Edmund Walker Head

Head was born at Wiarton Place, near Maidstone, Kent, the son of the Reverend Sir John Head, 7th Bt. and Jane (née Walker) Head.{{cite DCB |title=Head, Sir Edmund Walker |first=James A. |last=Gibson |volume=9 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/head_edmund_walker_9E.html}} He succeeded to his father's title in 1838.

He was educated at Winchester College and Oriel College, Oxford, and in 1830 he was made a Fellow of Merton College. He was an Oxford scholar and tutor who published several books, including a book on the verbs shall and will.{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Head, Sir Edmund Walker |volume= 13 |short= x}}{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:The_American_Language.djvu/160|title=Page:The American Language.djvu/160 - Wikisource, the free online library|website=en.wikisource.org|access-date=22 March 2020}} In 1866, Head published The Story of Viga Glum, which he had translated from the original Icelandic.{{cite book|last=Head|first=Sir Edmund|title=The Story of Viga-Glum |url=https://archive.org/details/vigaglumssagast00headgoog|year=1866|publisher=Williams and Norgate}} He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1863.{{cite web|url=http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27head%27%29 |title=Library and Archive Catalogue |publisher=Royal Society |access-date=13 November 2010 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In 1847, Head was appointed Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (1847–1854).{{cite news|title=From the LONDON GAZETTE, Tuesday, Oct. 26.|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxford&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS67272027&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|access-date=16 May 2013|newspaper=The Times|date=27 October 1847|page=4|quote=The Queen has been pleased to appoint Sir Edmund Walker Head, Bart., to be Lieutenant-Governor of the province of New Brunswick.}}

While Lieutenant Governor, Head authorized the creation of an engineering faculty at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). This was the first such programme in what would become Canada.

In 1854, Head was appointed Governor General of the Province of Canada.[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/6423/page/813 The Edinburgh Gazette, September 22, 1854, Numb. 6423, p. 813.] He served until 1861. During his time in office, there was some controversy over his refusal to grant a dissolution to the Reform ministry at the time of the "Double Shuffle".[https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/double-shuffle David Mills, "Double Shuffle", Canadian Encyclopedia, July 7, 2015.]

He was appointed a Privy Councillor in 1857, and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1860.{{cite news|title=Court Circular|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxford&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS119707537&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|access-date=16 May 2013|newspaper=The Times|date=17 December 1860|page=7}}

Head died in London in 1868.

File:Lady Anna Maria Head.jpg

He had married Anna Maria Yorke, daughter of Reverend Philip Yorke Prebendary of Ely, and his wife, Hon. Anna Maria Cocks, daughter of John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers, on 27 November 1838. Anna Maria was born in 1808. The couple had three children. Their son accidentally drowned in Quebec's Saint-Maurice River in September 1859. One of their two daughters was born at Fredericton, New Brunswick on 6 February 1849.

Anna Maria was an artist, who sketched a picture of the view from Major's Hill, Ottawa, Ontario which she subsequently presented to Queen Victoria. Within a month or two after this event Her Majesty chose Ottawa as the seat of Government of United Canada. Lady Head volunteered and bestowed alms among the poor. A memorial of her Ladyship's visit to the Upper Ottawa, in a bark canoe, in 1856, stands at Portage-du-Fort, Quebec. In the county of Renfrew, a township Maria, was named in her honour. Lady Head died at Oak Lea, Shere, Guildford, England, 25 August 1890.{{cite news|title=Deaths|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxford&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS17224475&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|access-date=16 May 2013|newspaper=The Times|date=27 August 1890|page=1}}{{cite book |editor-last=Morgan |editor-first=Henry James |editor-link=Henry James Morgan |title=Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada |location=Toronto |publisher=Williams Briggs |date=1903 |url=https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft |page=[https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft/page/153 153]}}

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• Sir Edmund Head Hall is the name of the engineering building at the University of New Brunswick.[https://unbhistory.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Sir_Edmund_Head_Hall UNB Archives and Special Collections: Sir Edmund Head Hall]
• Edmundston, New Brunswick, is named after him.[https://edmundston.ca/en/notre-ville/histoire-et-culture Edmundston: Heritage and Culture]
• The united township of Head, Clara and Maria in Renfrew County, Ontario was named in honour of Head and his wife.
• Mount Head in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta is named after him.

• List of lieutenant governors of New Brunswick
• List of governors general of the Province of Canada

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• [https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-edmund-walker-head-18051868-222434 Portrait of Sir Edmund Walker Head by Henry Weigall on the Art UK Your Paintings website]

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Category:1805 births

Category:1868 deaths

Category:Edmundston

Category:People from Maidstone

Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of England

Category:Governors-general of the Province of Canada

Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath

Category:Governors of the Colony of New Brunswick

Category:Governors of the Hudson's Bay Company

Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Category:Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery

Category:Fellows of Merton College, Oxford

Category:Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge