Mary Ruth Mayhew, Lady Head, also known by her married name Ruth Head, or as Mrs Henry Head (1866–1939), was an English teacher and a writer of fiction and non-fiction. She was the daughter of A.L Mayhew, a lexicographer and the chaplain of

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

. In 1897 she met the neurologist

Henry Head Sir Henry Head, FRS (4 August 1861 – 8 October 1940) was an English neurologist who conducted pioneering work into the somatosensory system and sensory nerves. Much of this work was conducted on himself, in collaboration with the psychiatrist ...

(later Sir Henry Head) and they began a correspondence, eventually marrying in 1904. Ruth worked as a schoolmistress at Oxford High School, and was later headmistress of

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

High School for Girls. At the time of their marriage, Head was aged 42 and Ruth was 38 and "a fit companion for him in intelligence". The marriage was childless.

In fiction

Ruth Head is a character in the novel ''

Regeneration Regeneration may refer to: Science and technology * Regeneration (biology), the ability to recreate lost or damaged cells, tissues, organs and limbs * Regeneration (ecology), the ability of ecosystems to regenerate biomass, using photosynthesis ...

'' by

Pat Barker Patricia Mary W. Barker, (née Drake; born 8 May 1943) is an English writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres on themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. Her work is described as direct, blunt and pl ...

, which features Head's experiments on nerve regeneration with fellow neurologist

W.H.R. Rivers William Halse Rivers Rivers FRS FRAI ( – ) was an English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist known for treatment of First World War officers suffering shell shock, so they could be returned to combat. Rivers' most f ...

Publications

Novels

* ''A history of departed things'' (London, 1918.) * ''Compensation'' (London, 1921.)

Other

* ''A simple guide to pictures'' (London, 1914.) * ''Pictures and other passages from

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

'' (London, 1916.) * ''The weather calendar'' (Oxford, 1917.) * ''A day-book of Benjamin Disraeli'' (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1920.) * ''The little death'' (translation of Irene Forbes-Mosse's novel) (London, 1921.) * ''Pages from the works of

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

'', with an introduction by Henry Head. (London: Chatto & Windus, 1922.)

References

1866 births 1939 deaths 20th-century British novelists British women novelists 20th-century British women writers Women heads of schools in the United Kingdom Wives of knights {{UK-writer-stub