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William Keough (politician)

Canadian labour organizer and politician

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 25, 2026
Entity authorityQ20679196 ↗
Source-derived summary

William Joseph Keough (October 30, 1913 – March 3, 1971) was a Canadian labour organizer, journalist and politician from Newfoundland. He represented St. George's-Port au Port in the Newfoundland House of Assembly from 1949 to 1956 and St. George's from 1956 to 1971. Keough was one of the most prominent advocates of Confederation with Canada.

Biography

The son of Joseph Patrick Keough and Mary Ellen King, William Keough was born in St. John's and was educated at St. Patrick's Hall and Saint Bonaventure's College. He was active in the co-op movement in Newfoundland and was editor of The Labour Herald. In 1942, he married Gertrude Clara O'Brien, who later became a human rights commissioner for the United Nations.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “William Keough (politician)” as canadian labour organizer and politician. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1913, 1971, 1949, 1956—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1913-10-30. The account is most persuasive where William, Keough and politician can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as canadian labour organizer and politician. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q20679196. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1913, 1971, 1949 and 1956.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. 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

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “William Keough (politician)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow William Keough (politician) primary sources, William Keough (politician) archive and William 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 “William Keough (politician)”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “William Keough (politician)” 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.