The Famous Faces of Clan Henderson

Clan Henderson has produced some extremely talented members who have achieved great things across a wide range of fields. Whether you have Henderson heritage yourself or are just interested in finding out more about this impressive clan, come along with us to meet a few of their most accomplished figures! 

If you are a fan of Harry Potter, you will likely be familiar with our first famous face for today. 

Shirley Henderson was born into a working-class family and grew up in the village of Kincardine in Fife. As a youngster, she developed a passion for performing, and began singing in local clubs, at charity events, and holiday camps, as well as acting in numerous school plays. At 17, she was accepted by the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama and made the big move to London to study her craft, graduating in 1986. 

It didn’t take her long to win her first role, and in 1987, she was cast as the lead character, Elizabeth Findlay, in ITV’s television drama, ‘Shadow of the Stone.’ She also found success on the stage, playing Fanny Lock in ‘Entertaining Strangers’ at the Royal National Theatre from 1987 to 1988, and Perdita in ‘The Winter’s Tale’ from April to November of 1988. 

Her star only continued to rise, as she played the eponymous Eurydice at Chichester Festival in 1990, as well as appearing in the beloved TV series ‘Casualty.’ In 1995, in a nod to her roots, she took on the key role of Isobel in the popular drama-comedy, ‘Hamish Macbeth,’ produced by BBC Scotland. 

Shirley Henderson (pictured left) by Nicolas Genin

After this, Henderson started to make her name on the big screen, featuring in ‘Rob Roy,’ and Danny Boyle’s cult classic, ‘Trainspotting.’ Yet more iconic roles followed, as she played Jude in three Bridget Jones films, and took on perhaps her most famous character, Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter, becoming a fond part of countless people’s childhoods. 

In 2006, she made a further splash in Hollywood, collaborating with the renowned director Sofia Coppola in the award-winning ‘Marie Antionette.’

Henderson’s talent has been recognised with various highly respected awards, but she cites her 2018 Olivier win as one of the proudest moments of her career. She gained the award for her portrayal of a woman suffering from dementia in Conor McPherson’s musical, ‘Girl from the North Country,’ which featured highly adventurous and experimental new arrangements of Bob Dylan songs. Henderson’s take on ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ was particularly praised! 

More recently, in 2023, she was awarded an Outstanding Contribution by BAFTA Scotland in recognition of all the amazing work she has done for Scottish film and TV. 

Why not take some time to revisit an old Bridget Jones or Harry Potter film to connect with Clan Henderson and their fabulous achievements! 

Our next famous face for today was also a very ‘starry’ character.

Thomas James Henderson was born in Dundee on the 28th of December 1798 and served as the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland.

His intelligence was obvious from an early age and, after graduating from the High School of Dundee, he went on to train in law. However, his true passion was mathematics, and his natural ability in the field caught the attention of Thomas Young, a renowned astronomer for the Royal Navy. Young helped Henderson to leave law and instead focus on astronomical science.

In the early 1830s, Henderson gained a job at the Royal Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, where he went on to make his most enduring observation. At the time, astronomers were racing to measure the true distance to any given star, using a method called ‘parallax.’ Henderson calculated that one particular star, the Alpha Centauri, was 3.25 light years away, a figure surprisingly close to the modern value of 4.37 light years!

Thomas James Henderson

However, he did not publish his findings immediately, and Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel released his own parallax measurements for a different star in 1838, narrowly beating Henderson to the title of ‘first astronomer to measure the distance to the stars.’ 

Henderson’s own research was published a year later in 1839, making him a still hugely important second. The star he measured, Alpha Centauri, remained the nearest known star until Proxima Centauri was discovered in 1915. 

Henderson’s work in South Africa led him to be appointed as the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland in 1834, as well as the chair of astronomy at the University of Edinburgh. In 1840, he was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. 

Today, he is recognised as a highly important scientist, and his work undeniably laid the foundations for modern astronomy. 

Our final famous Henderson is a renowned and accomplished football player known for his strong leadership and impeccable work ethic. 

Jordan Henderson was born on the 17th of June 1990 in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and showed both a love and great talent for the sport from a very young age. He started playing for his local team, Sunderland AFC, at just 8 years old.

He went on to sign his first professional contract when he was 18, officially joining Sunderland’s senior team in July 2008. He was briefly loaned to Coventry City, before returning to Sunderland, where his growing talent began to catch the attention of top clubs. 

In 2011, he made a huge professional step, signing with Liverpool FC. He proved himself to be a reliable and dedicated player, and by June 2015, he had been made captain of the team. In 2017, he led Liverpool to their first Champions League final in over a decade, where they narrowly lost to Real Madrid in a nail-biting game. The following year, he signed a renewed 5-year contract with the club, stating that he intended to remain at Liverpool for as long as possible, showing clear Henderson loyalty. 

Jordan Henderson by Jon Candy

In 2019, he led his beloved team to a 2-0 victory in the Champions League final in Madrid, before soon after captaining another win at the 2019 UEFA Super Cup. On the 21st of December 2019, Henderson once again led Liverpool to a spectacular win, this time at the FIFA Club World Cup title, wrapping up a truly golden year. 

In 2021, Henderson signed a new long-term contract with the club and continued to go from strength to strength, helping them to win the 2021-2022 FA Cup. He finally retired from Liverpool in 2023 after an exceptionally strong and dedicated 12 years.

While captaining Liverpool, he also represented England in the 2014, 2018, and 2022 World Cups, as well as three European Championships!

Even now, with a career behind him that anyone would be proud of, he is not content to rest on his laurels, as on the 15th of July 2025, he signed a 2-year contract with the Premier League club, Brentford.

Henderson undeniably displays the clan’s famously fierce work ethic! 

That brings us to the end of the Famous Faces of Clan Henderson. We hope you are feeling as impressed by this mighty bunch as we are! 

 

If you’d like to learn more about Clan Henderson, please head over to our Clan Henderson page, and make sure to keep an eye out for the rest of our content this month. 

Image Sources:

Shirley Henderson (pictured left) by nicolas genin from Paris, France - 66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra), CC BY-SA 2.0

Thomas James Henderson by Unknown author - http://aussiethule.blogspot.ca/2006/11/thomas-james-henderson-1798-1844.html, Public Domain

Jordan Henderson by joncandy, CC BY-SA 2.0