Sir Henry Whitehead, sometimes written as Whithed (3 September 1574 – 27 April 1629) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1625 to 1629. Whitehead was born on 3 September 1574, the only son of Richard Whitehead of Norman Court, and his wife Christian, daughter of William Jephson of

Froyle Froyle is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 3.6 miles (5.8 km) northeast of Alton. The nearest railway station is 2 miles (3.3 km) east of the village, at Bentley. According to the ...

, Hampshire. He matriculated at

Hart Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...

in 1589. He inherited the estates of Norman Court and

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

, Hampshire in 1593. : 'Parishes: Millbrook', A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3 (1908), pp. 427-432. Date accessed: 15 June 2011
/ref> He was knighted on 23 July 1603, and in 1609 he was

High Sheriff of Hampshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Hampshire. This title was often given as High Sheriff of the County of Southampton until 1959. List of High Sheriffs *1070–1096: Hugh de Port "Domesday Book Online" *1105: Henry de Port (son of Hugh) *1129: W ...

Sir Egerton Brydges Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, 1st Baronet (30 November 1762 – 8 September 1837) was an English bibliographer and genealogist. He was also Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1812 to 1818. Educated at Maidstone Grammar School and The King ...

Stebbing Shaw Stebbing Shaw (1762 – 28 October 1802) was an English cleric, local historian and topographer. He is remembered as a county historian of Staffordshire Life Stebbing Shaw was born in about the spring of 1762 near Stone, Staffordshire. His father ...

''The topographer: containing a variety of original articles'', Volume 1, p. 464
/ref> In 1625, Whitehead was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. He was elected MP for

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

in 1626 and for Stockbridge in 1628. Whitehead was twice married. His first wife, by a

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building *Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fina ...

dated 20 March 1593, was Anne, daughter of James Weston, the chancellor of the

Diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

. The couple had three sons and two daughters before Anne's death in 1623. Two sons and one daughter predeceased their father. Their surviving son,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

, later became an MP and a colonel in the

Parliamentary army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Thr ...

. Henry married secondly, in a settlement dated 10 June 1604, Constance, the daughter of Sir Richard Norton of

East Tisted East Tisted () is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 4.8 miles (7.7 km) south of Alton on the A32 road. The village lies 50 miles south-west of London, 14 miles east of the city of Winche ...

, Hampshire. The couple had two sons and five daughters, one son predeceasing his father, before Constance's death on 23 October 1626. Sir Henry died on 27 April 1629 and was buried three days later at

St Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Henry 1574 births 1629 deaths English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 High Sheriffs of Hampshire Alumni of Hart Hall, Oxford