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W. A. R. Wood

British General Consul in Siam

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 20, 2023
Entity authorityQ2536616 ↗
Source-derived summary

William Alfred Rae Wood (23 January 1878 – 21 January 1970) was a British diplomat who lived most of his life in Thailand. He began working as an interpreter at the British Legation in Bangkok in 1896, and became the British Consul-General in Chiang Mai in 1921. He retired from office in 1931, and later took up teaching English in Chiang Mai, where he permanently settled down. He was a well known figure in the expatriate British community, and wrote several books, including Consul in Paradise (1965), a memoir covering his life in Thailand, and A History of Siam (1926), which was regarded as a standard work of the time.

Works

A history of Siam. T. Fisher Unwin. 1926.

Consul in paradise: sixty-nine years in Siam. London: Souvenir Press. 1965.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “W. A. R. Wood” as british General Consul in Siam. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1878, 1970, 1896, 1921—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1878-01-23. The account is most persuasive where Wood, British and General can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as british General Consul in Siam. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 20, 2023. The linked authority identifier is Q2536616. VIAF identifies the subject as 42166093. The Library of Congress control number is n87810953. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1878, 1970, 1896 and 1921.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “W. A. R. Wood”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow W. A. R. Wood primary sources, W. A. R. Wood archive and Wood research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “W. A. R. Wood”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “W. A. R. Wood” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.