Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol II (1901).djvu/423

 and respect of his subordinates was due to his tact and competence. The metropolitan police force at that time numbered about 9,000 constables, and during Henderson's tenure of office it was increased to over 13,000, an army which had to be kept in good discipline without the aid of any special legislation.

Soon after his appointment he increased the number of detectives from 15 to 260 men, and instituted a criminal investigation department under Colonel (afterwards Sir) Howard Vincent. In 1872 some agitators endeavoured to get up a police strike, but after Henderson had personally seen the malcontents the agitation ceased. In 1878 Henderson was promoted to be a knight commander of the order of the Bath, civil division. On 8 Feb. 1886 a meeting in Trafalgar Square brought together a large number of roughs, and ended in a march through the streets of the west end of London, when some rioting occurred, windows were broken, and shops plundered. Fault was found with the police arrangements, and Henderson was thrown over by the government. A committee of inquiry was appointed; but Henderson, conscious of a successful administration of seventeen years, at once resigned without waiting for it to report. A treasury minute laid before parliament approved the recommendation of the home secretary that Henderson should receive the highest rate of pension allowed, on the ground of the high sense entertained by the home secretary and his predecessors of the zeal, discretion, and ability with which he had discharged the duties of his responsible office. At a meeting held at Grosvenor House, Henderson was presented with his portrait painted by Edwin Long, R.A., and a purse of 1,000l. The cab-owners and drivers presented him with a model in silver of a hansom cab, Lord Wolseley acting as their spokesman, in recognition of the great interest he had taken in them, of the institution of cabmen's shelters, and of the support he had given to the metropolitan police orphanage.

Henderson was a fluent speaker with an effective sense of humour, and excelled in anecdote. Quick in assimilating ideas, he expressed himself readily and clearly in official letters and reports, and won the complete confidence of his official chiefs. He was a skilful painter in water-colours.

He died on 8 Dec. 1896 at his residence, 4 Gledhow Gardens, London.

He was twice married: first, in 1848, to Mary (d. 1855), daughter of Mr. Murphy of Halifax, Nova Scotia; secondly, in 1857, to Maria (d. 13 Oct. 1896), daughter of the Rev. J. Hindle of Higham, Kent. His only son, by his first marriage, died when a lieutenant in the royal navy. He left several daughters.  HENRY MAURICE (1858–1896), born at Milan on 5 Oct. 1858, was third son of Prince Alexander of Hesse (1823–1888) and his morganatic wife, the countess Julie von Haucke, daughter of an ex-minister of war for Poland, to whom was granted, in 1858, the title of Princess of Battenberg. His elder brother Alexander was on 29 April 1879 elected first prince of Bulgaria; he abdicated on 6 Sept. 1886 and died on 17 Nov. 1893. His brother, Prince Louis of Battenberg, married, on 30 April 1884, Victoria, eldest daughter of the Princess Alice of Hesse, third daughter of Queen Victoria, and this connection brought Prince Henry, who had received a military education and become lieutenant in the 10th regiment of Rhenish hussars, into contact with the English court. On 23 July 1885 he was married at Whippingham church by the archbishop of Canterbury to the Princess Beatrice, youngest daughter of Queen Victoria. He was naturalised by an act of parliament which passed the House of Lords on 31 July in the same year, was elected K.G. on 22 July, and was granted the title of royal highness; he was also made colonel in the army and captain-general and governor of the Isle of Wight. He took great interest in the Isle of Wight volunteer corps. In November 1895 he volunteered for service with the Ashanti expeditionary force. He sailed on 8 Dec., at first as merely an auxiliary, but he was afterwards made military secretary to the commander-in-chief, Sir Francis Scott. He marched with the force to within thirty miles of Kumasi, when he was attacked by fever; he returned to Cape Coast Castle and embarked on the Blonde cruiser on 17 Jan. 1896. He died at sea on the 20th; his remains were brought to England and interred at Whippingham on 5 Feb. He left issue three sons, Princes Alexander, Leopold, and Maurice, and one daughter, the Princess Victoria of Battenberg.  HERBERT, GEORGE ROBERT CHARLES, thirteenth and ninth  (1850–