William Hannam Henderson

Admiral Sir William Hannam Henderson, (20 June 1845 – 29 April 1931) was a British flag officer of the Royal Navy, and the first editor of The Naval Review.

Family background Henderson was born in the coastal village of Worth in Kent, the eldest of four sons born to John Henderson and Laura Catherine (née Hannam). His three brothers also served in the Navy; Reginald Friend Hannam Henderson became an Admiral, Frank Hannam Henderson a Vice-Admiral, and John Hannam Henderson, retired as a Commander. (John's son Sir Reginald G. H. Henderson also became an Admiral.)

Naval career Henderson entered the Navy in 1859, aged 14, as a cadet aboard . receiving promotion to sub-lieutenant in 1864. and served aboard the troopship at Portsmouth from 1867, until taking part in the voyage around the world of the Flying Squadron in 1869–1870, serving aboard , flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Geoffrey Hornby. and served aboard the armoured cruiser , flagship of Commodore Sir James Erskine, on the Australia Station from 1881 to 1885. and was sent to study at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, where he was appalled to discover that apart from a few lectures on international law and naval history, studies were confined purely to technical matters, resulting in a total lack of knowledge of, and preparation for, war. He wrote a strongly worded letter, which he took personally to the Admiralty, and was permitted to read it to the Sea Lords in which he urged that naval officers should be instructed in naval history, strategy and tactics. Only Lord Charles Beresford was in any way interested in Henderson's ideas, which in the end came to nothing. In May 1888 Henderson received a letter from Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, commenting on Henderson's remarks on a paper by Rear-Admiral Colomb on the naval defences of the United Kingdom. The two men became regular correspondents thereafter, but did not meet in person for several years. He remained in Jamaica after the end of his appointment,

Henderson then returned to England to serve as Admiral Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard from 1902 until 1906,

On 22 August 1906 Henderson was appointed a member of a Royal Commission, led by Gerald William Balfour, alongside Frank Forbes Adam and Ivor John Caradoc Herbert, and with Charles Clive Bigham as Secretary, to inquire into management of navigational aids of the coast of the United Kingdom by the three General Lighthouse Authorities, and into the workings of these Authorities, and to report what changes, if any, were desirable.

On 30 June 1908 Henderson was promoted to admiral, but was placed on the Retired List at his own request, two days later, on 2 July.

Post-naval career In retirement Henderson served as a member of the Metropolitan Asylums Board from 1909 to 1921. Known as an ardent advocate of the reform of naval education, in 1912 he was approached by a group of young officers who asked him to act as treasurer and secretary of a correspondence society, which the following year began to publish the journal The Naval Review, of which Henderson served as editor until 1931. On 24 March 1914 he was appointed to the board of the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation. On 3 June 1924, in the King's Birthday Honours, Henderson was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division).

Admiral Henderson died in April 1931, aged 85.

Personal life Henderson was married to Sarah MacCabe, of New South Wales, and they had one daughter.