Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron Faringdon (28 September 1850 – 17 March 1934), known as Sir Alexander Henderson, 1st Baronet, from 1902 to 1916, was a British financier and
Liberal Unionist
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...
Member of Parliament.
Biography
Henderson was the son of George Henderson of
Langholm
Langholm , also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Langholm lies between four hills in the valley of the River Esk in the Southern Uplands.
Location and geography
Langholm sits n ...
, Dumfriesshire. He began his career in the
City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
with the accountancy firm
Deloitte
Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...
before becoming a stockbroker. He was best known as a financier of railways in Great Britain and overseas (such as the
Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company), and was chairman of the
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its Great Central Main Line, London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company ...
(GCR) from 5 May 1899 until the end of 1922, and then deputy chairman of its successor, the
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...
(LNER), from 1923 until his death. He was also a major shareholder in the
Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, Merseyside, Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it ...
and was involved in port developments and telephone and electrical systems in several countries. The
Witan Investment Trust was created in 1909 to hold his properties, and the asset management firm Henderson Administration was founded in 1934 after his death to administer his estate. Henderson Administration was rebranded to
Henderson Global Investors 70 odd years later.
In 1898 Henderson was elected to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
representing
West Staffordshire, a seat he held until 1906, and he later returned to parliament as member for
St George's Hanover Square from 1913 to 1916.
The
1902 Coronation Honours
The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...
list published on 26 June 1902 for the subsequently postponed coronation of
King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
, announced that Henderson was to receive a
baronetcy
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
, and on 24 July 1902 he was created a Baronet, of Buscot Park, in the county of Berkshire. In 1912 he was appointed
High Sheriff of Berkshire
The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'.
The title of High Sheriff#United King ...
. In 1916 he was raised to the peerage as
Baron Faringdon of
Buscot Park
Buscot Park is a English country house, country house at Buscot near the town of Faringdon in Oxfordshire within the historic boundaries of Berkshire. It is a Grade II* listed building.
It was built in an austere Neoclassical architecture, neo ...
in the county of Berkshire (now in
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...
), and on 4 June 1917 was made a
Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire.
The orde ...
for "services in connection with the war", in his capacity as Vice-Chairman of the Shipping Control Committee.
He was on the governing body of
Abingdon School
Abingdon School is an independent day and boarding school in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. It is the List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, twentieth oldest Independent School (UK), independent British school. In May 202 ...
from 1915 to 1934 and was the Chairman of the Governors from 1927 until his death in 1934.
Family
Henderson married Jane Ellen, daughter of Edward William Davis, in 1874. He died in March 1934, aged 83, and was succeeded by his grandson
Gavin
Gavin is a Celtic male given name. It is the Scottish variation of the medieval Welsh name Gawain, meaning 'God send' or 'white hawk/falcon'. Sir Gawain is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is an epic poem ...
, his eldest son Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon.
Harold Henderson having predeceased him.
Altogether, the Hendersons had seven children:
* Harold (born 29 October 1875)
[Alexander Henderson]
1881 England Census, accessed via ancestry.com subscription site, 15 April 2024.
* Alec (born 23 October 1876)
* Frank (born 11 October 1877)
* Margaret (born 6 April 1879)
* Philip (born 16 March 1881)
* Arnold (born 1 July 1883)
*
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...
(born 26 September 1884). Eric changed his surname to Butler-Henderson shortly after his marriage in 1910, and it was as the Hon. Eric B. Butler-Henderson that he was elected to the Board of the GCR in 1918; like his father, he also served on the Board of the LNER from its formation at the start of 1923.
Honours
Both Henderson and his wife were honoured by having railway locomotives named after them, all being express passenger types. In 1902, the Great Central Railway (GCR), the railway of which Henderson was chairman, gave the name ''Sir Alexander'' to one of their
4-4-0
4-4-0, in the Whyte notation, denotes a steam locomotive with a wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels.
First built in the ...
locomotives, no. 1014 of
class 11B (LNER class D9), which had been built the previous year; Henderson having recently been created a baronet. His wife was similarly honoured when one of the GCR's
class 8E 4-4-2 (LNER class C5), no. 364 (built 1906), was named ''Lady Henderson'' by March 1907.
In August 1913, the GCR named their new
Class 11E (LNER Class D10) 4-4-0 locomotives after directors of that railway; they became known as the "Director" class as a result. The first of the class, no. 429, was named ''Sir Alexander Henderson'', and the name ''Sir Alexander'' was removed from no. 1014 at the same time. In 1917, after Henderson was raised to the peerage, no. 364 was renamed ''Lady Faringdon'', and carried the name until withdrawal in December 1947;
but instead of no. 429 being renamed, the name was removed from this locomotive, and instead, newly built
class 9P 4-6-0 (LNER class B3) no. 1169 was named ''Lord Faringdon'', and carried the name until withdrawal in December 1947. In March 1948,
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...
renamed an ex-LNER
class A4 4-6-2, no. 60034 (hitherto named ''Peregrine'') ''Lord Faringdon''; again the name was carried until withdrawal, this occurring in 1966.
Henderson's youngest son Eric was similarly honoured in 1919 when
class 11F 4-4-0 no. 506 was named ''Butler-Henderson''; Eric was one of only two GCR Directors of the time who had not already given their names to locomotives. This locomotive ran until 1960, and has been preserved.
In addition to these, the Hendersons' Scottish retreat provided the name for another GCR locomotive – no. 4 ''Glenalmond'' of
class 1A; built in 1913, it ran until 1947.
Arms
See also
*
Mark Schreiber, Baron Marlesford, grandson of his daughter Margaret Henderson.
Notes
References
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faringdon, Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron
1850 births
1934 deaths
People from Langholm
Nobility from Dumfries and Galloway
Scottish stockbrokers
19th-century Scottish businesspeople
20th-century Scottish businesspeople
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Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Henderson, Alexander
Henderson, Alexander
Henderson, Alexander
Henderson, Alexander
Henderson, Alexander
Henderson, Alexander
Directors of the Great Central Railway
London and North Eastern Railway people
High sheriffs of Berkshire
People from Vale of White Horse (district)
Governors of Abingdon School
Barons created by George V