Benson was born in
Hull, Yorkshire, son of Walter Benson and his wife Mary Benson, née Mear. In 1916 he trained as a lay missionary at
Cliff College, which institution had been supplying Methodist clergy to Australia since 1907. Responding to his request for country experience, he was sent to
Hamilton, supervised by Rev. H. J. Cocks (died 1921). At the 1918 Conference, Benson was accepted for training. In 1918 he took charge of the Toorak church, which had been kept moribund by its debt of £3700. Benson restructured the debt, and by his brilliant oratory and thoughtful sermons, reversed the trend. Soon the pews were full to overflowing and the church prospered. Benson, who had received lucrative offers from America, was happy in the service, but after five years' service the Methodist constitution (itinerant principle: section IV, No. 117) demanded that he move to another circuit. Toorak's church fathers petitioned for their church to be redefined as a Mission, which would make it exempt, and they would not be required to accept a replacement. The ploy was supported by Benson's mentor
W. H. Fitchett but refused by Conference, who feared that an unhealthy precedent would be created. Benson had made no attempt to increase church membership; he had "created a congregation, not built a church". In April 1923 he took his next charge, on Albion Street,
Brunswick, but his fame had spread: in September 1924 he was invited to
South Australia, to conduct the anniversary service of the Methodist church at
Malvern, a genteel suburb of Adelaide. He conducted three services on the day, to overflowing congregations. In 1926 he was called by Conference to take over preaching duties at the Central Mission, where the superintendent
S. J. Hoban had collapsed due to the pressure of work. He paid a return visit to the Malvern church in Adelaide, and in May 1927 preached at the anniversary service of Central Mission, Sydney. Hoban died in 1931, showered with praise from Benson, H. H. Williams, the Conference President and
J. H. Cain, Assistant Superintendent of the Central Mission. Cain succeeded Hoban as superintendent of the Central Mission, then Benson in 1933, when Cain retired. Melbourne was suffering the depths of the
Great Depression and the Central Mission, as Victoria's premier charitable body, had great demands on its services. Benson was introduced by
Ivan Menzies to
Moral Re-Armament and the
Oxford Group, whose four moral absolutes of: honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love could save the world, but was too late to prevent the impending world war. He admired Churchill and made him the subject of lectures. He retired, or resigned in 1970, succeeded as president of Central Mission, by reformist Rev.
Arthur Preston. He died in 1980 and his remains were buried in the
Brighton General Cemetery. ==Journalism==