I'd just like to add to this discussion that I think this is a good idea as
it gets round the need to define start and end dates for cultural and
stylistic periods which can be open to dispute as they are a matter of
interpretation. Applying dates to the periods on this list will take us back
to the problem that we are trying to escape from and also prevent it from
being used across the whole country rather than just England.
As this is only an example of what can be done and not a finished thesaurus
there will need to be discussion on individual terms as with all the other
reference data lists. There are some problems still to be addressed for
example:
If Scotland is to be included there will be discrepancies in the titles of
some monarchs e.g. Elizabeth II is not the II in Scotland as Elizabeth I was
only queen of England. This can be resolved and so there is no reason not to
expand this to cover Scotland and for that matter how about including Welsh
rulers and events.
Some prime ministers had more than one term of office with a break in
between e.g. Churchill. Should this be one period or two?
Some thought will also need to be given as to how terms from this thesaurus
can be used together to double index when recording.
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Martin Newman
Heritage Data
National Monuments Record
English Heritage
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