William Henderson, 1st Baron Henderson

William Watson Henderson, 1st Baron Henderson PC (8 August 1891 – 4 April 1984), was a British Labour politician.

Background

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Henderson was the second son of Arthur Henderson and the elder brother of Arthur Henderson, Baron Rowley.

Political career

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He sat as Member of Parliament for Enfield from 1923 to 1924 and from 1929 to 1931 and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for India William Wedgwood Benn from 1929 to 1931. He was also Head of the Press and Publicity Department of the Labour Party and served during the Second World War as Personal Assistant to the Minister without Portfolio Arthur Greenwood from 1940 to 1942. In 1945 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Henderson, of Westgate in the City and County of Newcastle upon Tyne.[1] Henderson served in the Labour administration of Clement Attlee as a Lord-in-waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) and an additional member of the Air Council from 1945 to 1947 and as Joint Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1948 to 1951. In the 1950 Birthday Honours he was admitted to the Privy Council.

Personal life

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Plaque dedicated to Henderson, his parents and siblings at Golders Green Crematorium

Lord Henderson died in April 1984, aged 92. He never married and the title became extinct on his death. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium.

Notes

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  1. ^ "No. 37315". The London Gazette. 19 October 1945. p. 5133.

References

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Enfield
19231924
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Enfield
19291931
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Joint Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
1948–1951
With: Christopher Mayhew 1948–1950
Ernest Davies 1950–1951
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
New position
Secretary of the Press and Publicity Department of the Labour Party
1921–1945
Succeeded by
Arthur Bax
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Henderson
1945–1984
Extinct