Antony Henry Head, 1st Viscount Head, GCMG, CBE, MC, PC (19 December 1906 – 29 March 1983) was a British soldier, Conservative politician and diplomat.
Background and education
Head was born in London on 19 December 1906, the son of Geoffrey Head and Ethel Daisy, daughter of Arthur Flower.[1] He was educated at Ludgrove School,[2] Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[1]
Military career
A career soldier, Head was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars on 30 August 1926.[3] He later joined the Life Guards, serving through the Second World War and achieving the rank of brigadier. He was awarded the Military Cross (MC) on 20 December 1940.[4] He was part of the British delegation to the Potsdam Conference.[1]
Political career
Head was elected Conservative MP for Carshalton in 1945.[1] He served as Secretary of State for War from 1951 to 1956 and as Minister of Defence (with a seat in the cabinet) from 1956 to 1957,[5] in the administrations of Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1951 and in 1960 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Head, of Throope in the County of Wiltshire.[6] He was later High Commissioner to Nigeria from 1960 to 1963 and High Commissioner to Malaysia from 1963 to 1966. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1961 New Year Honours[7] and promoted to be Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in 1963.[8]
Family
Lord Head married Lady Dorothea Louise (1907–1987), daughter of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl of Shaftesbury, on 23 July 1935.[1] They had four children:
- Richard Antony Head, 2nd Viscount Head (b. 27 February 1937)
- Teresa Mary Head (b. 20 June 1938)
- Simon Andrew Head (b. 11 November 1944)
- Josephine Head (24 May 1948 – 9 October 1949)
Lord Head lived at Throope Manor in Bishopstone, Salisbury, and died there on 29 March 1983, aged 76.[1] He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his eldest son, Richard.[1]
Arms
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References
- ^ a b c d e f g Colville, John (2004). "Head, Antony Henry, first Viscount Head (1906–1983), army officer and politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31214. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Barber, Richard (2004). The Story of Ludgrove. Oxford: Guidon Publishing. p. 189. ISBN 0-9543617-2-5.
- ^ "No. 33198". The London Gazette. 3 September 1926. p. 5765.
- ^ "No. 35020". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 December 1940. p. 7197.
- ^ "Mr Anthony Head (Hansard)". Hansard. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ "No. 42108". The London Gazette. 2 August 1960. p. 5321.
- ^ "No. 42231". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 December 1960. p. 8892.
- ^ "No. 43052". The London Gazette. 12 July 1963. p. 5883.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage. 2000.
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
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