Article

Alexander Henderson

Published Online June 10, 2008

Last Edited July 24, 2015

Alexander Henderson, lawyer, politician, commissioner of Yukon Territory (b at Oshawa, Ont 13 Mar 1861; d at Vancouver 13 Dec 1940). Educated at Osgoode Hall, University of Toronto, Henderson was called to the Ontario bar in 1899 and the BC bar in 1891.

Alexander Henderson (YT Commissioner)

Alexander Henderson, lawyer, politician, commissioner of Yukon Territory (b at Oshawa, Ont 13 Mar 1861; d at Vancouver 13 Dec 1940). Educated at Osgoode Hall, University of Toronto, Henderson was called to the Ontario bar in 1899 and the BC bar in 1891. A Liberal, he represented New Westminster in the BC legislature (1898-1900) and was attorney-general in the Semlin administration. Appointed a judge of the Vancouver county court in 1901, he resigned to run in the provincial election of 1906 but was defeated. He served as commissioner of the Yukon Territory 1908-11, a period which coincided with the transition to capital-intensive mining operations in the Klondike goldfields. A quiet and capable administrator, Henderson presided over the first wholly elected Yukon council.