PORTRAIT OF THE PRINCESS OF ZANZIBAR WITH AN AFRICAN ATTENDANT

Sir John Henderson, 5th of Fordell (1605–1650), was a Scottish soldier and mercenary, distinguished as a

Cavalier The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ) ...

in the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...

. Born 3 November 1605 in Fordell, Fife. He was a distinguished soldier, who had been enslaved by Barbary pirates when commanding on the East African coast. Henderson then, supposedly, fell in love with the Princess of

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

who he contrived to escape to Egypt with.Gray, Sir John (Sept 1955) "Sir John Henderson and the Princess of Zanzibar" in '' Tanganyika Notes and Records'' pp. 15-19. Later, Henderson was a mercenary, serving with the military for Denmark, Sweden, and elsewhere, and fought on the side of the Royalists in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

when Henderson was invested as a

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

by King Charles I.

Civil War

Henderson assisted Sir John Digby, the

High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of the English county of Nottinghamshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuri ...

, to seize Newark on behalf of Charles I in late 1642 The Earl of Newcastle then made him Governor of Newark. During his time in Newark, Henderson lived and worked in The Governor's House In February 1643, Henderson led a sortie from the town that successfully repulsed Major-General Thomas Ballard's force of 6,000 Parliamentarians. This led to suspicions that Ballard had colluded with the Royalists. In March 1643, a large force of Royalists from Newark commanded by Sir Charles Cavendish and Henderson marched into Lincolnshire and captured the town of

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

in a surprise attack. On 9 October 1643 the

Eastern Association The Eastern Association of counties was an administrative organisation set up by Parliament in the early years of the First English Civil War. Its main function was to finance and support an army which became a mainstay of the Parliamentarian mi ...

army (under the command of the

Earl of Manchester Duke of Manchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the current senior title of the House of Montagu. It was created in 1719 for the politician Charles Montagu, 4th Earl of Manchester. Manchester Parish in Jamaica was named af ...

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

and

Sir Thomas Fairfax Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...

) marched from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Bolingbroke Castle Bolingbroke Castle is a ruined castle in Bolingbroke (now Old Bolingbroke) in Lincolnshire, England. Construction Most of the castle is built of Spilsby greenstone, as are several nearby churches. The local greenstone is a limestone that pr ...

. Sir William Widdrington put together a scratch force, which included Henderson's Royalist cavalry, in an attempt to relieve the castle. Two days later, the Earl of Manchester routed Henderson's Royalist cavalry at the

Battle of Winceby The Battle of Winceby took place on 11 October 1643 during the First English Civil War near the village of Winceby, Lincolnshire. In the battle, a Royalist relieving force under the command of Sir William Widdrington was defeated by the ...

. By the end of October 1645 Henderson's liaisons between Charles I and the King of Denmark were known to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

as Charles became increasingly desperate in his attempt to obtain aid. After "his health and means had been exhausted by his long imprisonment" he was allowed to retire to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

.Sothebys.com (7 December 2017)
Walter Frier: ''Portrait of the Princess of Zanzibar with an African Attendant''
'"'' retrieved 9 October 2019. A few months later, he returned to England as an envoy of the King of Denmark; due to a concern that he was using his diplomatic status as a cloak for espionage, he was ordered to return to Denmark. Sources agree that he died on 11 March 1650, but differ over the place (Denmark or Fife).

Family

His parents were Sir John Henderson, 4th of Fordell and Agnes Balfour. He married Margaret Menteith, daughter of Alexander Menteith and granddaughter of William Menteith of Randiford, 11th and Last of Kerse, on 7 February 1625. and together they raised ten children: # Jean Henderson (married Thomas Bruce of Blairhall, son of Robert Bruce and Catherine Preston, on 27 April 1748) # Sir John Henderson of Fordell, 1st Baronet (d. 26 Jan 1683), created in the

Baronetage of Nova Scotia Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain. Baronetage of England (1611–1705) King James ...

on 15 July 1664. # Francis Henderson (killed in action, without issue, having gained the rank of Officer in the service of the French service). # George Henderson d. 1659 (killed in action, without issue, in The Netherlands). # Margaret Henderson (married Sir Henry Wardlaw of Pitreavie, 3rd Bt. on 9 June 1653, then went on to marry Peter Hay of Maughton). # Elizabeth Henderson (married Alexander Mercer of Kinnaird on 9 May 1656, then went on to marry Sir Robert Cunningham, Bt. on 14 May 1660 and later married Sir William Denholme of Westshield on 7 July 1679). # Bethia Henderson (married John Roberton of

Earnock Earnock was an ancient estate in an area south of Hamilton in Lanarkshire, Scotland. It extended from the western side of Strathaven Road to the western extremity of the Parish of Hamilton. Etymology Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account ...

on 5 March 1662, then went on to marry Alexander Hamilton, 2nd of Dalzell, son of James Hamilton, 1st of Dalzell and Beatrice Fleming). # Anna Henderson (married Hon. Archibald Stuart, son of James Stuart, 4th Earl of Moray and Lady Margaret Home, in 1669, then went on to marry Walter Denholme, son of Walter Denholme of Westshield). # William Henderson b. c 1628, d. 21 Jul 1676 # James Henderson b. c 1630, d. 2 May 1675 (a supporter of King Charles II, married Margaret Scott)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, John, 5th of Fordell 1605 births 1650 deaths Scottish knights Scottish soldiers Cavaliers 17th-century Scottish people People from Fife