Captain Oscar William James Henderson (17 August 1924 – 22 October 2010), known as Bill Henderson was a

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

newspaper owner and legislator who, as a member of the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

, represented the constituency of Belfast Victoria in the

Northern Ireland House of Commons The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the ''Government of Ireland Act 1920''. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished wit ...

. Henderson was the son of Royal Navy Commander Oscar Henderson, and Alicia Mary Henry. He was raised at

Hillsborough Castle Hillsborough Castle is an official government residence in Northern Ireland. It is the official residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,

, the official residence of the monarch in Northern Ireland, where his father served as private secretary and comptroller general to the

James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn (30 November 1869 – 12 September 1953), styled Marquess of Hamilton between 1885 and 1913, was a British peer and Unionist politician. He was the first Governor of Northern Ireland, a post h ...

, the first Governor of Northern Ireland. His younger brother was the television executive Robert Brumwell "Brum" Henderson. Henderson served in World War II as part of the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG), is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infantry regiments in the British Army. The regiment has parti ...

regiment of the British Army and, in 1949, achieved the honorary rank of captain. In the aftermath of

1953 Northern Ireland general election The 1953 Northern Ireland general election was held on 22 October 1953. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. Results ''All parties shown ...

, he became a member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for the safe Belfast Victoria seat. His election saw the Unionist majority against

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

slashed from 8,907 in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

to 1,662. In

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

he narrowly lost the seat to

David Bleakley David Wylie Bleakley CBE (11 January 1925 26 June 2017) was a politician and peace campaigner in Northern Ireland. Born in the Strandtown district of Belfast, Bleakley worked as an electrician in the Harland and Wolff dockyards while becomi ...

. The same year he was appointed, at

Ulster Television UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1) is the ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the area. It is run by ITV plc an ...

, to the executive position of director, before taking up the post of managing director of the ''

Belfast Newsletter The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737. The newspape ...

'' and then moving to Chairman of Century Newspapers in 1964. Henderson's family owned the ''Newsletter'' from 1844 until 1991. From 1964 to 1991, he was the final member of the Henderson family to be in control of the publication and, by the time of his retirement, was the only member of a three-person Board with executive responsibilities. Century Newspapers, the holding company, sold the title to Thompson Regional Newspapers in 1991 as the family could no longer guarantee the viability of the paper following Bill Henderson's retirement despite attempts to hire suitably qualified management. Between 1970 and 1981 he was President of Knock Motor Cycle & Car Club in Belfast and, in Spring 2005, became a trustee of the

Ulster Reform Club The Ulster Reform Club is a business, social and dining club in Northern Ireland. The club's clubhouse, which opened on New Year's Day 1885, occupies a conspicuous position on Royal Avenue, Belfast, Royal Avenue in the centre of Belfast. In its ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Bill 1924 births 2010 deaths Irish Guards officers British Army personnel of World War II Deputy Lieutenants of Belfast Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1953–1958 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies Officers of the Order of the British Empire