Guide to the Papers of the Henderson Family (as filmed by the AJCP), September 1852-01 February 1897

Summary

Collection number:

M2254

Creator:

Henderson Family

Extent:

8 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Extracts from Sir James Neville, Records of My Family.

Letters 1860-1862 of Edmund Yeamans Henderson to his wife Maria while travelling in Western Australia. They refer to visits to Bunbury, Mandurah, Pinjarra, York and Guildford, social events, and Governor Arthur Kennedy.

Letters 1854-1863 from George Henderson to Edmund and Maria Henderson.

Letters from Maria Henderson to Edmund Henderson, written from Fremantle and Rottnest Island, giving family news.

Letters 1860-1862 from Maria Henderson to George Henderson refering to family news, Perth society and Georgina Kennedy.

Letter 1862 from convict P. Hussie at Busselton seeking conditional pardon.

Letter 1852 from Jack Henderson at Fremantle describing the wreck of the Eglinton.

Miscellaneous documents, including an obituary of Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson, Royal Engineer Journal, February 1897.

Biographical / Historical:

The Henderson Family included Sir Edmund Yeamans Henderson (1821-1896), his wife Maria and his father Admiral George Henderson. Major Edmund Henderson was Comptroller of Convicts in Western Australia 1850-1855, 1858-1863.

George Henderson (1785-1864), the son of a naval officer, joined the Royal Navy in 1794. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1804. He served under Sir Alexander Cochrane and Sir Samuel Hood. He was appointed a Captain in 1810 and took part in the capture of Mauritius. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, he went on the retired list. He was made a Vice-Admiral in 1855 and an Admiral in 1860. Henderson married Frances Walcott in 1817 and they had six children. The eldest son, William G. Henderson (1819-1905) was Dean of Carlisle Cathedral and the third son, Samuel Hood Henderson (1823-1882) was an Admiral.

Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson (1821-1896) was the second son of George Henderson. He was born near Christchurch, Hampshire, and educated at King Edward's School, Bruton, Somerset, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1838. He served in Canada from 1839 to 1848, apart from a year spent at Portsmouth, and carried out a detailed survey of the western half of New Brunswick to determine the possibility of establishing a railway between Halifax and Quebec. In 1847 he was promoted to Captain and in 1848 he married Mary Murphy.

In 1850 Henderson was appointed comptroller of convicts in Western Australia and arrived in Perth with the first party of convicts and a guard of sappers. With the help of a company of the Royal Engineers commanded by Captain Henry Wray, he constructed a convict prison and quarters and a barracks and set up hiring depots in various towns. In 1855 Mary Henderson died and he returned to England with his son. He married Maria Hindle in 1857 and returned to Western Australia in 1858, taking over control of the colony's public works. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1862. By that time, 6500 convicts had arrived, road gangs were working throughout the colony, and 15 hiring stations had been established.

In 1863 Henderson and his family returned to England and he succeeded Sir Joshua Jebb as Surveyor-General of prisons and inspector of military prisons. He sold his commission in the Army in 1864. In 1869 he became Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard), which he greatly enlarged. In particular, he created the criminal investigation department. He was knighted in 1878 and retired in 1886.

John Edward Henderson (1826-1882), the fourth son of George Henderson, was educated at King Edward's School, Bruton, and Christ Church, Oxford. He was employed in the convict service in Western Australia from 1852 to 1861.

Edmund Henderson's family addressed him by his second name, Yeamans.

Related

Existence and Location of Copies:

The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn776480] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.

Existence and Location of Originals:

Filmed at Private Residence of Sir Edmund Neville, Sloley Old Hall, Sloley, Norfolk, England.

Conditions Governing Access:

Available for Access.

Conditions Governing Use:

Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

Contact us