Treble 1915-1919.
Co-founder of the Exeter Cathedral Old Choristers' Association, 1964.
The photograph of Edgar, the biographical notes that form the basis of the text that follows, and the illustrations, were kindly provided by his son, Jeremy Creighton Herbert (via emails, 2024-2025). Editor's notes in [].
Edgar Herbert, an individual who has a street named after him in Exeter [Herbert Road, just off Pinhoe Road, near St Marks Church in the eastern part of Exeter. This may be a unique achievement for an Exeter chorister!], whose mother chased a Somerset County Cricket scout away from her doorstep in Sidwell Street prior to him leaving to work for the Eastern Telegraph Company in Africa.
[The reference that the Cathedral School Headmaster, Richard Langhorne, wrote for Edgar for this job at the Telegraph Company survives. Its language is very much of its period! Click on each image for larger versions.:
Edgar spoke fluent Arabic, and dressed in a djellaba, concealed maps in pitted dates to help free prisoners of war in North Africa when he was part of the Long Range Desert Group and The Eighth Army. He captained the Egypt Cricket team after the war, when he, his wife and son Jeremy lived in Tripoli. He was an exceptional wicket keeper and back in Devon, played for The Devon Dumplings!
He led a hugely diverse life. He died in Exmouth Post Office (February 20th 1967) cracking a joke at the counter when taking in Common Entrance Exam Papers to be posted off as he was an invigilator at St. Peter’s Prep School, Lympstone; the village where he and his family returned to live after Tripoli. Lionel Dakers, cathedral Organist at the time, helped put together the music for his memorial service, held about a week after he died. [A copy of the service booklet survives. Click on each image for larger versions]:
The list of people he knew was endless: from the world of UK diplomacy, Politicians, High Ranking Military Officers, Authors, Composers, Musicians, Artists, Sporting Personel etc. He was known for his energy, a boundless sense of humour, hugely mischievous, generous to a fault, a very charismatic figure loved and treasured by so many. Jeremy remembers that teenage friends would flock to their cottage not because of him, but to be in the company of his father and also his very remarkable polyglot mother!
Amongst her languages, she spoke fluent Arabic, Italian, French and Polish. Polish as she drove Generals in the war and hung out with the drivers too! She also drove ‘Ike’ Dwight Eisenhower on occasions when he visited the UK during the war. She dated David Niven and Stuart Grainger and a few other Hollywood ‘smoothies' before marrying Edgar!
Edgar accumulated an amazing autograph book with entries from numerous musicians, including a letter to him from Vaughan Williams.
Edgar, Lionel Dakers, Frank Cotton and a few others had the ambitious idea in the early 1960s of forming an Old Choristers' Association. The idea came to fruition in 1964. Geoffrey Mitchell has written about the early days of the Association, Edgar's involvement and how the Association was publicised via newspaper, in the 2012 ECOCA Newsletter. Edgar was a very significant contributor to creating the legacy of a successful and sustainable ECOCA. Jeremy well remembers his father, whilst in failing health, sitting at his desk writing pen and ink letters to many many former choristers, encouraging them to enlist and return to the Cathedral to sing annually on those happy Easter Mondays.
Edited by Mike Dobson, February 2025.