Bruce Ronald Henderson, also known as Bruce Grenville and Martin Renwick (born 1950), is a New Zealand anarchist, hoaxer and producer of artistamps. He is particularly known for the creation of the fictional Sultanate of Occussi-Ambeno.
Early life Bruce Henderson was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1950.
Sultanate of Occussi-Ambeno In the 1970s and 1980s he gained notoriety for a hoax involving the fabrication of the utopian Sultanate State of Occussi-Ambeno, located as an exclave on the Island of Timor at Oecusse, with himself as the self-proclaimed Sultan. Stamps were produced for the "Sultanate"."Long Live The Sultan! The World and Stamps of Bruce R. Henderson" by Geir Sør-Reime, The Cinderella Philatelist, Vol. 56, No. 1, (Whole No. 221), January 2016, pp. 10–22, & Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 58–64."Newsdesk", Gibbons Stamp Monthly, Vol. 63, No. 8 (January 1990), p. 6. The Sultanate was the subject of a documentary film made by Barry Thomas with filming done in New Zealand and Australia. Henderson wrote a 200 page history of the utopian state with its own airline "Swift Air," a fleet of blimps as there were no roads, cars or pollution.
Doctor Who In January 1999, he came to notice for the discovery of the long missing first episode of the 1965 Doctor Who story The Crusade, discovered in a garage sale in Napier."Only Chance to See Doctor Who Episode." The Press (Christchurch), 13 April 1999. After loaning the episode to the BBC for restoration, Henderson auctioned the film print on eBay.
Selected publications "Voyages to Imaginary Countries" in Artistamps Francobolli D'Artista, James Warren Felter (Ed.), AAA Edizioni, Bertiolo, Italy, 2000.
References
Further reading Bruce Grenville and the Utopian State of Occussi-Ambeno Boraman, T. (2007) Rabble Rousers and Merry Pranksters: A History of Anarchism in Aotearoa/New Zealand from the Mid-1950s to the Early 1980s. Christchurch: Katipo Books and Irrecuperable Press.