Giles Ian Henderson,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 20 April 1942) is a solicitor who was

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...

Early life and education

Giles Henderson was educated at

Michaelhouse Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal, Balgowan valley in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Spear’s Schools Index 2025 reco ...

, a boarding

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

in Balgowan in

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, followed by the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and then

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, where he was a Senior Mackinnon Scholar and graduated as Master of Arts and Bachelor of Civil Law. He received a Fulbright Award and spent a year teaching at the Faculty of Law at University of California, Berkeley in 1966-67.

Career

Henderson joined the leading London law firm of

Slaughter and May Slaughter and May is a British law firm headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1889, it has offices in Beijing, Brussels and Hong Kong in addition to London. History Slaughter and May was founded on 1 January 1889 by William Capel Slaug ...

in 1968 and was admitted as a solicitor in 1970. He became a partner in 1975 and was elected as the Senior Partner for two successive terms of office: 1993-2001. He was one of HM Government's main advisers on the process of privatisation (1983-1991). He was also a member of the Hampel Committee on Corporate Governance. He was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) by HM The Queen in 1992. In 2001 he became Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, holding the office until 2013. Between 2007 and 2009 he also held the elected office of Chair of the Conference of Colleges in Oxford and was for six years a member of the Council of the University. He was also Chairman of the Nuffield Medical Trust. Among his other previous appointments, Henderson was Chairman of the UK-China Forum law group, a non-executive director of

Land Securities Land Securities Group plc, trading as Landsec, is the largest commercial property development and investment company in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust (REIT) when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom i ...

plc and

Standard Life Assurance Standard Life is a life assurance, pensions and long-terms savings company in the UK which is owned by Phoenix Group. History 1825–2010 The Standard Life Assurance Company was established in 1825 and reincorporated as a mutual assurance com ...

and a member of the

Financial Reporting Council The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is an independent regulator in the UK and Ireland based in London Wall in the City of London, responsible for regulating auditors, accountants and actuaries, and setting the UK's Corporate Governance and ...

. In 2019 he was elected as the Chairman of the Council at Marlborough College and retired in August 2023.

References

External links

Jeremy Sutton's portrait of Giles Henderson
*''Debrett's People of Today'' (12th edn, London: Debrett's Peerage, 1999), p. 895 {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Giles Living people Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford UC Berkeley School of Law faculty Masters of Pembroke College, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1942 births English solicitors Alumni of Michaelhouse University of the Witwatersrand alumni