HEAD 



2739 



HEADACHE 



of 1827, later became a fellow of Merton Col- 

 lege, and in 1834 was appointed a university 

 examiner. His career as a student was marked 

 by extraordinary diligence, particularly in the 

 classics and in economics, with the result that 

 it is said Canada may have had wiser or greater 

 governors but none who was his equal in 

 learning. 



Head's successful career was due in part to 

 the friendship of Henry, third Marquis of 

 Lansdowne (1780-1863), whose grandson was 

 later Governor-General of the Dominion. 

 Through Lansdowne's influence, Head was ap- 

 pointed in 1836 an assistant poor-law commis- 

 sioner, a position which he filled so ably that 

 he was promoted in 1841 to be chief commis- 

 sioner. In 1847 he was sent to New Brunswick 

 us lieutenant-governor and in 1854 succeeded 

 the Earl of Elgin as Governor-General. Dur- 

 ing his administration the clergy reserves and 

 seigneurial tenures were abolished, and Ottawa 

 was chosen as the permanent capital. His term 

 of office was noteworthy for the care he gave 

 even to minute details; it is said that he never 

 signed a public document until he had read it 

 through. Personally quiet and retiring, Head 

 never felt at home in the rough-and-tumble of 

 political life, his leanings being rather towards 

 art and literature. Among other volumes he 

 wrote A Handbook of the Spanish and French 

 School* of Painting, and in the year of his 

 death there appeared a volume of his poems, 

 entitled Ballads and Other Poems, Original and 

 Translated. In 1863, after his return to Eng- 

 land from Canada, he was chosen governor of 

 the Hudson's Bay Company, which had just 

 been reorganized (see HUDSON'S BAY COM- 

 PANY). A distant kinsman of Sir Edmund was 

 Sir Francis Bond Head (which see). G.H.L. 



HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND (1793-1875), a 

 British soldier, colonial administrator and 

 author, lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada 

 during the Rebellion of 1837. How he came 

 to be chosen for this important place at such 

 a critical time was a mystery, even to him. 

 He was unfitted for it both by training and by 

 temperament. He was educated as- a soldier, 

 served on the Continent from 1811 to 1815, 

 spent two years (1825 to 1827) in South Amer- 

 ica in an attempt to develop some gold and 

 silver mines, and in 1834 he was appointed 

 an assistant poor-law commissioner. He was a 

 good commissioner, because he was not called 

 on to decide large questions of policy, and his 

 mind was one which was easily occupied with 

 details. He was also known as an author, his 



most popular books being the vivid and enter- 

 taining Rough Notes Taken during Some Rapid 

 Journeys across the Pampas and among the 

 Andes, and another amusing volume, called 

 Bubbles from the Brunnen of Nassau, which 

 appeared in 1834. 



These experiences and literary accomplish- 

 ments, while not open to criticism in them- 

 selves, were not the preparation needed by the 

 man who was called on to face the demand for 

 reform in Upper Canada. Unfortunately Head 

 was tactless, self-confident, and first ignorant, 

 then misinformed, as to the true state of public 

 opinion in Canada. One of his first acts after 

 reaching Toronto, the capital, in January, 1835, 

 was to summon Robert Baldwin and two other 

 well-known "Reformers" to the executive coun- 

 cil. The three accepted office, but almost im- 

 mediately resigned when it became apparent 

 that the governor had no intention of permit- 

 ting them any voice in the government. 

 Thereupon the assembly passed a vote of lack 

 of confidence, the parliament was dissolved, 

 and in the ensuing general election the weight 

 of the governor's influence was thrown against 

 the Reformers. Head was convinced that re- 

 sponsible government meant separation from 

 the mother country, and helped the Conserva- 

 tives to use every possible method to defeat 

 the Reformers. Even William Lyon Mackenzie 

 failed to win a seat. Disappointed in the hope 

 of securing reform by lawful means, Mackenzie 

 felt that only rebellion was left. Soon after 

 the collapse of the rebellion Head resigned 

 rather than appoint two Reformers to office, as 

 demanded by the home government. Though 

 rewarded by a baronetcy in the next year he 

 never again held public office, and spent the 

 rest of his life in literary activity. 



Among his later works, which were very popu- 

 lar in their day, are The Emigrant; Faggots 

 of French Sticks, a description of life in Paris; 

 Stokers and Pokers, sketches of railway con- 

 struction; and a collection of essays. G.H.L. 



HEADACHE, hed'ake, a danger signal given 

 by the sensitive nerves of the head, which 

 warns that something is wrong with the human 

 organism. Headache is one of the commonest 

 pains that afflict the human race, and it is 

 usually a sign that poisons have formed some- 

 where in the body and have passed into the 

 blood. Fatigue, sleeping in bad air, indiges- 

 tion and constipation are among the principal 

 causes of such poisoning. 



Headache is also a symptom of eyestrain, 

 disease of the middle ear (see EAR), typhoid 



