Charles Head was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England on 25 May 1850 and studied under Sir Ambrose Poynter at South Kensington School of Art in London some time between 1875 and 1881. He lived in Colchester, Essex for most of his career as an artist and worked as a painter, church decorator and muralist From c.1909 he was employed by the architect Temple Lushington Moore (1856-1920) on the decoration of several churches. Head's sons, Mark, Ernest and Richard joined their father's business which was renamed Charles Head & Sons. He lived in West Mersea, Essex until 1881. Shortly after he moved to Colchester, Essex where he lived for the rest of his life. He died on 2 December 1926.

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