Siegfried Wedgwood Herford (1891 – 28 January 1916) was a British climber who was active in the years immediately before World War I. He and

John Laycock Christopher John Laycock (1887 – 3 December 1960) was a British lawyer, the founder of one of Singapore's earliest law firms, Laycock and Ong. He was also one of the founders of the Singapore Progressive Party. Early life Laycock grew up in ...

and Stanley Jeffcoat initiated what is referred to as " gritstone climbing" in England,

bouldering Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help se ...

on large blocks at the base of the cliffs, and roping up to climb the edges and faces above.

Early life

Siegfried Herford was born in 1891, the son of academic C. H. Herford. As a child he may have been

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

, subject to long periods of silence punctuated by violent outbursts of physical energy—behaviour coupled with a natural proclivity to mathematical thought. Siegfried enrolled at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

in 1909, in the School of Engineering, and dabbled at rock climbing for a year or so. By 1911 he had invented the "girdle traverse", practising at Castle Naze in the Derbyshire Peak District before applying his concept to the face of

Scafell Scafell ( or ; also spelled Sca Fell, previously Scawfell) is a mountain in the English Lake District, part of the Southern Fells. Its height of makes it the second-highest mountain in England after its neighbour Scafell Pike, from which ...

. Although Herford spent considerable time on the crags, the quality of his academic work was superior, and he was at the top of his class in mathematics and physics when he graduated in 1912. He then received a postgraduate scholarship which allowed him to do aeronautical research at the

Royal Aircraft Factory Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

at Farnborough.

Expeditions

In the spring of 1914, Herford, with three companions, climbed the Central Buttress of Scafell, negotiating the crux—the notorious Flake Pitch—after reconnoitering the difficulties from above, as well as below. (Herford was an advocate of downclimbing, and wrote an article—"The Doctrine of Descent"—published in the 1913 ''

Fell & Rock Climbing Club The Fell & Rock Climbing Club of the English Lake District (in everyday usage the Fell and Rock Club or FRCC) is the senior climbing club covering the English Lake District. It was founded in 1906–1907 and, amongst its other activities, publ ...

Journal''.) Although some "combined tactics" were employed, the climb was a substantial benchmark in British rock climbing, coming in at HVS ( 5.9). With the War in full swing, and having failed to obtain a commission due to his Teutonic heritage, Herford enlisted as a private in the Royal Fusiliers, and was killed by a grenade blast on 28 January 1916.

References

* British rock climbers English mountain climbers 1891 births 1916 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I English people of German descent Royal Fusiliers soldiers Deaths by hand grenade English military personnel {{UK-army-bio-stub