Sir Rowland Edward Whitehead, 3rd Baronet KC MP (1 September 1863 – 9 October 1942) was a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and Liberal Party politician.

Early life

The second son of Sir James Whitehead, 1st Baronet, he was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

and

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

, where he took a First Class degree in history.

Career

A Liberal

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 South East Essex from 1906 to 1910, he was

Parliamentary private secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to Herbert Samuel MP from 1906 to 1909, then to the Attorney-General from 1909 to 1910. Outside parliament, Whitehead was a Bencher of

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, one of HM the King's Lieutenants for the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, a member of

Berkshire County Council The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, also known as the Berkshire County Council, was the top-tier local government administrative body for Berkshire from 1889 to 1998. The local authority had responsibilities for education, social servi ...

, Chairman of Council of Clifton College, a member of the Committee on Work of National Importance, 1916–1919, and held a commission in the Second Volunteer Battalion of the City of London Regiment. He was appointed a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1910.

Family

In 1893, Whitehead married Ethel M. L. Rathbone, a daughter of Philip H. Rathbone, and they had two sons and two daughters. Ethel was the aunt of the actor,

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...

. The family lived at White Cross House in

Winterbrook Winterbrook is a small settlement in the English county of Oxfordshire, which adjoins the south end of Wallingford and sits on the west bank of the Thames. It is separated from Wallingford by Bradford's Brook. In 1974 it was transferred from ...

near Wallingford in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

(now

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

). He inherited the baronetcy from his elder brother, Sir George Whitehead, 2nd Baronet, when his brother died on 21 May 1931. On his own death, the title went to his son Major Philip Henry Rathbone Whitehead.

References

* Who's Who 1934
The Whitehead Papers 1826-1953
held by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

The History of Wilmington Hall

External links

Diary of Sir Rowland Whitehead on the UK Parliament website
* 1863 births 1942 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Members of Berkshire County Council Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 People educated at Clifton College Royal Fusiliers officers People from Wallingford, Oxfordshire Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for South East Essex {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub