Whitehead, William (1715-1785), an English poet and dramatist, was appointed poet laureate of England in 1757. He succeeded Colley Cibber in the position.
Whitehead was born in February 1715 in Cambridge and studied at Cambridge University. He became a fellow at the university in 1740. While at Cambridge, Whitehead wrote several poems, notably one in the form of a letter, Ann Boleyn to Henry VIII (1743). In 1745, he settled in London as the tutor to the son of the Earl of Jersey. Whitehead became secretary to the Order of the Bath, an order of knighthood, in 1755.
As a playwright, Whitehead’s most popular work was the comedy A School for Lovers (1762). In addition, he wrote the tragedies Horace (1750) and Creusa (1754). Whitehead worked for the famous actor and producer David Garrick, reading and evaluating plays for possible production by Garrick. Whitehead died on April 14, 1785.
