Herbert was born in Ufford on 2nd February 1885, the son of Horace and Emily (née Harvey). He had eight siblings, four brothers and four sisters. The family lived in the lodge of the White House, (Bredfield House) Bredfield, where Horace worked as a gardener. In 1901, aged sixteen, Herbert worked as a groom at “The (Red) Towers” in Melton, but by 1911 he had left the village to work as a chauffeur in London.

Herbert enlisted in the Army Service Corps as a driver not long after war had been declared. He married Elizabeth Wisbey at St Judes Church, Kensington, and shortly afterwards, on 22nd July 1915, was posted to France. Herbert was discharged from the army on 10th May 1919 and for his war service received the 1914-15 Star and the British War and Victory Medals.

In 1939, Herbert and Elizabeth were living in Woodford Essex, where he worked as a driver. Herbert died in 1948.