THE General Manager of the Clydesdale Bank began his professional career at
the branch office of the bank in Cupar in 1860. He was born in the parish of
Balmerino, Fifeshire, and his father was one of the best known and most
enterprising farmers in the north of Fife. Three years later he was promoted to
the post of accountant at Penicuik, and in the following year was transferred to
Portobello. He next spent some time in the head office at Glasgow, and
afterwards held a position in the office at Dundee, before he settled at Leith
in 1868. There, amid the enterprise and speculation of a stirring sea-port, he
acquired the widest knowledge of mercantile banking in all its varied forms and
ramifications, and held the appointment of agent for several years. There, also,
as a member of the Scottish Bankers' Literary Association, he came into close
social contact with many of the men who have since held the highest positions in
the profession.
From the post of agent at Leith Mr. Henderson passed to the Edinburgh office,
where he became joint-manager with Mr. Greenhill. He had still, however, a
further valuable experience to gain, and in 1890 accepted a transfer to the
position of assistant manager of the Bank's London office. There he remained
till 1899, when a new manager was required for the North of Scotland Bank at
Aberdeen. He accepted the duties, and it seemed as if he had severed his
lifelong connection with the Clydesdale. But if there is any business community
keener than that of the metropolis itself, it is perhaps Aberdeen, and the
transference thither was perhaps not the least valuable of Mr. Henderson's
experiences. At any rate, on the retirement in 1905 of Mr. David Wilson from the
General Managership of the Clydesdale Bank in Glasgow, the directors took the
opportunity of regaining Mr. Henderson's services, ability, and varied
experience, and appointed him to the highest and most responsible position in
their gift.
Along with the many qualifications of which his appointment may be taken as
proof, Mr. Henderson enjoys the gifts of ready speech and of sound physique, the
latter a result in part, perhaps, of his favourite pastime, riding on horseback.
Mr. Henderson is married to a daughter of the late Mr. William Thomson, who was
a director of the Commercial Bank.
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Index of Glasgow Men (1909)