Born on 1 December 1868 at 1 Welclose Place, Blackman Square, Leeds, the elder son and third child of Alfred Whitehead, cloth manufacturer, and Elizabeth Longley, his wife. He was educated at the Leeds Grammar School, at the Yorkshire College, and at the Leeds School of Medicine. He served as house surgeon to Sir Arthur Mayo Robson at the Leeds General Infirmary, where he was appointed assistant surgeon to the ophthalmic staff upon the resignation of John Nunneley. It was decided in 1912 to rearrange the work of his department, and he then became surgeon in charge of the ophthalmic department at the Infirmary, and lecturer on ophthalmology in the University of Leeds, positions he held until his resignation in 1920. He married on 7 June 1902 Clara Evelyn Lander, who survived him with one son and two daughters. He died on Sunday, 5 October 1930, and was buried in the churchyard at Pool, near Leeds. Publications: An unusual case of bilateral cerebral abscess. *Lancet*, 1904, 1, 428. Frontal sinus empyema. *Arch Ophthal* 1904, 33, 252. Ocular tuberculosis. *Proc Roy Soc Med* 1922-23, 16, ophthal. 2. Eclipse amblyopia. *Trans Ophthal Soc UK* 1922, 42, 278.