James MacLaren Henderson

James MacLaren Henderson

James McLaren Henderson was born in Elphinstone, East Lothian, on 1 May 1907 and played his club rugby at wing-forward for, initially, Dunbar and then Edinburgh Academicals. It was as an Accies' representative that he won his three caps for Scotland in 1933. Unfortunately, later in the same season he damaged knee ligaments playing for the Barbarians against Cardiff and was forced to retire at the age of 25. For a while he emigrated to New Zealand and worked as a farmer but eventually returned to Edinburgh to open a successful restaurant. He was a guest of honour at the age of 100 when Edinburgh Academicals celebrated their 150th season with a match against the Barbarians in April 2008. By then he was the longest living rugby international. Mac Henderson died on 5 March 2009, age 101.His brother Ian [q.v.] was also a Barbarian and Scotland international.