William Whitehead (baptized 12 February 1715 – 14 April 1785) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
and
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
. He became
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
in December 1757 after
Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classics, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his ''Elegy Written in a Country ...
declined the position.
[
]
Life
The son of a baker, Whitehead was born in Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
and through the patronage of Henry Bromley, afterwards Baron Montfort
Baron Montfort is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first creation came in the Peerage of England when John de Montfort was summoned to parliament on 23 June 1295. In 1367 the title either became extinct or fell into abe ...
, was admitted to Winchester College
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...
aged fourteen.
He entered Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...
on a Pyke scholarship in 1735, and became a fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
in 1742 (resigning this in 1746), and admitted Master of Arts in 1743. At Cambridge, Whitehead published an epistle ''On the Danger of writing Verse'' and some other poems, notably an heroic epistle, ''Ann Boleyn to Henry the Eighth'' (1743), and a didactic ''Essay on Ridicule'', also (1743).
In 1745 Whitehead became the tutor of George Villiers, Viscount Villiers, son of William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey
William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey, 6th Viscount Grandison, (died 28 August 1769) was an English peer and politician from the Villiers family.
Life
He was the son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's P ...
, and took up his residence in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. There he produced two tragedies: ''The Roman Father'' and ''Creusa, Queen of Athens''. The plots of these tragedies are based the ''Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
'' (1640) of Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine.
As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...
, and the ''Ion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge.
The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conve ...
'' (c. 414–412 BC) of Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
. He accompanied Lord Villiers and George Harcourt, Viscount Nuneham, son of Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt
Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, (1714 – 16 September 1777), known as Viscount Harcourt between 1727 and 1749, was a British diplomat and general who became Viceroy of Ireland.
Biography
Harcourt was born in Oxfordshire, the son of Hon. ...
on their Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...
between 1754 and 1756.
After Thomas Gray refused the Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
ship, it was passed to Whitehead, who was more acceptable at court as he had been the travelling tutor of George Harcourt, Viscount Nuneham, son of Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt
Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, (1714 – 16 September 1777), known as Viscount Harcourt between 1727 and 1749, was a British diplomat and general who became Viceroy of Ireland.
Biography
Harcourt was born in Oxfordshire, the son of Hon. ...
, who was Governor to the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
(later George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
).
He was appointed Register and Secretary of the Knights Companions of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
.
He died at home in Charles Street, London on 14 April 1785 and is buried in South Audley Street
South Audley Street is a major shopping street in Mayfair, London.'South Audley Street: Introduction', in Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings), ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1980), pp. 290–291. Bri ...
Chapel.
Poetry and plays
Much of Whitehead's work was well received: his tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
''The Roman Father
''The Roman Father'' is a 1750 tragedy by the British writer William Whitehead (poet), William Whitehead. It is set during the reign of Tullus Hostilius, the legendary third King of Rome and his war with the neighbouring city of Alba Longa.
The ...
'' was successfully produced by David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
in 1750, ''Creusa, Queen of Athens
''Creusa, Queen of Athens'' is a 1754 tragedy by the British writer William Whitehead.Watson p.861 It is based on the story of Creusa of Athens
In Greek mythology, Creusa (; Ancient Greek: Κρέουσα ''Kreousa'' "princess" ) was an Athens, ...
'' (1754) was also praised and his sentimental comedies '' The School for Lovers'' (1762) and ''The Trip to Scotland'' (1770) were successful.
After being appointed Poet Laureate, Whitehead defended the poetry of Laureates in a comic poem "A Pathetic Apology for All Laureates, Past, Present, And To Come". He was conscientious, and saw himself as a non-partisan representative for the whole country. Astonishingly for a political appointee, he appeared to see no requirement "to defend the King or support the government". Sadly, this reflects the idea that the Laureate's influence had weakened so much that the official poems were unlikely to influence opinions, even though the times were important politically, with rebellion in the American colonies and war in Europe.Poets Laureate of Great Britain
/ref>
For some 28 years in this post, he contented himself in writing the obligatory verse, avoiding flattery and domestic politics, and bolstering Britain’s place in world affairs. Indeed, he was the first laureate to see past court and party divisions and speak of the ‘spirit of England’. The ode
An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...
s Whitehead wrote in his capacity as Poet Laureate, however, were ridiculed. Charles Churchill attacked him in 1762, in the third book of ''The Ghost'', as "the heir of Dullness and Method".
Whitehead's works were collected in two volumes in 1774. A third, including a memoir by William Mason William, Willie, or Willy Mason may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*William Mason (poet) (1724–1797), English poet, editor and gardener
*William Mason (architect) (1810–1897), New Zealand architect
*William Mason (composer) (1829–1908), Ame ...
, appeared posthumously in 1788. His plays are printed in Bell's ''British Theatre'' (vols. 3, 7, 20) and other collections, and his poems appear in Alexander Chalmers
Alexander Chalmers (29 March 1759 – 29 December 1834) was a Scottish writer.
He was born in Aberdeen.
Trained as a doctor, he gave up medicine for journalism, and was for some time editor of the ''Morning Herald''. Besides editions of the wo ...
's ''Works of the English Poets'' (vol. 17) and similar compilations.
Poem – ''The Je Ne Sais Quoi''
Notes
References
* ''Chalmers' Works of the English Poets'' (vol. 17)
* ''Bell's British Theatre'' (vols. 3, 7, 20)
External links
William Whitehead
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, William
1715 births
1785 deaths
People from Cambridge
British Poets Laureate
People educated at Winchester College
18th-century English poets
18th-century English writers
18th-century English male writers
18th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge
English male dramatists and playwrights
English male poets
Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath