A. M. Henderson


Anketell Matthew Henderson was a Congregational minister in Australia, pastor of the Independent Church on Collins Street, Melbourne.

History

According to one report, Henderson's parents died while he was a child, and he was raised by an aunt, and educated at a famous school in Monaghan thanks to the generosity of a wealthy relative by the name of Anketell.
He trained for the Anglican ministry, but was never ordained, and around age 18, perhaps influenced by the preaching of the Rev. John Holmes, became associated with Wesleyan Methodism, of which he became a minister in June 1841, ten years later joining the Independents, elsewhere known as Congregationalists, and contributed to their magazine Patriot. He also wrote for the London Quarterly, and British Quarterly Review, chiefly on religio-scientific and philosophical subjects. He was assigned to the Independent church in Cork, followed by the Claremont chapel in London. In 1865 he accepted a call to the Richmond, Victoria, Congregational Church and presidency of the Congregational College of Victoria.
He arrived in Melbourne with his wife and five children by the ship Kosciusko from London in late August 1865 and preached his first sermon at Richmond on 3 September.
Apart from his work for the Richmond church, Henderson delivered sermons for the Baptist church and public lectures on the topics of Creation and Evolution, which drew large crowds. In February 1866 he was offered the charge of the Independent Church on Collins Street, a building which had outlived its usefulness, on a promise of a £3,000 contribution toward the erection of a new church should he accept.
Henderson advised his congregation at Richmond. A month later he addressed the Collins Street congregation, formally accepting their offer, and outlined his plans for continuing church services during the rebuilding, which would commence without delay. He conducted his first service to the Independent congregation at the Theatre Royal three days later. In the months that followed, Henderson's audience grew progressively.
Joseph Reed, who had already completed the State Library of Victoria, the Collins Street Baptist Church and the Wesley Church on Lonsdale Street, was commissioned as architect. The result was a Lombardo-Romanesque church with ornamental brickwork and a tower. The square plan included a spacious church with a raked floor and seating for 1400 persons, and a library which doubled as a meeting room.
The foundation stone was laid on 22 November 1866 by one Henry Hopkins of Hobart, chosen for having laid the stone for the original chapel in 1839.
The new church building was opened on 25 August 1867, the Rev. John Graham of Sydney giving the morning and afternoon services, while Rev. Henderson took the evening service, each crowded to overflowing. Collections taken to help liquidate the building fund debt, totalled close to £400.
The organ, by Hill and Son of London and installed by George Fincham, was opened by David Lee in a well-attended sacred concert on 19 September 1867. All proceeds went to the building fund; by 1868 all debts had been paid.
Henderson left Melbourne on 26 January 1870 to visit other Congregationist churches — he took the Sydney pulpit of Rev. John Graham, and opened the new church at Williamstown.
In October 1870 he resigned as president of the Congregational College of Victoria, but was persuaded to withdraw if he were freed of all responsibilities.
Criticism of Henderson in the press grew throughout the 1870s, chiefly on account of his intolerance of contrary opinions. A verse by Thomas Hood was quoted against him:
A pride there is of rank, a pride of birth,
A pride of learning, and a pride of purse,
A London pride—in short, there be on earth
A host of prides, some better and some worse
But of all prides since Lucifer's attaint,
The proudest swells a self-elected Saint.
He tried to curb the publication of diverging letters and articles in the church's own newspaper, The Victorian Independent, previously regarded as an organ of opinion, his assumption of infallibility leading to characterization as a "Congregational Pope".
Much of this hostility can be attributed to Henderson's well-publicised disdain for newspapers.

Last days

In 1875, with failing health, Henderson's dropped most of his commitments, and later that year took himself to the mineral baths of New Zealand and holidayed in Honolulu. He toured America, where he was received as a celebrity, his name as a preacher having preceded him. He died at the home of a nephew, in Toronto, Canada.

Family

Anketell Matthew Henderson was married to Mary S Edwards in 1847; she died at "Carhue", Alma road, East St Kilda. Their family includes:
  • Robert Edwards Henderson
  • Margaret Anketell Henderson married Richard Allen on 16 July 1874. They had two sons. Allen had a softgoods warehouse on Flinders Lane, Melbourne.
  • Anketell Matthew Henderson married Mary Louisa Andrew on 8 January 1880. They had a home "Airlie" at 641 Malvern Road, Toorak. She was a sister of Henry Martyn Andrew, head master of Wesley College and professor at University of Melbourne.
  • Anne/Annie Stanley Henderson
  • Frederick William Henderson