Herbert Witard

Herbert Edward Witard (8 October 1873 – April 1954) was a British socialist politician.

Born in Clare, Suffolk, Witard grew up in Norwich. When he was six, his father died, and the family fell into poverty. He began working at the age of ten, selling newspapers on a street corner after early-morning schooling. He left school two years later and worked as a cabin boy on a fishing boat operating out of Great Yarmouth. At the age of fourteen, he returned to Norwich and learnt shoemaking, gradually building himself a reputation as one of the best in the city. He was elected as an alderman in 1922, and in 1927 as Lord Mayor of Norwich. Previous Lord Mayors had been wealthy and were expected to pay for entertainment from their own funds, but as Witard could not afford this, for the first time, an allowance was given for mayoral entertainment. He remained on the council until 1951, when he stood down.