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Herbert Sadd (1864-1945)

Herbert Sadd was born on 29th February 1864 in Barford but he and his younger brother Marshall Sadd, grew up in the Bell Inn, Marlingford, a few miles west of Norwich.

Herbert Sadd's birth certificate

Their parents, Georgiana (nee Hipperson) and John Sadd, were both originally from Hingham. They married in 1858 and by 1861 were living in Barford.

Georgiana’s parents kept Marlingford Bell from at least 1851 to the late 1860s, when Georgiana & John took it over. Georgiana’s parents then moved to Wramplingham, where Herbert was staying when the 1871 census was taken. As with many publicans at the time, John had another trade – bricklaying, and Herbert followed in the same trade, which, in the 1890s, took him to Norwich in 1891 and even as far as London to work on the construction of the Blackwall Tunnel (1892-1897). Georgiana and John stayed at the Marlingford Bell for over twenty years (according to licensing records, until 1896, although in the 1891 census John was boarding in Norwich and by 1901 they definitely seem to have been living separately, John in Norwich as a bricklayer whilst Georgiana stayed in Marlingford, as a housekeeper to Frederick Blyth, the blacksmith. Only one of Herbert’s six siblings was still living with his mother by this point, and it seems likely that Herbert lived in London until at least 1903, when he married Alice Ann Bales in the borough of Kensington . By 1904 he was back in Norfolk, where all his five children were born and by 1911 they were living in Mount Temple, Marlingford he they stayed for the rest of his life.
                                                                                                                                                                    Marlingford Bell in the 1960s

Billy Bennington knew of Herbert and Marshall Sadd, who were a generation older than him, and he must have heard Herbert play, as he played a tune he later referred to as Herbert Sadd’s Schottische (VT152CD 'The Barford Angel'). Herbert’s dulcimer was still in the family in 2005, and is an outstanding example of Mark Widdows’ beautiful craftsmanship. If the quality of the instrument is anything to go by, it is likely that Herbert was a good player.

Herbert Sadd died on 6th January 1945.

   Herbert Sadd's death certificate

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Click on a thumbnail to see a larger picture

Photo descriptions & sources

Main photos: Herbert Sadd  (from the family)

a. Herbert Sadd's dulcimer front (John Howson)

b. Herbert Sadd's dulcimer back (JH)

c. Herbert Sadd's granddaughter Pat Webster with his dulcimer  (JH)

d. Herbert Sadd's dulcimer front (JH)

e. Herbert Sadd's dulcimer profile (JH)

f.  Herbert Sadd's dulcimer stand (JH)

g. Herbert Sadd's dulcimer bridges (JH)

h. Herbert Sadd's dulcimer sound hole (JH)

i. Herbert Sadd's dulcimer sound hole (JH)

j. Herbert Sadd's dulcimer maker's name (JH)

k. Herbert Sadd's beaters (JH)

l. Herbert Sadd's beaters and tuning key (JH)