Sir William Henderson (10 April 1826 – 9 June 1904) was a Scottish merchant and philanthropist.

Life

Henderson was born in

Aberdour Aberdour (; Scots: , gd, Obar Dobhair) is a scenic and historic village on the south coast of Fife, Scotland. It is on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, looking south to the island of Inchcolm and its Abbey, and to Leith and Edinburgh b ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area inclu ...

, the son of a farmer, and his first job was a junior position in the

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, about north of Aberdeen, and north of ...

branch of the North of Scotland Bank. However, he soon moved to

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to work for the Aberdeen White Star Line, founded in 1825 by George Thompson, a ship-owning company whose fleet of Aberdeen

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included the

Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...

. He travelled widely on the firm's business, and in 1886 he became senior partner of the firm, on the retirement of George Thompson. This was a time of great change as sailing ships were replaced by steamships. Henderson entered Aberdeen Town Council in 1885, and in November 1886 was elected Lord Provost in succession to James Matthews, serving until 1889. While on the council, he was instrumental in causing the rebuilding of the

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to commemorate Queen Victoria's

jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

in 1887, and the erection of the Public Library buildings on Rosemount Viaduct. Politically, he was a

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. On his retirement as Lord Provost, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Aberdeen. Henderson was an active member of the Free Church of Scotland, and involved in many philanthropical endeavours. He was knighted in

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

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, and in 1895 awarded an

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Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

Family

In 1852, he married a daughter of George Thompson; they had 5 sons and 5 daughters. From 1857 they resided at Devanha House (now a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

References

* ''Aberdeen Weekly Journal,'' 19 April 1899, page 7

External links

* 1826 births 1904 deaths People from Fraserburgh Scottish philanthropists Deputy Lieutenants of Aberdeen Scottish Presbyterians Lord Provosts of Aberdeen Knights Bachelor Scottish knights Scottish Liberal Party councillors 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century British businesspeople {{Scotland-provost-stub