James William Herbert was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 2 April 1881 and was articled to James Lindasy in Glasgow from 1897 to 1902. He also studied at Glasgow School of Art. By 1902 he had moved to London and in 1902 he was appointed an assistant in the Architects' Highways Section of London County Council. He qualified as an architect and later that year was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA).
Herbert remained in the employ of London County Council for the whole of his career as an architect becoming head of the Housing Section in 1934. He retired from the LCC in 1944.
In 1907 he submitted an entry for a competition to design buildings for the Scottish National Exhibition held in Edinburgh in 1908. His designs are illustrated in British Competitions in Architecture vol. 2, no. 14, December 1907 (pp. 76-77).
Hepburn was awarded the Grissell Gold Medal in 1904 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1942
His address was given as 13 Charing Cross, London in 1906 and 25 Denbigh Place, South Belgravia, London ; 2 Queen Square Place, London in 1907; 86 Swinburn Road, London in 1923 and 1926; and "Gable End", 12, Selvege Lane, Mill Hill, London in 1930 and 1950. He died in Worthing, Sussex on 28 February 1961
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001