Chief of the Name and Arms of Henderson
Alistair Donald Henderson of Fordell
Alistair Henderson of Fordell became the Chief if Clan Henderson following the death of his father, Dr. John W.P. Henderson of Fordell, on September 27, 2004.
The Chief resides in Brisbane, Australia. He has two children, a daughter Claire and a son , Ian.
Alistair is a member of the Heraldry Society of Scotland, the Scottish Genealogy Society, the Genealogy Society of Queensland and, is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Dr. John William Henderson of Fordell was recognized by the Lord Lyon in 1985 as Chief of the Baronial House of Fordell and as Chief of the Name and Arms of Henderson.
With this declaration, all the various branches of "Henry's son" were united by the first Henderson chief in more than 150 years.
The family of Henderson originated in several areas in Scotland, notably;
* Glencoe, the MacEanruig Chiefs held the Chiefship there for three centuries before King Robert the Bruce granted the lordship of Glencoe to Angus of the Isles in 1314. The last Henderson Chief was Dugald MacEanruig whose daughter passed the Chiefship to Clan Donald with her marriage.Her son, Iain, established the MacEanruigs as the hereditary pipers for the MacDonalds of Glencoe. At the time of the massacre they were the body guard of the Chief of Glencoe.
* Caithness was home to a number of Henderson families who were a sept of Clan Gunn.
* The Shetlands were the home of another branch of the family. Henry, the son of William Magnusson of Buness and Gardie gave the patronymic Henry to all subsequent generations. His eldest son Magnus was the first to be styled, "Henderson".
* Liddlesdale in the 16th century was home to some of the border Hendersons.
* Fordell was acquired by Robert Henderson in the 15th century. James Henderson, for whom the lands at Fordell were raised to a barony in 1511 had become the Lord Advocate of Scotland in 1494.
A direct descendant of Sir John Henderson, 5th of Fordell, Dr. John Henderson's great-grandfather emigrated to Australia in 1839. The Chief and his family still reside in Australia.
Fordell castle, the ancestral home of the Chief's family is no longer a Henderson property.
