Joseph Whitehead (1814 – March 12, 1894) was a Canadian railway pioneer and political figure. He represented Huron North in the 1st Canadian Parliament as a Liberal member. He was born in Guisborough, Yorkshire, England in 1814. Whitehead was a fireman and engineer on railways in Britain, serving as fireman for George Stephenson's Locomotion in 1825. He later became involved in railway construction, helping to build the Caledonian Railway in Scotland. He came to Canada West in 1850 and help build sections of the Great Western Railway and a section of the Grand Trunk Railway between Buffalo and Goderich. He also served as mayor for the town of Clinton, Ontario. Whitehead won contracts to build two sections of the transcontinental railway, the section between Cross Lake and Kenora and a bran