Desmond Henley

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Desmond Charles Henley,

embalmer
.

Career

After leaving school, Henley joined the London company of

Royal Family
. After training in all theoretical and practical aspects of embalming, Henley passed his professional examinations in 1948. Four years later he was appointed the company's chief embalmer.

In 1961, Henley became an examiner of the British Institute of Embalmers. He also taught embalming techniques,

Lenin's body in Moscow was indeed as permanent as claimed by the Russian authorities.[4]

Notable cases

In his role as chief embalmer for J. H. Kenyon Ltd, Henley carried out the embalming of

Sir Winston Churchill at the latter's London home at 28 Hyde Park Gate in 1965.[6]

Churchill's body was embalmed in the same room where he had died on the morning of 24 January 1965, a Sunday. When the process was completed, the remains were dressed in his silk pyjamas and dressing robe and placed back into his bed. Churchill would lie in repose in private at his Hyde Park Gate home until 9:00 pm Tuesday evening when Kenyon's staff transported his remains to Westminster Hall to lie in state[6] and for the funeral at St Paul's Cathedral.

Four years later, Henley embalmed the remains of

Field Marshal Lord Montgomery in 1976, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Mountbatten of Burma in 1979, Bon Scott in 1980, and Billy Fury in 1983.[2]

In the time between 1963 and 1976, Henley also worked extensively in

Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Benin and Malawi, and continued to advise royal families worldwide until his retirement from J. H. Kenyon Ltd in 1992, after 51 years of service.[2]

Disaster management

After training in disaster management, Henley also served as head of J. H. Kenyon Ltd's emergency services mortuary team. In this role he was involved in the recovery and

Lockerbie bombing in 1988.[7]

It was for this work at major disasters around the world that Henley was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire "for services in the aftermath of disasters involving the loss of human life" in the 1997 New Year Honours.[7]

Retirement and death

In retirement he lived in London and Portsmouth.[7] His funeral was held on 23 November 2005 at St. Wilfrid's Church, Portsmouth, followed by cremation at Portchester Crematorium.[1]

Honours

References

  1. ^ a b "HENLEY - Deaths Announcements - Telegraph Announcements". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "In memoriam Desmond C. Henley".
  3. ^ E.g. to Graham Cook of Albin International Archived 17 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ISBN 978-0-7864-2851-9
    .
  5. ^ "Funeral Service in London: A Short History - London Association of Funeral Directors". lafd.org.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  6. ^ a b Van Beck, Todd (October 2012). "The Death and State Funeral of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill" (PDF). Canadian Funeral News. 40 (10): 10, 79. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2014.
  7. ^ a b c "Robert's a king of the road". The Mirror. 31 December 1996. Retrieved 8 March 2014 – via The Free Library.[page needed]

External links

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