Henson, Herbert Hensley (1863–1947)

English Anglican bishop. Although his forcible and arresting method of stating his views changed little throughout his ministry, the views themselves changed considerably. Henson was brought up in an Evangelical family. By the time he became vicar of Barking he was a high churchman. His acutely critical mind, however, made him impatient of party dogmatism, and at St Margaret's he became a strong defender of the right and duty of critical inquiry. The rejection of the revised Prayer Book by the House of Commons in 1927–28 transformed him from a defender of the establishment to a resolute and pugnacious advocate of the disestablishment of the Church of England. His appointment in 1918 to the bishopric of Hereford was bitterly attacked by conservative churchmen. In 1920 he became bishop of Durham.

Henson was born in London, England. He was educated at Oxford University, where he was a fellow of All Souls' College from 1884–96. He was head of Oxford House in Bethnal Green (1887–88); vicar and rural dean of Barking (1888–95); incumbent of St Mary's Hospital in Ilford (1895–1900); chaplain to the bishop of St Albans (1897–1900); rector of St Margaret's in Westminster and a canon of Westminster (1900–12), serving as sub-dean (1911–12); and dean of Durham (1912–18). He was proctor in convocation in 1903. He retired in 1939, but was recalled to a canonry of Westminster in 1940, though failing eyesight obliged him to resign in the following year. The wide range of his intellectual powers was illustrated by his Rede lectures on Byron at Cambridge University in 1924 and by his Gifford lectures (1935–36) on Christian Morality. His published works include sermons, essays, the books, The National Church (1908) and The Church of England (1939), and a three-volume autobiography, Retrospect of an Unimportant Life (1942–50).