Born Edinburgh 5 September 1858, son of Richard Herdman (of Perth) who describes himself as 'Artist Portrait And History' and Emma (born Ireland). Studied geology under Sir Archibald Geikie at Edinburgh University; in 1881 census found at home, 12 Bruntsfield Crescent Edinburgh, where he describes himself as 'Doctor In Natl Science & Assist To Prof Nat Hist Edinr Univ'. Later in 1881 appointed to Derby Chair of Natural History at Liverpool University College (later to become Liverpool University) and held this post until 1919 then that of Professor of Oceanography from 1919 to 1920. Knighted 1922; died 21 July 1924 and is buried in Highgate Cemetery (East) London.
He was widely known as a great marine zoologist and oceanographer, however he maintained a keen interest in geology and filled the office of President of the Liverpool Geological Society from 1898 to 1900, being awarded the Society's medal in 1922 in recognition of his furtherance of local geological work. His son Second-Lieut. George A., King's Liverpool Regiment, was killed at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, as a memorial he and his wife endowed the George Herdman Chair of Geology in memory of their son, another memorial took the form of the George Herdman Institute in Port Erin. Later, in 1919, they also endowed a Chair of Oceanography in the University. Following the death of Lady Herdman in 1922, he donated £20,000 towards the cost of new geological laboratories.
His connection with the Island came via his work in marine biology - elected as a corresponding member of the IoMH&ASoc in 1886. The Liverpool Marine Biology Committee (LMBC) had established a research station on Puffin Island but in 1892 a new, larger and better equipped station was opened at Port Erin, some history of this station can be gained from the series of annual Reports and the contributions to the 1896 BA handbook.
He also had an interest in archaeology - was associated with P.M.C. Kermode in investigating the Mull Circle and Cronk Howe Mooar - Kermode and he wrote a small 'Illustrated Notes on Manks Antiquities' published in 1904 and later revised for Manx Antiquities of 1914. He was elected President of the IoMNH&ASoc for 1913.
Did some local Liverpool archaeology - e.g. 'A Contribution to the History of the Calderstones, near Liverpool' (1896) W.A Herdman produced a new interpretation of the calderstones near Liverpool see http://www.btinternet.com/~m.royden/mrlhp/local/calders/calders.htm -
Many of his publications were under the imprint of the Liverpool Biological Society which also published the annual reports of the Marine Biological Station -
Herdman, W.A. Third Annual Report of the Liverpool Marine Biological Station
on Puffin Island. - Proc. Trans. Liverpool Biol. Soc., 4: 36-74 1890
Herdman, W. A. . Sixth annual report of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee and their biological station at Port Erin. Proc. Trans. Lpool biol. Soc., 7: (1893)
Herdman, W. A. . Seventh annual report of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee and their biological station at Port Erin. Proc. Trans. Lpool biol. Soc., 8: 1-55.(1894)
Herdman, W. A. . Ninth annual report of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee and their biological station at Port Erin. Proc. Trans. Lpool biol. Soc., 10: 1-59.(1896)
Herdman, W. A. . The fourteenth annual report of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee, and their biological station at Port Erin (Isle of Man). Proc. Trans. Lpool biol. Soc., 14: 1-67(1900).
Herdman, W. A. . The new biological station at Port Erin (Isle of Man), being the seventeenth annual report of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee. Proc. Trans. Lpool biol. Soc., 17: 1-67.(1903)
Herdman, W. A. . The Marine Biological Station at Port Erin (Isle of Man), being the twenty-third annual report of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee. Proc. Trans. Lpool biol. Soc., 23: 1-62.(1909)
Herdman, W. A. . Summary of the history and work of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee. Proc. Trans. Lpool biol. Soc., 34: 23-74(1920).
Herdman, W.A. 1919. Notes on the abundance of some common marine animals and a preliminary quantitative survey of their occurrence, Journal of the Linnean Society (Zoology), 34, 247-259.
Herdman, W.A. (ed) First report on the fauna of Liverpool Bay and neighbouring seas, Liverpool University Press, Liverpool,
Herdman, W.A. List of species recorded by the Liverpool Marine Biological Laboratory
since the publication of the British Association list in 1896. - Proc. Trans.
Liverpool Biol. Soc.,34: 75-7 1920
Herdman, W.A.., I.C. Thompson & A. Scott On the plankton collected continuously during two traverses of the North Atlantic in the summer of 1897; with descriptions of new species of Copepoda; and an Appendix on dredging in Puget Sound. - Proc. Trans. Liverpool 1898
Herdman,W.A. A Contribution to the History of the Calderstones, near Liverpool T.L.B.S. (1896) p.6 also appeared as a letter to the editor in the Liverpool Daily Post 21 November 21 1896.
Allen, D.E. The Naturalist in Britain (a social history), Pelican Books, Penguin, London 1978. (reference to Professor
W.A. Herdman on pp. 212-13).
Entry in Who Was Who, 1916-1928 p. 489.
Brown, R.N. Rudmose Sir William Abbott Herdman (1858-1924) in Dictionary of National Biography 1922-1930 (O.U.P., 1937), pp. 415-6.
Cubbon, W. Proc IoMNHASoc vol II no 4 pp364/6
E.J.W.H. Professor W.A. Herdman in The Sphinx, University College Students Magazine, Vol. IV No.32, Feb. 1897, pp. 135-9.
[anon] William A. Herdman in B. Guinness Orchard, Liverpool's Legion of Honour (Birkenhead, 1893), p.371.
J.J. Sir William A. Herdman, F.R.S. Nature, 2 August 1924, pp. 165-6.
[anon] William Abbott Herdman 1858-1924 Liverpool Biological Society, Procs. and Trans. 1924-1925, Vol. xxxix, pp. 19-28, 65-9.
S.J.H. Sir William A. Herdman 1858-1924 Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased (Royal Society of London, Procs., Series B, Vol. XCVIII, 1925, pp. x-xiv)
Shipley, A.E. Sir William Abbott Herdman Procs. of the Linnean Society of London 1924-1925, pp. 78-80.
[anon] Liverpool and Birkenhead in the Twentieth Century : Contemporary Biographies.W.T. Pike and Co., Brighton, 1911 brief biography + photo