Brodie Henderson

Sir Brodie Haldane Henderson, KCMG, CB (6 March 1869 – 28 September 1936) was a British civil engineer. Henderson was primarily a railway engineer who worked for many railroad corporations across South America, Australasia and Africa. He was the consultant for the Dona Ana Bridge which, when it was built in 1935, was the longest railway bridge in the world with a length of . He volunteered for service with the Royal Engineers at the outbreak of World War I and was put in charge of railway lines used to tranposrt Allied troops and supplies. In this capacity he held the rank of a Brigadier-General of the British Army and his success in this role resulted in him being decorated by the British, French and Belgian governments.

After the war Henderson worked with the Imperial War Graves Commission, as High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1924 and as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was an important patron of John William Waterhouse, the pre-Raphaelite painter, and was the original owner of Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May.

Early life and career

Henderson was born on 6 March 1869 in Ealing, Middlesex to George and Eliza Henderson, his elder brother was Alexander Henderson the businessman and politician. His education was carried out in Germany, at Owens College in Manchester (now Victoria University) and at King's College London. He subsequently transferred to the Royal Engineers and was made the deputy director-general of transportation in Belgium and France, being chiefly concerned with railway transport He was appointed a commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown on 11 March 1918. He was appointed a companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the New Years Honours of 1919, an officer in the French Légion d'honneur on 7 June 1919 and a knight commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the King's Birthday Honours of 1919.

Post-war work After the war Henderson worked as an honorary consulting engineer to the Imperial War Graves Commission. Henderson was appointed deputy lieutenant of Hertfordshire on 3 December 1926. Henderson was also a justice of the peace, a governor of the Imperial College of Science and Technology and a member of the delegacy of the City and Guilds College.

Personal life

Henderson became, through his brother Alexander, a patron of John William Waterhouse and owned several of his paintings. He was the original owner of Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May, a 1909 painting by Waterhouse that was recently valued at CAD$4.8 million to $7.3 million.

He married Ella Jones in 1901 and fathered a daughter, Joan (who married, in 1941, Sir William Strang Steel of Philiphaugh 2nd Bt and died in 1992), and three sons, Gerald, Neil and Andrew. Neil and Andrew followed their father as partners in Livesey and Henderson, as did one of Alexander's sons Philip.

By 1925 Henderson was living at Epping House in Little Berkhamstead. Brodie died at Upp Hall, Braughing on 28 September 1936 of lung cancer. He was cremated at Golders Green before being interred in the family grave at Braughing. A memorial service was held at St Michael's Church in the City of London.