Baron Rowland George Allanson-Winn Headley

Born in London in 1855, Rowland George Allanson Allanson-Winn later became the 5th Baron Headley. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, trained in law and engineering, and built a career as a civil engineer before inheriting the title in 1913.

He also wrote on a striking range of subjects. Works associated with him include technical writing such as Sea-coast erosion and remedial works and the classic fencing manual Broad-Sword and Single-Stick, showing how comfortably he moved between professional engineering and practical sport.

Headley is especially notable for his conversion to Islam, after which he became known as Shaikh Rahmatullah al-Farooq. He was active in early Muslim public life in Britain and is often remembered as one of the most prominent British Muslim figures of his era, giving his life story an importance that reaches well beyond the peerage into religious and cultural history.