Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron Faringdon

[2] He was also a major shareholder in the Manchester Ship Canal and was involved in port developments and telephone and electrical systems in several countries.

The Witan Investment Trust was created in 1909 to hold his properties, and the asset management firm Henderson Administration was founded in 1934 after his death to administer his estate.

In 1898 Henderson was elected to the House of Commons representing West Staffordshire, a seat he held until 1906, and he later returned to parliament as member for St George's Hanover Square from 1913 to 1916.

The 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 for the subsequently postponed coronation of King Edward VII, announced that Henderson was to receive a baronetcy,[3] and on 24 July 1902 he was created a Baronet, of Buscot Park, in the county of Berkshire.

In 1916 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Faringdon of Buscot Park in the county of Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire),[5] and on 4 June 1917 was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for "services in connection with the war", in his capacity as Vice-Chairman of the Shipping Control Committee.

[7] Henderson married Jane Ellen, daughter of Edward William Davis, in 1874.

He died in March 1934, aged 83, and was succeeded by his grandson Gavin, his eldest son Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon.