John Henshaw was educated at Wesley College and Melbourne University. Since creativity and the discipline of a naval career tend to be incompatible, he made a career choice he often regrets, to design and construct buildings for most of his working life and to compensate by keeping an interest in naval matters that started with the purchase with his pocket money of 'Jane's Fighting Ships'. As the Australian equivalent of a Chartered Surveyor, his business life was engaged in all aspects of property development, mainly self-employed. His 2008 essay, 'HMAS Albatross: White Elephant or Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?' won Second Prize in Australia's League Essay Competition. He has had various articles published in yachting magazines and won a cruising yacht design competition.