HENDERSON, G(eorge) P(oland) 1920-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born April 24, 1920, in London, England; died June 21, 2003, in Beckenham, Kent, England. Librarian, businessman, and author. Henderson is best remembered as the creator of the world-famous business reference service at Guildhall Library in London, England. Studying at the University of London for only a year, his education was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Royal Artillery and became a captain. When the war ended, he returned to work as commercial reference librarian at Guildhall Library, where he had already worked for two years before the war. Given the job of revamping the library's commercial reference room, Henderson took on the task with such energy and creativity that he turned the business reference library into a world-class resource. The importance of accurate directories in the library led to Henderson's next job as director of Kelly's Directories Ltd. in Kingston, England, where he worked from 1963 to 1966; that year, he turned his attentions full time to directing CBD Research Ltd., the Beckenham company he had founded in 1961. Henderson's call for excellence in directory publishing was also heard as he set up the British Association of Directory Publishers and the European Association of Directory Publishers; his other activities included being a member of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society of London, and fellow of the Institute of Directors. He was the coeditor of Current British Directories (1953; sixth edition, 1971) and Directory of British Associations (1970; eleventh edition, 1992), and the editor of European Companies: A Guide to Sources of Information (1961; third edition, 1972) and Current European Directories (1969).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Independent (London, England), February 20, 2004, p. 42.