Henderson Walker was born in about 1659. He arrived in colonial North Carolina by 1682 and by 1683 he was serving as the clerk of the Albemarle County Court, an office which he held until 1689. From 1692 to 1692 he served as the colonial secretary and later also served on the North Carolina Council from 1694 until his death. He served as the acting governor of the colony from July 1699 until about June 1703, during which time he established Anglicanism as the colony's official religion. He died in Chowan Precinct, North Carolina on April 14, 1704.