Talk:Samuel Rowbotham

Pre execution confession - issue with the reference

The Life section says "Before his execution, Rowbotham lamented to one of his four surviving children that he felt he had squandered his life and "shepherded good people astray from God", by essentially teaching a false religion of a flat-earth, and selling remedies for real illnesses that he knew to be fake" and cites

this book. 

But when you use the search function there the text "Rowbotham" does not appear in the text. Which is a worry. Ttguy (talk) 22:34, 3 September 2017 (UTC)

That would be because the whole section added was a pretty obvious fake. Andy Dingley (talk) 00:31, 21 September 2017 (UTC)

Samuel Rowbotham - Conman and Charlatan

I'd like to see a section on Samuel Rowbotham's documented charlatanism and cons. I do not have any information to hand and I don't have the resources or the skills. I do, however, have it on good authority that he was, in fact, a conman and a charlatan.

For example, he claimed he was a doctor and used the style "Sir" when he had no Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE) or a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE). Yet, he still claimed he had such an honour. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.106.226.87 (talk) 15:16, 1 April 2018 (UTC)

Please check the spelling: "free phosporous"

I don't know how it was spelled in the rather old book being quoted, but is "phosporous" really correct? Note it differs in two ways from the modern spelling "phosphorus": the second H is missing, and it ends in OUS instead of US. ~2026-48843-69 (talk) 10:35, 9 September 2026 (UTC)

I double-checked the spelling and it turns out you're completely correct, and I've fixed the erroneous spelling. Completely my mistake, thanks for noticing! Knypster (talk) 16:43, 12 September 2026 (UTC)

At least one primary source does refer to the substance as "Dr. Birley's Phosphorous" with the second h but also the -ous ending however (cited in Garwood 2010, 148-149), though the "phosphorus" spelling does seem to be more common including in Rowbotham's own writings. Knypster (talk) 16:46, 12 September 2026 (UTC)