Tributes have been paid to a beloved headmaster and celebrated local historian.
Bill Hendrie passed away aged 83 on December 12.
He was headmaster of Torphichen Primary School, Murrayfield Primary School in Blackburn, then Linlithgow Primary School from 1977 to 1995, and a leading local historian, commended for his “outstanding contribution to the local history of the county”.
He was a member of the West Lothian History and Amenity Society for many years and one if its founding members in 1965.
By then he had already begun to publish in the field of Scottish and local history, but after his retirement from the teaching profession in 1995, he turned his full attention to the study and writing of history, particularly the local history of West Lothian.
He was also a much in-demand lecturer, both locally and, in later years, on board cruise ships.
Active in the community, he was president of Linlithgow and Bo’ness Rotary Club in 1998-99 and was responsible in 1977 for setting up the popular and successful Junior Guides scheme whereby P7 pupils of Linlithgow Primary School act as costumed historical guides to Linlithgow Palace during school holidays. The scheme celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2017.
Bill had a large number of books and other publications to his name, and was a regular contributor to the Scots Magazine, the Sunday Post and other Scottish periodicals.
A spokesperson for the West Lothian Local History Society said: “He continued writing prolifically until at least 2005, the year in which he published Old West Calder.
“A writing career of 40 years, a list of published books approaching 50 in number, plus a large number of articles, is a remarkable achievement, and it may be said that he single-handedly kept alive public interest in West Lothian’s local history, at a time when study of it was at a low ebb.
“To mark the silver jubilee of the New Town of Livingston in 1987, a copy of his book, The History of Livingston, was presented to every schoolchild in the town.
“He was pleasant, genial, formal in manners, generous in sharing his extensive knowledge; but an essentially private man - as is perhaps evidenced by the apparent scarcity of photographs of him.”
Bill’s funeral will be held in Torphichen Parish Church on Thursday, December 29 at 1pm; thereafter to Bo’ness Cemetery at 2pm. Full details can be found on the website of Thomas Cuthell and Sons, funeral directors.
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