William Duncan Herridge

Herridge was educated at Ottawa Collegiate Institute, the University of Toronto, where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Society, and Osgoode Hall Law School.

He served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I in which he received a field promotion to the rank of Major and was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order.

His first wife was Rose Fleck (1887-1925), granddaughter of Ottawa River lumber and railroad tycoon John Rudolphus Booth.

While stationed in Washington, D.C., Herridge was impressed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal, and convinced Bennett to attempt to adopt similar policies in Canada for combatting the Great Depression.

Herridge's comments were not well received and elicited a round of boos and jeers of "go back to the States" and "Jeremiah" from the delegates and his amendments were rejected.