Siegfried Wedgwood Herford (29 July 1891 – 28 January 1916) was a British climber who was active in the years immediately before World War I.

[2][3] As a child, he may have been autistic, subject to long periods of silence punctuated by violent outbursts of physical energy—behaviour coupled with a natural proclivity to mathematical thought.

By 1911, he had invented the "girdle traverse", practising at Castle Naze in the Derbyshire Peak District before applying his concept to the face of Scafell.

Although Herford spent considerable time on the crags, the quality of his academic work was superior, and he was at the top of his class in mathematics and physics when he graduated in 1912.

[6] With the War in full swing, and having failed to obtain a commission due to his Teutonic heritage, Herford enlisted as a private in the Royal Fusiliers, and was killed by a grenade blast on 28 January 1916.