom!
 * 1929 : The Hoose-Gow
 * 1930 : La Vida nocturna
 * 1930 : Une nuit extravagante
 * 1930 : Tiembla y Titubea
 * 1930 : Der Spuk um Mitternacht
 * 1930 : Radiomanía
 * 1930 : Noche de duendes
 * 1930 : Feu mon oncle
 * 1930 : Night Owls
 * 1930 : Blotto
 * 1930 : Brats
 * 1930 : Below Zero
 * 1930 : Hog Wild
 * 1930 : The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case
 * 1930 : Another Fine Mess
 * 1931 : La Señorita de Chicago
 * 1931 : Los Presidiarios
 * 1931 : Be Big!
 * 1931 : The Pip from Pittsburgh
 * 1931 : Monerías
 * 1931 : Rough Seas
 * 1931 : One of the Smiths
 * 1931 : Pardon Us
 * 1931 : The Panic Is On
 * 1931 : Skip the Maloo!
 * 1931 : What a Bozo!
 * 1932 : Helpmates
 * 1932 : The Music Box
 * 1932 : The Chimp
 * 1932 : County Hospital
 * 1932 : Young Ironsides
 * 1932 : Girl Grief
 * 1932 : Now We'll Tell One
 * 1932 : Mr. Bride
 * 1933 : Twice Two
 * 1933 : Twin Screws
 * 1934 : Mixed Nuts
 * 1934 : A Duke for a Day
 * 1934 : Benny from Panama
 * 1934 : Washee Ironee
 * 1934 : Opened by Mistake
 * 1935 : Treasure Blues
 * 1935 : Sing, Sister, Sing
 * 1935 : The Tin Man
 * 1935 : The Misses Stooge
 * 1935 : Do Your Stuff

Writer

 * 1925 : Chasing the Chaser
 * 1925 : Unfriendly Enemies
 * 1925 : Laughing Ladies
 * 1926 : Your Husband's Past
 * 1926 : Wandering Papas
 * 1926 : Say It with Babies
 * 1926 : Never Too Old
 * 1926 : Along Came Auntie
 * 1926 : Should Husbands Pay?
 * 1926 : Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes
 * 1926 : Get 'Em Young
 * 1926 : On the Front Page
 * 1928 : Galloping Ghosts
 * 1928 : Should Married Men Go Home?
 * 1937 : Way Out West
 * 1938 : Swiss Miss
 * 1938 : Block-Heads

title: James Parrott