Researching Richard Henderson

Henderson was born in Virginia Colony, but his family moved to Granville County, North Carolina when he was a child. There he studied law and became a member of the bar. He married in Elizabeth Keeling, an English Peer, in 1763 and had 6 children.Henderson was appointed judge in 1768, but retired in 1773 to pursue land deals. In 1774, he formed the Transylvania Company for that purpose. Between 1775 and 1783, he pursued various land deals in Kentucky, Tennessee and southwestern Virginia, including the Transylvania Purchase and Colony in western Kentucky and north central Tennessee. The extra-legal deals collapsed by 1783 when voided by the Virginia and North Carolina colonial governments.Henderson's Transylvania settlement was one of the early triggers of the Cherokee-American wars.

After the land deals, he returned to North Carolina and held various legislative and executive positions in the North Carolina government. He died at age 49 at his home in North Carolina.

Born on 27 March 1957, a son of Peter Henderson, Baron Henderson of Brompton he was educated at Westminster and Magdalen College, Oxford, initially studying botany and earning a doctorate with a thesis on "The Genetics and Applications of Copper Resistance in Yeast".

He was ordained in 1987 and began his ecclesiastical career in the Diocese of Oxford as curate of Chinnor with Emmington. He moved to Ireland in 1989 and held incumbencies in the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, including Rector of Abbeystrewry Union, Skibberreen. He was Dean of Ross from 1995 to 1998 when he was elected bishop of Tuam, Killala, and Achonry.

In 2007 his wife Anita was received into the Roman Catholic Church. In January 2011 he retired as bishop to return to parochial ministry in England, becoming Team Vicar in the Heart of Eden and an Honorary Assistant Bishop within the Diocese of Carlisle in March 2011.

On his election as bishop, it was reported that "Dean Henderson has a passion for working with his hands, mostly in woodwork and engineering metal work. He plays piano, organ and recorder, especially the music of J S Bach, reads English literature and a wide range of technical books, and enjoys gardening and building. He has taught music in Darjeeling, been an indoor plant decorator, a self-employed cabinet maker and biotechnology adviser to Andry Montgomery Ltd, which mounts trade exhibitions'."

He is married to Anita Whiting, with whom he has two daughters and a son.

Richard Mitchell Henderson was educated at Cellardyke Primary School, Anstruther; Strathallan School in Perthshire and the University of Edinburgh.

Henderson served as president of the Law Society of Scotland from 2007 until 2009. In 2009 he was appointed chair of the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council, Scottish Committee.

In 2007 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath.

Henderson was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and Institution of Mechanical Engineers. During his service as Director of Public Works, he was responsible for the construction of South Kowloon Magistracy in 1933, Wan Chai Market in 1937 and Central Market in 1938. He was awarded a CBE in 1939. He was an ex officio member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.

Henderson Road at Jardine's Lookout, Hong Kong Island, is named after him.