Genius Fan

I’m a bald man, have been since I saw a reflection of myself, aged 28, in a shop window in High Wycombe and had a barber shave it all off the next day. I’m fine with it (ughhh!), but it would be nice to have a Barnet*. If I was to pick one from the Eighteenth century (come on, I’d never wear a wig from the Seventeenth! And a Nineteenth century hairdo? I don’t think so…), there’s a fair few to choose from. I mean they’re of a type, but which would suit me? I borrowed some from well known Eighteenth century figures for this post. Can you guess the owners? They’re all from recognisable portraits (assuming my sketching is up to scratch).

And below I’ve added my face in, just so you can enjoy my er, appearance. Answers at the bottom.

[* Barnet = Barnet Fair = Hair]

I’m the bald fella at the top left.

1. Marquess of Rockingham (1730-1782), British Prime Minister (1765-1766)
2. Bonnie Prince Charlie (1720-1788), Jacobite heir to the throne
3. Joseph Addison (1672-1719), co-founder of The Spectator
4. Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), one of the greatest novelists ever
5. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American founding father & great bloke
6. Sarah Siddons (1755-1831), Welsh stage actress and great tragedian
7. Robert Burns (1759-1796), ploughman poet and Scotland’s national bard