Herbert Wade was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England on 17 November 1870. By 1897 he was practising as an architect in Blackpool, however it is not known where or with whom, he received his training in the profession. From c.1900 to c.1907 he was in partnership with his brother, Walter Wade (1872-1944) as Wade & Wade. The practice had offices in Blackpool and St. Anne's-on-Sea, Lancashire. Following the dissolution of the partnership Herbert Wade practised from the Blackpool office and Walter Wade practised from the St. Anne's-on-Sea office.
Wade's address was given as Talbot Chambers, Blackpool in 1897; North Drive St Anne’s on the Sea, Lancashire in 1901; 215 All Saint Road All Saint Road, St. Annes-on-Sea, Lancashire in 1911; 7 Birley Street., Blackpool in 1911 and 1924; and 24 Southbourne Road, Blackpool in 1939 and 1940. He died in Blackpool on 5 February 1940
Architectural projects by Herbert Wade included the Liberal Club on Victoria Street, Blackpool (1899); House in Claremont Park, Blackpool (1899); the Wayman Memorial Congregational Church in Blackpool (1907); Congregational Schools at North Shore, Blackpool (1907); Council Schools on Argyle Street, Hindley, near Wigan, Lancashire (1907); a shop and café at Albert Terrace, Blackpool for Booth & Company (1908); a house at Promenade, Fairhaven, Lytham, Lancashire for J. B. Lugh (1908); St Paul's Congregational Church in Hindley, near Wigan (1909); a cinema on Dickinson Road and Queen Street Blackpool (1912); a Council School on Moss Lane, Platt Bridge, Hindley, near Wigan (1913-14); the reconstruction of the Union Bank of Manchester on Birley Street, Blackpool (1924); and a school off Leigh Road, Hindley Green, near Wigan (1925)
In 1910 Wade was given an Honourable Mention in a competition to design the Central Library in Blackpool. His designs are illustrated in British Competitions in Architecture vol. 3, no. 26, November 1909 (pp. 56-57).