1st Baron Faringdon Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron Faringdon

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jun 12 2018, 13:07:05 UTC

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GEDCOM Note

<p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Henderson was the son of George Henderson of <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Langholm" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langholm">Langholm</a>, Dumfriesshire. He began his career in the <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="City of London" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London">City of London</a> with the accountancy firm <a class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Deloittes" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deloittes">Deloittes</a> before becoming a stockbroker. He was best known as a financierof railways in Great Britain and overseas (such as the <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeciras_Gibraltar_Railway_Company">Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company</a>), and was chairman of the <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Great Central Railway" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Central_Railway">Great Central Railway</a> (GCR) from 5 May 1899 until the end of 1922,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Henderson,_1st_Baron_Faring...">[1]</a></sup> and then deputy chairman of its successor, the <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="London and North Eastern Railway" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_and_North_Eastern_Railway">London and North Eastern Railway</a> (LNER), from 1923 until his death.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Henderson,_1st_Baron_Faring...">[2]</a></sup> He was also a major shareholder in the <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Manchester Ship Canal" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Ship_Canal">Manchester Ship Canal</a> and was involved in port developments and telephone and electrical systems in several countries. The <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Witan Investment Trust" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witan_Investment_Trust">Witan Investment Trust</a> was created in 1909 to hold his properties, and the asset management firm <a class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Henderson Global Investors" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henderson_Global_Investors">Henderson Global Investors</a> was founded in 1934 after his death to administer his estate.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In 1898 Henderson was elected to the <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="House of Commons of the United Kingdom" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom">House of Commons</a> representing <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="West Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Staffordshire_(UK_Parliament_con...)">West Staffordshire</a>, a seat he held until 1906, and he later returned to parliament as member for <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Westminster St George's (UK Parliament constituency)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_St_George%27s_(UK_Parliam...)">St George's Hanover Square</a> from 1913 to 1916.</p>style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="1902 Coronation Honours" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1902_Coronation_Honours">1902 Coronation Honours</a> list published on 26 June 1902 for the subsequently postponed coronation of <a class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="King Edward VII" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward_VII">King Edward VII</a>, announced that Henderson was to receive a <a class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Baronetcy" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baronetcy">baronetcy</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Henderson,_1st_Baron_Faring...">[3]</a></sup> and on 24 July 1902 he was created a Baronet, of Buskat Park, in the county of Berkshire.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Henderson,_1st_Baron_Faring...">[4]</a></sup> In 1912 he was appointed <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="High Sheriff of Berkshire" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Sheriff_of_Berkshire">High Sheriff of Berkshire</a>. In 1916 he was raised to the peerage as <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Baron Faringdon" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Faringdon">Baron Faringdon</a> of <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Buscot Park" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buscot_Park">Buscot Park</a> in the county of Berkshire (now in <a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Oxfordshire" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfordshire">Oxfordshire</a>),<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Henderson,_1st_Baron_Faring...">[5]</a></sup> and on 4 June 1917 was made a <a class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" title="Companion of Honour" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companion_of_Honour">Companion of Honour</a> for "services in connection with the war", in his capacity as Vice-Chairman of the Shipping Control Committee.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a style="text-decoration-line: none; color: #0b0080; background: none;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Henderson,_1st_Baron_Faring...">[6]</a></sup></p>

As one of the wealthiest men in the country, Alex's humorous line was 'never be prepared to associate yourself with anything that is not of the very first rate'