Bryan was the only child of Norman Scotson Henshaw of Oxton, Birkenhead and his wife, Beryl Stott. His father had served in the First World War and retained the rank of Colonel. He had been awarded the Military Cross, the O.B.E and T.D. His parents divorced and in 1947, his mother married Sir William Gray, 2nd Bt.
He was educated at Stowe from 1937 and matriculated in 1941. He was up at Christ Church for a year.
He was a Lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards when he was killed at Cassino.
He is buried in the Cassino War Cemetery Plot III. J. 19.