John Henderson, 5th of Fordell

Sir John Henderson, 5th of Fordell (3 November 1605, Fife, Scotland – 11 March 1650, Denmark) was a Scottish laird and mercenary, distinguished as a Cavalier in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

He was born in 1605 at Fordell Castle, Fife. A distinguished soldier, Fordell had been enslaved by Barbary pirates when commanding on the East African coast. He then supposedly fell in love with the Princess of Zanzibar who he contrived to escape to Egypt with. Later, Fordell was a mercenary, serving with the military for Denmark, Sweden, and elsewhere, and fought on the side of the Royalists in the Civil War. He was invested as a Knight by King Charles I.