Life

Born in Adelphi Terrace, London, he was son of John Henderson and Georgiana Jane, only child of George Keate

George Keate

George Keate was an English poet and writer.-Life:He was son of George Keate of Isleworth, Middlesex, who married Rachel Kawolski, daughter of Count Christian Kawolski. He was born at Trowbridge in Wiltshire, where his father had property, on 30 November 1729...

, F.R.S. His father, an amateur artist, was an early patron of Thomas Girtin

Thomas Girtin

Thomas Girtin was an English painter and etcher. A friend and rival of J. M. W. Turner, Girtin played a key role in establishing watercolour as a reputable art form.-Biography:...

 and J. M. W. Turner

J. M. W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...

, who frequently worked together in his house. Charles Cooper Henderson  was his brother.

John Henderson the younger went at the age of sixteen as a fellow-commoner to Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

 (B.A. 1817 and M.A. 1820). He read for the bar, but devoted his life to the study of archæology and the collection of works of art.

His collections were kept at his house, 3 Montague Street, Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury

-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...

. He was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries

Society of Antiquaries

Society of Antiquaries can refer to:*Society of Antiquaries of London*Society of Antiquaries of Scotland*Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne*Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland...

 and other societies, and a contributor to their proceedings. He died unmarried in 1878.

Legacy

By the codicil to his will, dated 1 November 1877, Henderson bequeathed to the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 his Greek and Roman vases and Egyptian antiquities. To the trustees of the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

 went:

• his collection of water-colour drawings by Canaletto
  Canaletto
  Giovanni Antonio Canal better known as Canaletto , was a Venetian painter famous for his landscapes, or vedute, of Venice. He was also an important printmaker in etching.- Early career :...
  
  , Turner, Girtin, John Robert Cozens
  John Robert Cozens
  John Robert Cozens was a British draftsman and painter of romantic watercolour landscapes.-Biography:The son of the Russian-born drawing master and watercolorist, Alexander Cozens, John Robert Cozens was born in London. He studied under his father and began to exhibit some early drawings with the...
  
  , David Cox
  David Cox (artist)
  - David Cox Junior :David Cox had a son of the same name who followed his calling as a watercolour painter. He was born in Dulwich, but educated in Hereford. He exhibited in London from 1827, although today he is known mainly through association with his father. He died in Streatham on 4 December...
  
  , and William James Müller
  William James Müller
  William James Müller , English landscape and figure painter, the best-known artist of the Bristol School.-Biography:...
  
   (now in the print room);
• his collection of Russian silver and enamels;
• his Damascus, Persian, Rhodian, and majolica porcelain and pottery;
• oriental and Venetian metal-work, and oriental arms;
• Roman, Greek, and Venetian glass;
• and the correspondence of his grandfather, George Keate, with Voltaire
  Voltaire
  François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
  
   and Dr. Edward Young
  Edward Young
  Edward Young was an English poet, best remembered for Night Thoughts.-Early life:He was the son of Edward Young, later Dean of Salisbury, and was born at his father's rectory at Upham, near Winchester, where he was baptized on 3 July 1683. He was educated at Winchester College, and matriculated...
  
   (Addit. MSS. 30991–2).

To the trustees of the National Gallery of London he bequeathed his water-colour drawings by George Cattermole

George Cattermole

George Cattermole was an English painter and illustrator, chiefly in watercolours. He was a friend of Charles Dickens and many other literary and artistic figures.-Life and work:...

 and Peter De Wint

Peter De Wint

Peter De Wint was an English landscape painter.De Wint was the son of an English physician of Dutch extraction who had come to England from New York., he was born in Stone, Staffordshire. He moved to London in 1802, and was apprenticed to John Raphael Smith, the mezzotint engraver and portrait...

, two pictures by A. Canaletto, and any others of his old masters which they might select.