Mr. Herbert Alfred Learoyd, who had been Town Clerk of Hull since 1910, died at his house at Hornsea on Saturday. He was granted three months' leave on August 16 and entered a Leeds nursing home the same day. He underwent an operation and returned to his home three weeks ago, but the grave nature of his illness precluded any chance of renewed health. He was 63, and was due to retired next March.
Mr. Learoyd was the son of the late Mr. Nehemiah Learoyd, of Huddersfield. He was educated at Stuttgart, Paris and at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in the Law Tripos. For some time he was a master at Bromsgrove School. He was articled to his uncle, Mr. F.H. James (Learoyd, James and Miller), London, and in the Solicitors' Final Examinations was placed alone in first-class honours, winning the Clements Inn and Daniel Reardon prizes. On admission he entered the service of the Hertfordshire County Council, and was appointed Conveyancing Solicitor to the Hull Corporation in 1899 and Deputy Town Clerk in 1902. Eight years later he succeeded the later Mr. Edward Laverack as Town Clerk.
Mr. Learoyd was a member of the Council of the Municipal Corporations Association and vice-chairman of the Law Committee. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Land Drainage, and he sergved on advisory committees on Fire Brigades appointed by the Home Office. His sound knowledge of municipal administration and his remarkable grasp of the details of his duties made him an invaluable official to the Corporation. It is doubtful if any public official has enjoyed the confidence of councillors or citizens to a greater extent, and he was much esteemed by his staff.
He had a long association with the Hornsea Parish Church, and at one time acted as organist and choirmaster. He trained the first choir to win a prize at the Hull Musical Competitions. He frequently read the Lessons, and with Mrs. Learoyd was associated with church work generally. One of his sons married the niece of an ex-Lord Mayor of Hull, the late Mr. Ernest E. Keighley.
The funeral will take place at Hornsea to-morrow.
Source: Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 8 October 1928