Edgar Whitehead
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The Honourable Sir Edgar Whitehead KCMG OBE |
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| Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia | |
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In office 17 February 1958 – 17 December 1962 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | Garfield Todd |
| Succeeded by | Winston Field |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 February 1905 British Embassy, Berlin, German Empire |
| Died | 22 September 1971 (aged 66) Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom |
| Political party | United Federal Party |
| Alma mater | University College, Oxford |
Sir Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead, KCMG, OBE, (8 February 1905 – 22 September 1971) was a Rhodesian politician. He was a longstanding member of the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly, although his career was interrupted by other posts and by illness. In particular he had poor eyesight, and wore very thick glasses, and later suffered deafness whilst in office. As an ally of Sir Roy Welensky, he was Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1958 to 1962. His government was defeated in the 1962 general election by the Rhodesian Front.
Whitehead was born in the British Embassy in Berlin, where his father was a diplomat. He was educated at Shrewsbury School and University College, Oxford, and moved to the colony of Southern Rhodesia in 1928 for health reasons. After working briefly for the civil service at Gwelo, he moved to a farm in the Bvumba Mountains near Umtali. Whitehead became active in the local farming unions.
He became a member of the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly in 1939, but his service was interrupted by the Second World War. During the Second World War, he was in West Africa and was an Air Despatcher with the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. He served as Acting High Commissioner for Southern Rhodesia in London from 1945 to 1946, before returning to Salisbury as Minister of Finance and Posts & Telegraphs. During the Federation period, Whitehead served as Minister for Rhodesia & Nyasaland Affairs in Washington, D.C. from 1957 to 1958.
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