Talk:Blind Freddy

According to the Sydney Morning Herald in November 2004, the original BLIND FREDDY was in charge of troopers trying to catch the bushranger Ben Hall "He was Sir Frederick William Pottinger, officer in charge of the Lachlan district during the reign of the bushranger Ben Hall. The convict's success in eluding capture scored Pottinger the nickname "Blind Freddy" among his peers and journalists of the day. Fred was suspended for behaving like an idiot on January 5, 1865, and died a few months later when a pistol accidentally went off in his pocket." Surely a search through 19th century newspapers might confirm this. -From Brian Lynch expat Australian [now Canadian] living in Antigonish, Nova Scotia

The earliest published reference to the expression appears to be in 1917, making the reference to a Sydney street Hawker named Frederick Solomons more likely than the colourful Pottinger theory: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bli4.htm. There appears to be no recorded evidence of the name being used by "journalists of the day" in reference to Pottinger. Neb-Maat-Re (talk) 04:32, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Ableist language.
Should it be noted that this is an outdated ableist expression that many would consider offensive language?