William Watson Henderson, 1st Baron Henderson PC (8 August 1891 – 4 April 1984), was a British

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 ...

politician.

Background

Henderson was the second son of

Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of th ...

and the elder brother of

Arthur Henderson, Baron Rowley Arthur Henderson, Baron Rowley, (27 August 1893 – 28 August 1968) was a British Labour Party politician. Early life and education Arthur Henderson was the son of Arthur Henderson, who was Leader of the Labour Party between 1908 and 1910, ...

Political career

He sat as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

from 1923 to 1924 and from 1929 to 1931 and served as

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

William Wedgwood Benn William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate, (10 May 1877 – 17 November 1960) was a British Liberal politician who later joined the Labour Party. A decorated Royal Air Force officer, he was Secretary of State for India between 1929 and 19 ...

from 1929 to 1931. He was also Head of the Press and Publicity Department of the Labour Party and served during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as Personal Assistant to the

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

Arthur Greenwood Arthur Greenwood, (8 February 1880 – 9 June 1954) was a British politician. A prominent member of the Labour Party from the 1920s until the late 1940s, Greenwood rose to prominence within the party as secretary of its research department f ...

from 1940 to 1942. In 1945 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Henderson, of Westgate in the City and County of Newcastle upon Tyne. Henderson served in the Labour administration of

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...

as a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

(government whip in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

) and an additional member of the Air Council from 1945 to 1947 and as Joint

Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is a vacant junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affair ...

from 1948 to 1951. In the 1950 Birthday Honours he was admitted to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

Personal life

Arthur Henderson, Golders Green Crematorium

Lord Henderson died in April 1984, aged 92. He never married and the title became extinct on his death. He was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

Notes

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, William Henderson, 1st Baron 1891 births 1984 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs who were granted peerages Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers Place of birth missing Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951 Barons created by George VI