18 Facts About Mark Herdman

Mark Herdman was born in Rhu, Scotland, on 26 April 1932, to Joan and Claud Herdman, a Commander of the Royal Navy.

Mark Herdman was brought up by a paternal aunt in Northern Ireland until his father remarried in 1939.

The Mark Herdman family owned and operated a linen factory in Sion Mills in County Tyrone.

Mark Herdman attended St Edward's School, a boarding school in Oxford, and later graduated from Trinity College Dublin.

Mark Herdman then enrolled at The Queen's College, Oxford, for one year, to prepare for a posting in the British Overseas Civil Service.

Mark 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.

Mark Herdman studied Arabic at the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies in Shemlan, Lebanon, to prepare for a posting in neighbouring Jordan.

Mark Herdman then served at diplomatic embassies and missions in Zambia, Saudi Arabia and Malawi.

Mark Herdman was appointed Deputy Governor of Bermuda 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.

Mark Herdman was appointed Governor of the British Virgin Islands from 1986 to 1991.

Governor Mark Herdman oversaw the British Virgin Islands' emergency management programs and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo.

Mark 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, Mark Herdman was named as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Mark Herdman left his position in the British Virgin Islands in 1991.

Mark Herdman served as a member of the European Union's Peace Monitoring Mission during the break-up of Yugoslavia before retiring from diplomacy in 1992.

Mark Herdman died on 5 August 2015 at the age of 83.

Mark Herdman was survived by his wife, Elizabeth Dillon, whom he married in 1963, with whom he had three children, Patrick, Deirdre, and Bridget, and four grandchildren.

Mark Herdman was buried at St Mary's Church in Worplesdon, Guildford, Surrey, on 25 August 2015.