George Head, A Home Tour through the Manufacturing Districts of England in the Summer of 1835
George Head, who was knighted in 1831, was born at Higham in Kent in 1782. He was educated at Charterhouse and joined the army in 1808, serving in the Peninsular war against Napoleon in Portugal, Spain and France, then later in Canada. In 1829 he published his reminiscences of Canada, which led to a number of further travel books including two about Britain. He died in London in 1855. He seems to have been the inspiration for 'George Head', an intrepid explorer suffering from double vision who appeared in the first series of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Note that we also hold Head's other book about Britain, A Home Tour through various parts of the United Kingdom in 1837.