31 January 1886-25 October 1914
A Short Biography
Arthur Widdrington HERDMAN born 31 January 1886, the only son of the Reverend and Mrs Robert Morrison Herdman, vicar of Holy Trinity in North Shields, was brought up at Sunny Holme, Crescent Parade, Ripon, Yorkshire.
Edward Herdman, Arthur’s uncle, owned land in Ewhurst Green, East Sussex known as Hoglands Field on which he built Ewhurst Place (which Arthur subsequently inherited) and the Reading Room (now The Old Library).
Educated at Trent College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Arthur was in his early 20s when he joined the Royal Sussex Regiment in September 1909 and later commissioned in the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI), serving in Ireland in 1912. In his absence from Ewhurst Place, he let the property to Sir Robert and Lady BADEN-POWELL until his estate was settled in 1917, and the Field was let to Mr Pears of Court Lodge.
In 1913 he was promoted to Lieutenant and in 1914 became part of 16th Infantry Brigade serving with the British Expeditionary Force in Flanders. He arrived in France on 10 September 1914 but only six weeks later on 25 October he died, one of three officers among 55 soldiers killed at Le Quense Farm, Bois Grenier near Armentieres whilst serving with B Company, 1st Battalion KSLI. He is believed to be buried at Ration Farm Military Cemetery but is listed on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the missing.
Before embarking for France, Arthur made a will indicating his intention to leave to
“the Parish Council of Ewhurst, Sussex, the top three acres of Hoglands Field, Court Lodge Farm Ewhurst, now occupied by Mr Pears of Court Lodge, to be used as a village recreation ground. Also 300 pounds which after deduction of the cost of fencing etc. to be invested and used for the upkeep of the said field and for the provision of Christmas presents for, or otherwise for, the benefit of the children attending Ewhurst Green village school.”
From 1915 until the school closed in 1962, every child attending the school received a Christmas present bought by The Herdman Trust.
~~~
THE HERDMAN PAVILION & PLAYING FIELD 