Herbert was born on the 19th May 1887 in Aston Heath and was the oldest of three children of John and Edith Ann Dean (formerly Hughes). They lived with Herbert’s grandfather, James Dean, a widower labourer. Herbert’s father had been born in Preston Brook around 1854 and worked as a railway platelayer. Herbert’s mother had been born around 1862 in Hoylake in the Wirrall. They had married around 1886.
On the 3rd July 1887 Herbert was baptized at the Aston parish church of St, Peter’s.
By 1901, Herbert’s grandfather had died and two more children had been born; John Hugo in 1892 and Dorothy Farrington in 1893. The family were still living in Aston Heath and Herbert was a painter’s apprentice.
Ten years later, in 1911, Herbert now worked as a joiner on the Aston estate. His father had retired from the railway company and his brother was working as an unemployed chemist. Herbert’s pastime was football and he had played for Aston Hall Reserve AFC in the 1909-10 season, along with several young men from the nearby villages.
Herbert enlisted as a private in the Cheshire Regiment (service number 27436) on the 26th July 1915 was posted to 3rd Battalion. He was later posted to Gibraltar with the 1st Garrison Battalion, Herbert fell ill with dysentery whilst there and .died on the 5th November 1915. He was buried in the Gibraltar (North Front) Cemetery and commerated on the war memorial at Aston by Sutton. Herbert was posthumously awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Herbert’s father and brother, John Hugo, both died in 1917 and his mother died in 1932.