Sir Brodie Haldane Henderson, KCMG, CB (6 March 1869 – 28 September 1936) was a British civil engineer.Dictionary of National Biography entry
/ref> Henderson was primarily a railway engineer who worked for many railroad corporations across

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. He was the consultant for the

Dona Ana Bridge The Dona Ana Bridge spans the lower Zambezi River between the towns of Vila de Sena and Mutarara in Mozambique, effectively linking the two halves of the country. It was originally constructed as a railway bridge to link Malawi and the Moatiz ...

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 The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

at the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

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 The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

, as

High Sheriff of Hertfordshire The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provi ...

in 1924 and as president of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...

. He was an important patron of

John William Waterhouse John William Waterhouse (baptised 6 April 184910 February 1917) was an English painter known for working first in the Academic style and for then embracing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. His paintings are known for ...

, the

pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

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 Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

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 Owens may refer to: Places in the United States * Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota * Owens, Missouri * Owens, Ohio * Owens, Texas * Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

(now Victoria University) and at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. At the age of 16 he entered into a

pupillage A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Hong Kong, is the final, vocational stage of training for those wishing to become practising barristers. Pupillage is similar to an apprenticeship, during which ba ...

with locomotive manufacturers

Beyer, Peacock & Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English general engineering company and railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson founded the company in 1854. The company close ...

before transferring to James Livesey and Son, consulting civil engineers. Some of his early projects was as assistant engineer during construction of the Algeciras Gibraltar Railway and a secondment in the civil engineer's department of the

Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company before the Railways Act 1921, 1923 Grouping. It was Incorporation (business)#Incorporation in the United Kingdom, incorpo ...

Henderson became a partner in the firm on 6 October 1891 and it was subsequently named Livesey, Son and Henderson. He was named as senior partner in 1893. Henderson's work was largely concerned with railways, which were often financed by his brother Alexander. These included the Buenos Aires Great Southern, Central Argentine,

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

and the Midland of Western Australia railways. Henderson was also responsible for the construction of new docks in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

and projects in Spain, China and Africa. Henderson's most famous project is the

over the

Zambezi River The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

in Mozambique for the

Beira Railroad Corporation The Beira Railroad Corporation, (''Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro da Beira'' in Portuguese) or CCFB, was a joint venture railway company that was responsible for operating the railway lines in central Mozambique. It was formed to reform the railway ...

, this bridge was built in 1935 and spanned a distance of by 33 separate arches. This bridge was the longest railway bridge in the world for many years. He was also responsible for the

Transandine Railway The Transandine Railway () was a combined Rack railway#Chile, rack (Rack railway#Abt, Abt system) and Rail adhesion, adhesion railway which operated from Mendoza, Argentina, Mendoza in Argentina, across the Andes mountain range via the Uspallata ...

which was tunnelled through the

Andes Mountains The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

between 1911 and 1925.

Military service

Henderson volunteered for a commission in the Hertfordshire Yeomanry after the outbreak of

and was commissioned as a temporary lieutenant on 12 October 1914. He subsequently transferred to the

and was made the deputy director-general of transportation in Belgium and France, being chiefly concerned with railway transport He was commissioned as a temporary lieutenant-colonel and was subsequently promoted to temporary brigadier-general. During his war service he was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

on four occasions. In recognition of his war work Henderson was appointed a companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

in the

New Years Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

of 1918. 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 The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

on 7 June 1919 and a knight commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are ...

of 1919.

Post-war work

After the war Henderson worked as an honorary consulting engineer to the

. He was also sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1922 and 1924 and

between in 1925.List of High Sheriffs
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 Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums, ...

and a member of the delegacy of the

City and Guilds College The Faculty of Engineering is one of four faculties of Imperial College London, in London, England. Imperial's Faculty of Engineering was formed in 2001, from two of the universities constituent colleges - the Royal School of Mines (established ...

. Henderson had a long association with the

, being elected an associate member in 1894 and a full member in 1899. He was a member of its council from 1915, vice-president in 1925 and was elected president for the 1928-9 session.

Personal life

Henderson became, through his brother Alexander, a patron of

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.CBC news report on painting
/ref> 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. Andrew Henderson and Harry Livesey left the partnership on 31 March 1932. 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 Golders Green is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet in north London, northwest of Charing Cross. It began as a medieval small suburban linear settlement near a farm and public grazing area green, and dates to the early 19th century. It ...

before being interred in the family grave at

Braughing Braughing is a village and civil parish, between the rivers Quin and Rib, in the non-metropolitan district of East Hertfordshire, part of the English county of Hertfordshire. Braughing gave its name to a county division in Hertfordshire, kno ...

. A memorial service was held at St Michael's Church in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Brodie 1869 births 1936 deaths People from Ealing Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers British civil engineers Alumni of King's College London High sheriffs of Hertfordshire Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George