Edgar Sylvester

Sir Edgar Sylvester, K.B.E., F.C.A.

 

Arthur Edgar Sylvester was born in Nottingham in 1891, and trained as a Chartered Accountant in London.

 

He joined the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps, and in WW1 served with the Sherwood Foresters and Machine Gun Corps, being promoted from Private to Second Lieutenant on 25th December 1915.  He married Hilda Simms in 1916.

 

Edgar Sylvester joined Herbert & Sons Ltd. as a non-executive Director in 1923, when the Company was re-organised following the retirement of George Herbert.  At that time he was a partner in the firm of Barton Mayhew, the Company’s accountants.

 

He resigned in 1945 following his appointment as Chairman of the newly created National Gas Council, where he was responsible for the re-organisation of the Gas Industry following its nationalisation, for which he was knighted in 1949.

 

In 1952 he left the Gas Council for personal reasons, and rejoined the Board of Herbert & Sons Ltd. as Chairman in which capacity he remained until 1956 when he gave up the Chair but retained his Directorship.  He stayed with us until 1962 when he resigned owing to ill health, although he stayed on for a further year as our Financial Adviser.

 

Sir Edgar died on 11th October 1969.