Exhibit 31.1
           Rule 13a - 14a Certification of the Chief Executive Officer

I, Neil J. Hennessy, Chief Executive Officer and President of Hennessy Advisors,
Inc., certify that:
  1.  I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-KSB for Hennessy Advisors,
      Inc.;
  2.  Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
      of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
      statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
      were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
      report;
  3   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
      information included in this report, fairly present in all material
      respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of
      the small business issuer as of, and for, the periods presented in this
      report;
  4.  The small business issuer's other certifying officer(s) and I are
      responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
      procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and
      internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act
      Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the small business issuer and have:
      a)  Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
          disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
          supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the small
          business issuer, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
          known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
          period in which this report is being prepared;

      b)  Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
          such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under
          our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
          reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
          statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
          accounting principles;

      c)  Evaluated the effectiveness of the small business issuer's disclosure
          controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions
          about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as
          of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
          evaluation; and

      d)  Disclosed in this report any change in the small business issuer's
          internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
          small business issuer's most recent fiscal quarter (the small business
          issuer's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that
          has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,
          the small business issuer's internal control over financial reporting;
          and

  5.      The small business issuer's other certifying officer(s) and I have
          disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control
          over financial reporting, to the small business issuer's auditors and
          the audit committee of the small business issuer's board of directors
          (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
      a)  All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
          operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
          reasonably likely to adversely affect the small business issuer's
          ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
          information; and
      b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
          employees who have a significant role in the small business issuer's
          internal control over financial reporting.

Date: December 14, 2004

/s/ Neil J. Hennessy
--------------------
Neil J. Hennessy, Chief Executive Officer and President, Hennessy Advisors, Inc.

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