Researching Bill Henderson

Henderson was the son of Royal Navy Commander Oscar Henderson, and Alicia Mary Henry. He was raised at Hillsborough Castle, the official residence of the monarch in Northern Ireland, where his father served as private secretary and comptroller general to the James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn, the first Governor of Northern Ireland. His younger brother was the television executive Robert Brumwell "Brum" Henderson.

Henderson served in World War II as part of the Irish Guards regiment of the British Army and, in 1949, achieved the honorary rank of captain. In the aftermath of 1953 Northern Ireland general election, he became a member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for the safe Belfast Victoria seat. His election saw the Unionist majority against Labour slashed from 8,907 in 1949 to 1,662. In 1958 he narrowly lost the seat to David Bleakley. The same year he was appointed, at Ulster Television, to the executive position of director, before taking up the post of managing director of the Belfast Newsletter and then moving to Chairman of Century Newspapers in 1964.

Henderson's family owned the Newsletter from 1844 until 1991. From 1964 to 1991, he was the final member of the Henderson family to be in control of the publication and, by the time of his retirement, was the only member of a three-person Board with executive responsibilities. Century Newspapers, the holding company, sold the title to Thompson Regional Newspapers in 1991 as the family could no longer guarantee the viability of the paper following Bill Henderson's retirement despite attempts to hire suitably qualified management.

Between 1970 and 1981 he was President of Knock Motor Cycle & Car Club in Belfast and, in Spring 2005, became a trustee of the Ulster Reform Club.

Prior to becoming a college head coach, Henderson coached the Temple High School boys' basketball team, which reached the 1928 state championship game. Although Henderson's Temple team lost to Austin High School in the title game, it was eventually awarded the championship because an ineligible player had been on Austin's roster. In Henderson's first two seasons in charge of Baylor, the team finished with records of 11–9 and 6–14. After his two-season break, he guided the team to a 25–5 record, Southwest Conference championship, and NCAA Tournament berth in 1945–46. In the 1948 NCAA Tournament, the Bears reached the title game, rallying from sizable deficits against Washington and Kansas State along the way. Baylor faced Kentucky for the national championship, losing 58–42. It was the first time a Southwest Conference team had advanced to the championship game in an NCAA Tournament.

Henderson's team reached the Final Four of the 1950 NCAA Tournament, losing to Bradley 68–66. The Bears did not return to the NCAA Tournament during Henderson's coaching tenure. The 1950 Final Four team only finished one game above .500 overall, and after that season he only notched two more winning records overall. The Bears declined to 4–20 in his final season, 1960–61. After the season, he announced his resignation. Henderson's total of 201 wins was a Baylor men's basketball record until current coach Scott Drew passed him in 2014. His 233 losses remains a school record.

Henderson has been noted for barring his players from smoking, drinking, and swearing, and for what author Allan Zullo called his "nervous habit of tying and untying his shoes at critical points in a game so he wouldn't have to watch a play unfold." From 1968 to 1971, Henderson served as Baylor's athletic director. The Texas Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 1976. On July 5, 1979, Henderson died at the age of 78.