[3] He attended Truro School on a scholarship and excelled in languages,[3] going on to graduate with a first in French and German from Oriel College, Oxford.
[2] When given responsibility for the research area in 1964 he introduced a system of comprehensive daily briefings for MPs,[2][3] and he was promoted to Deputy Librarian in 1967.
[3] The new systems introduced by Menhennet enabled MPs to find and check information far more easily, and were used particularly often by Gordon Brown and Tony Blair while in opposition.
[2][3] In 1964 Menhennet was a founder member of the Study of Parliament Group, and also chaired the British Library's Advisory Committee on Bibliographic Services from 1986 to 1992.
[3] Menhennet was a life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a freeman of the City of London and a liveryman of the Stationer's Company.