Background
Oliver Herford was born on December 2, 1860 (not 1863, as is widely stated) in in Sheffield, England. He was the son of Reverend Brooke Herford and Hannah Hankinson Herford. His grandfather, John Herford, was a wine merchant of Manchester, whose wife, a woman of cultivation and some ability as an artist, conducted a school for girls in Altrincham--about eight miles from Manchester--where the Herfords had their home.
Herford's father was a prominent Unitarian minister, editor, and hymn writer; an uncle, William Henry, also a Unitarian minister, was widely known as a writer on educational subjects. Herford was the third son in a family of three boys and six girls; another child died at birth.
Upon reaching maturity he discarded his middle name. In 1875, when he was nearly twelve years old, his father moved to the United States to accept a call to the Church of the Messiah, Chicago. He remained in that city until 1882, when he went to Boston to become pastor of the Arlington Street Church. After serving for ten years in this capacity he returned to England.