Cyril Hurdman was born in Wolverhampton in 1896, the son of George and Eleanor Hurdman. In 1901, he was living with his parents at 26 Avondale Road, together with his younger brother, Harold. He won a scholarship for the Wolverhampton Grammar School in January 1907, and left in July 1915 in order to take up a mathematical scholarship at St John’s College, Cambridge. He was head boy and senior prefect in his last year at the Grammar School, as well as being librarian and editor of the Wulfrunian, secretary and chairman of the Debating Society, and secretary of the Games Committee. He captained the school at cricket and football, as well as being one of the Running VIII. He also attained the rank of lance-corporal in the Officer Training Corps. He was living at 48 Paget Road, Wolverhampton in 1911.

In 1915 he joined the 3rd Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment, and was later attached to the 2nd/6th Battalion of the Warwickshire Regiment, becoming a Second Lieutenant. On 19 July 1916, he was killed in action, and he is among the list of Local Officers remembered in the Express & Star on 22 September 1916. When he was last seen he was engaged in a night attack on a German parapet 30 yards in advance of his own line. He was featured in the Midland Counties Express on 23 December 1916. He is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium. He appears on the Roll of Honour in the Lady Chapel of St Peter’s Church, the memorial chapel in St Peter’s Church, and the roll of honour in St Jude’s Church in Tettenhall. There is also an entry for him (including a photograph) on the website detailing old boys from Wolverhampton Grammar School who died in the First World War.