William Whitehead (1715 – 14 April 1785) was an English poet and playwright who served as Poet Laureate of Great Britain from 1757 to 1785. At Cambridge, Whitehead published an epistle On the Danger of writing Verse and some other poems, notably a 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, and took up his residence in London. There he produced two tragedies: The Roman Father and Creusa, Queen of Athens. The plots of these tragedies are based the Horace (1640) of Pierre Corneille, and the Ion (c. 414–412 BC) of Euripides.

He was appointed Register and Secretary of the Knights Companions of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath.

He died at home in Charles Street, London on 14 April 1785 and is buried in South Audley Street Chapel.

Poetry and plays

Much of Whitehead's work was well received, for example his tragedy The Roman Father was successfully produced by David Garrick in 1750, Creusa, Queen of 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.

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’.

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Notes

References

  • Chalmers' Works of the English Poets (vol. 17)
  • Bell's British Theatre (vols. 3, 7, 20)
  • William Whitehead at the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)