HENDERSON, THOMAS (1810-86) was born at Dundee and trained there as a blacksmith. He then moved to Perth, where he married (1834) Catherine Macfarlane. In 1840 Henderson came to Wellington in the London. Moving shortly to Auckland, he was at the first land sale and bought a section in Wyndham street on which he erected the well-known hostelry, the Commercial Hotel.

For some years he was in partnership with J. Macfarlane in the timber business, which did not prosper. Then they founded the trading firm of Henderson and Macfarlane (1846), of which he was principal for many years, and they employed some hundreds of Maori in a gumdigging venture at Mangonui. The schooner John Bull, which they acquired for the Sydney trade, was not a success and they sold her in Hobart, taking flour in payment. The success of this deal led to the establishment of Henderson's mill (at the village afterwards called Henderson). The firm suffered heavy losses in 1849 through shipping timber to California. They sold their first vessel, the Fanny, to Polack. Another venture with timber to California, in the Josephine, landed on a stagnant market. They then chartered the Glencoe and initiated a successful trade with China, in which Henderson personally took part. On one of his visits he brought back Chinese pheasants, which were successfully acclimatised.

In 1852 the barque Spencer was chartered, and thus the Circular Saw line of sailing packets was inaugurated. Considerable profits were made in connection with the Victorian diggings and the firm expanded its shipping trade to South America. On the death of John Macfarlane in 1860, Henderson's son Thomas joined the firm; and Henderson withdrew shortly afterwards in favour of his eldest son (George) and his son-in-law, Gustav von der Heyde (q.v.). A few years later the firm met with reverses, and Henderson returned to business. They purchased the steamers Airedale, Lord Ashley and Phoebe, but made little headway until the youngest son, H. H. W. Henderson, came in. Thomas Henderson represented the City of Auckland in the Provincial Council (1855-57) and was a member of Campbell's executive (1855-56). At the same time he represented the Northern Division in Parliament (1855-70), holding office for a year without portfolio in Fox's ministry (1861-62). In 1865-67 he represented the Northern Division in the Provincial Council. Henderson was again in Parliament, for Waitemata, in 1871-74, two of his partners (Macfarlane and von der Heyde) being there with him. In 1878 he was called to the Legislative Council, of which he was a member until his death on 27 Jun 1886.

Henderson was a good honest type of politician, a practical thinker and a forceful speaker. In business he was always enterprising. His public spirit was evident in 1863 when he visited Melbourne while Colonel Pitt was enlisting men for the Waikato war. Learning that the banks would not give the Government credit beyond £10,000, Henderson personally found security for another £15,000, which he placed at Pitt's disposal. Henderson was a founder and many years a director of the Bank of New Zealand, and a director of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., the New Zealand Insurance Co. and the Auckland Gas Co.

Larkworthy; Auckland Star, 28 Jun 1886; N.Z. Herald, 21 May 1881. Portrait: Parliament House.

Reference: Volume 1, page 206

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