Born in 1892 in the Belgian village of Nederbrakel, to parents Pierre and Eulalie, Rene Henderickx (sometimes spelled 'Hendrickx') was a bandsman in the Belgian Army during the First World War.
His enlistment papers state that he was a painter, a trade he continued after the war, having moved to Brisbane in the early 1920s. He and his wife, Helene, had a daughter, Edna, and a son, Robert. It would seem both of Rene's children inherited his musical talent, with both of them working as musicians at one time or another; in 1944 Edna was one of the winners of the ABC concerto competition in Queensland, and was selected to perform as a soloist with the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra.

Rene Henderickx became an Australian citizen in 1929. He died in Brisbane in 1950.