John Mark Ambrose Herdman (26 April 1932 – 5 August 2015) was a British diplomat and overseas civil servant. Herdman served as the Deputy Governor of

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from 1983 to 1986 (with a period as Bermuda's acting Governor in 1983) and then as the

Governor of the British Virgin Islands The Governor of the Virgin Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the British Virgin Islands. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The r ...

from 1986 until 1991.

Biography

Early life and education

Mark Herdman was born in

Rhu Rhu (; gd, An Rubha ) is a village and historic parish on the east shore of the Gare Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The traditional spelling of its name was ''Row'', but it was changed in the 1920s so that outsiders would pronounce it cor ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, on 26 April 1932, to Joan (née Tennant) and Claud Herdman, a Commander of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. His mother, Joan, died in 1936 when he was four years old. Herdman was brought up by a paternal aunt in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

until his father remarried in 1939. The Herdman family owned and operated a linen factory in

Sion Mills Sion Mills is a village to the south of Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, on the River Mourne. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 2,050 people. It is a tree-lined industrial village and designated conservation area, particular ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

. They had established the village of Sion Mills in 1835. Herdman attended St Edward's School, a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and later graduated from Trinity College Dublin. He then enrolled at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

, for one year, to prepare for a posting in the British Overseas Civil Service.

Diplomatic career

Herdman first served as a District Officer and later as a District Commissioner in British Kenya, until the country gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964. After leaving Kenya, Herdman transferred from the British Overseas Civil Service to Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service. He studied

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

at the

Middle East Centre for Arab Studies The Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) was an Arabic language college created by the British Army during World War II in Jerusalem, and relocated afterwards as a civilian institution to Lebanon near Beirut where it functioned between 1947� ...

(MECAS) in

Shemlan Shemlan ( ar, شملان), (also spelled Chemlane, Chimlane, Shimlan) is a village in the Aley District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon, located about 25 km from Beirut. History Shemlan is first mentioned in chronicles as early as ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, to prepare for a posting in neighbouring

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. He then served at diplomatic embassies and missions in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

named Herdman as a lieutenant in the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

during her trip to Malawi in 1979.

Deputy Governor of Bermuda

Mark Herdman was appointed Deputy Governor of

from 1983 to 1986, including a brief tenure as acting Governor from 14 February 1983 until July 1983, following the resignation of Governor

Richard Posnett Sir Richard Neil Posnett (19 July 1919 – 11 May 2009) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Belize (from 1972 to 1976) and Governor of Bermuda (from 1981 to 1983). He was also briefly Commissioner of Anguilla (in 19 ...

Governor of British Virgin Islands

Herdman was appointed

from 1986 to 1991. In 1989,

Hurricane Hugo Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread damage across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. Across its track, Hugo affected approximately 2 million peop ...

struck the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

in 1989 during Herdman's tenure, devastating the islands. Hurricane Hugo was the first major hurricane to strike the territory since 1960. Governor Herdman oversaw the British Virgin Islands'

emergency management Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...

programs and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo. Herdman appointed the BVI's first full-time disaster preparedness coordinator, which led to founding of the Department of Disaster Management of the British Virgin Islands in 1993, after he left office. In 1990, Herdman was named as a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. In a statement following his death in 2015,

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Orlando Smith praised Herdman's role in the territory's recovery from Hurricane Hugo, noting that he had "helped to lay the foundation for the development of the modern Virgin Islands' disaster management systems and operations."

Later life

He left his position in the British Virgin Islands in 1991. Herdman served as a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

's Peace Monitoring Mission during the

break-up of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

before retiring from diplomacy in 1992. Mark Herdman died on 5 August 2015 at the age of 83. He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth (Betsy) Dillon, whom he married in 1963, with whom he had three children, Patrick, Deirdre, and Bridget, and four grandchildren. He was buried at St. Mary's Church in

Worplesdon Worplesdon is a village NNW of Guildford in Surrey, England and a large dispersed civil parish that includes the settlements of: Worplesdon itself (including its central church area, Perry Hill), Fairlands, Jacobs Well, Rydeshill and Wood S ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, Surrey, on 25 August 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herdman, Mark 1932 births 2015 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Governors of Bermuda Governors of Bermuda Governors of the British Virgin Islands Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order Members of HM Diplomatic Service People from Surrey 20th-century British diplomats