Vivian Henderson
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Vivian Leonard Henderson MC
(6 October 1884 – 3 February 1965) was a British
army
officer and Conservative Party
politician who was elected to the House of Commons
three times, for three different constituencies.
Henderson was born in Liverpool
, and following education at Uppingham School
and the Royal Military College Sandhurst
, was commissioned as an officer in the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
in 1904. He served with the regiment in the First World War. During the First Battle of Ypres
in October 1914 his bravery at Bixschotte led to the award of the Military Cross
.
Following the war, he was elected at the 1918 general election
as Member of Parliament
for Glasgow Tradeston
. He stood as a Coalition Conservative, and having received the "coalition coupon
", he took the seat with a huge majority over the sitting Liberal Party
MP, James Dundas White
, who was pushed into third place behind a candidate of the British Socialist Party
. In 1921 he was appointed a member of the Royal Commission
on Fire Prevention.
At the 1922 general election
, Henderson lost his seat by a wide margin to the Labour Co-operative
candidate Tom Henderson.
Henderson did not stand again in Glasgow, but fought the 1923 general election
in the Liberal-held Bootle constituency
on Merseyside
. He did not win the seat, but cut the Liberal majority to only 453 votes, and at the 1924 general election
he took the seat by a comfortable margin of 2,934 votes. He was knighted on 28 June 1927, and was appointed in November of that year to the junior ranks of the Conservative Government, as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
. However, at the 1929 general election
, when the Labour Party
took power for the second time, Henderson's seat in Bootle was one of Labour's gains.
He was returned to Parliament
at the 1931 general election
for Chelmsford
, which had been a safe Conservative seat since the collapse of the Liberals in the early 1920s. In 1934 his health deteriorated, and he stepped down at the 1935 general election
.
On his retirement from the Commons, he was offered the post of Governor of Burma, but declined on medical advice. He did, however, continue his involvement in public affairs, and was appointed a deputy lieutenant
and justice of the peace
for the County of London
, serving as chairman of the Hampstead and Lambeth Juvenile Courts. He married Eileen Marjorie Dowell, daughter of Brigadier-General G W Dowell in 1913, and they had three daughters. He died at his London home in February 1965, aged 80.
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(6 October 1884 – 3 February 1965) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer and Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician who was elected to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
three times, for three different constituencies.
Henderson was born in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, and following education at Uppingham School
Uppingham School
Uppingham School is a co-educational independent school of the English public school tradition, situated in the small town of Uppingham in Rutland, England...
and the Royal Military College Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
, was commissioned as an officer in the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)
The Loyal Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army from 1881 to 1970...
in 1904. He served with the regiment in the First World War. During the First Battle of Ypres
First Battle of Ypres
The First Battle of Ypres, also called the First Battle of Flanders , was a First World War battle fought for the strategic town of Ypres in western Belgium...
in October 1914 his bravery at Bixschotte led to the award of the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
.
Following the war, he was elected at the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Glasgow Tradeston
Glasgow Tradeston (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Tradeston was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1955. It elected one Member of Parliament using the first-past-the-post voting system.-Boundaries:...
. He stood as a Coalition Conservative, and having received the "coalition coupon
Coalition Coupon
The ‘Coalition Coupon’, often referred to as ‘the coupon’, refers to the letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the United Kingdom general election, 1918 endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory in...
", he took the seat with a huge majority over the sitting Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
MP, James Dundas White
James Dundas White
James Dundas White , known as J. D. White, was a Scottish Liberal Party politician. He was Member of Parliament from 1906 to 1918, with a short break in 1911....
, who was pushed into third place behind a candidate of the British Socialist Party
British Socialist Party
The British Socialist Party was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw the defection of its pro-war Right Wing...
. In 1921 he was appointed a member of the Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
on Fire Prevention.
At the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
, Henderson lost his seat by a wide margin to the Labour Co-operative
Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative describes those candidates in British elections standing on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, based on a national agreement between the two parties....
candidate Tom Henderson.
Henderson did not stand again in Glasgow, but fought the 1923 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
in the Liberal-held Bootle constituency
Bootle (UK Parliament constituency)
Bootle is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. Since 1990 the MP has been Joe Benton of the Labour Party...
on Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
. He did not win the seat, but cut the Liberal majority to only 453 votes, and at the 1924 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
he took the seat by a comfortable margin of 2,934 votes. He was knighted on 28 June 1927, and was appointed in November of that year to the junior ranks of the Conservative Government, as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
-Non-permanent and parliamentary under-secretaries, 1782-present:*April 1782: Evan Nepean*April 1782: Thomas Orde*July 1782: Henry Strachey*April 1783: George North*February 1784: Hon. John Townshend*June 1789: Scrope Bernard*July 1794: The Hon...
. However, at the 1929 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
, when the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
took power for the second time, Henderson's seat in Bootle was one of Labour's gains.
He was returned to Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
at the 1931 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1931
The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...
for Chelmsford
Chelmsford (UK Parliament constituency)
Chelmsford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From the 2010 general election it has elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
, which had been a safe Conservative seat since the collapse of the Liberals in the early 1920s. In 1934 his health deteriorated, and he stepped down at the 1935 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1935
The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...
.
On his retirement from the Commons, he was offered the post of Governor of Burma, but declined on medical advice. He did, however, continue his involvement in public affairs, and was appointed a deputy lieutenant
Lord Lieutenant
The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representatives in the United Kingdom, usually in a county or similar circumscription, with varying tasks throughout history. Usually a retired local notable, senior military officer, peer or business person is given the post...
and justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for the County of London
County of London
The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government Act 1888. The Act created an administrative County of...
, serving as chairman of the Hampstead and Lambeth Juvenile Courts. He married Eileen Marjorie Dowell, daughter of Brigadier-General G W Dowell in 1913, and they had three daughters. He died at his London home in February 1965, aged 80.