Mourners sought to pay respects to lone lawyer Henderson

An appeal has gone out for mourners to attend the funeral service of a former Edinburgh lawyer and city councillor who has died at the age of 90 having never married and leaving no surviving family.

John Henderson, who practised on his own account as a criminal defence lawyer from George IV Bridge, and latterly the Grassmarket, from 1952 until 1984, died on 20 October 2014 in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. No funeral was held while attempts were made to trace family members, but a service is now to take place on Friday 12 December at 10.30am in the Small Chapel at Mortonhall Crematorium.

Born in Leith in 1924, Mr Henderson was brought up in the city and served in the navy during the Second World War. He was also a member of the Labour Party and served as a member of Edinburgh City Council from 1961-67. He was a lifelong Catholic.

A man who befriended him in his later years said: "You would never be short of conversation with him because he lived such a life that he had many tales to tell."