There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Head, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. One creation is extant as of 2007. Head Baronetcy, of The Hermitage, in the parish of Higham in the

County of Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

, was created in the Baronetage of England on 19 June 1676 for

Richard Head Richard Head ( 1637 – before June 1686) was an Irish author, playwright and bookseller. He became famous with his satirical novel ''The English Rogue'' (1665), one of the earliest novels in English that found a continental translation. Life ...

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 o ...

for

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

. The eighth Baronet was a colonial administrator and served as

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...

from 1854 to 1861. On his death in 1868 the title became extinct. See also the 1838 creation below. The Head Baronetcy, of

in the

, was created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom on 14 July 1838 for Francis Head,

Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confed ...

from 1836 to 1838. He was the son of James Roper Mendes Head and grandson of

Moses Mendes Moses Mendez, or Mendes, (1690? - 4 February 1758), was a British poet and playwright. It has been suggested that he wrote the anonymous texts for Handel's dramatic English oratorios " Solomon" and " Susanna". Life and career Moses Mendez was bor ...

, husband of Anna Gabriella, daughter and co-heir of Sir Francis Head, the 4th Baronet of the 1676 creation. His father had assumed by Royal licence the surname of Head in lieu of Mendes in 1770. The Mendes family descended from Fernando Mendes, a Sephardi Jew who came to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1662 as personal physician to

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to King Charles II, which lasted from 21 May 1662 until his death on 6 February 1685. She ...

. "The family, which is of antiquity in Kent, derives its name from the Kentish port now called Hythe, but formerly known as ''De Hede''". The Head family's ancestral seat was located at The reatHermitage at Higham in Kent,

"''a pleasant seat in this parish, situated at almost the south-east extremity of it, about a mile northward from the London road to Dover. It stands on a hill, and commands a most extensive prospect both of the Medway and Thames, the Channel below the Nore, and a vast tract of country both in Kent and Essex. This seat was new built by Sir Francis Head, thbart. who inclosed a park round it (since disparked) and greatly improved the adjoining grounds. He resided here, and died possessed of it, with the manor of Higham Ridgway, and other estates in this parish, in 1768, and was buried in a vault in Higham church.''

The Great Hermitage was destroyed by fire in 1938.

Head baronets, of The Hermitage (1676)

* Sir Richard Head, 1st Baronet (c. 1609–1689) *Sir Francis Head, 2nd Baronet (c. 1670–1716) *Sir Richard Head, 3rd Baronet (c. 1692–1721) * Sir Francis Head, 4th Baronet (c. 1693–1768) *Sir John Head, 5th Baronet (c. 1702–1769) *Sir Edmund Head, 6th Baronet (1733–1796) buried in

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Medway, Rochester, Kent. The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church o ...

Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.150 *Sir John Head, 7th Baronet (1773–1838) *

Sir Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet Sir Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet, KCB (16 February 1805 – 28 January 1868) was a 19th-century British politician and diplomat. Early life and scholarship Head was born at Wiarton Place, near Maidstone, Kent, the son of the Reverend Sir J ...

(1805–1868)

Head baronets, of Rochester (1838)

Sir Francis Bond Head Sir Francis Bond Head, 1st Baronet KCH PC (1 January 1793 – 20 July 1875), known as "Galloping Head", was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the rebellion of 1837. Biography Head was an officer in the corps of Royal Engineers of t ...

, KCH, 1st Baronet (1793–1875) *Sir Francis Somerville Head, 2nd Baronet (1817–1887) *Sir Robert Garnett Head, 3rd Baronet (1845–1907) *Sir Robert Pollock Somerville Head, 4th Baronet (1884–1924) *Sir Francis David Somerville Head, 5th Baronet (1916–2005) *Sir Richard Douglas Somerville Head, 6th Baronet (born 1951) The

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the baronetcy is Patrick John Somerville Head (born 1943), eldest son of the 2nd and youngest son of the 4th Baronet, John Kenelm Somerville Head (1918–2010).

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baronets, Head Head 1676 establishments in England Head