Roger Gaskell Hetherington was born in Sherborne, Dorset on 10 February 1876, the eldest son of William Lonsdale Hetherington and his wife, Mary Gaskell, daughter of John Dakin Gaskell, a barrister of Highgate, London. His father was assistant Master at Sherborne School when he was born, but the family soon after returned to Highgate.[3]
All his life he suffered from a weak heart and was never passed fit for active service. He relinquished that commission upon the completion of his service on 25 February 1919, retaining his rank.[9] Hetherington married Honoria Ford on 24 April 1906. She was the youngest daughter of the solicitor Arthur Ranken Ford, who lived close (1 Broadlands Road) to Roger's parents in Highgate (3 Broadlands Road). They had a daughter and three sons, the second of whom was Sir Arthur Ford Hetherington (1911–2002) who was Chairman of British Gas plc.[10]
Hetherington had become a governor at Highgate School in 1917.[11] He served the school as treasurer and chairman of governors from 1929 to 1944.[12] He had an interest in education and was also chairman of the council of Wycombe Abbey School.[10]
Hetherington's career as a civil servant began in 1930 when he became the Chief Engineering Inspector at the Ministry of Health, a post he would hold until 1944. He became an official adviser on water and the Director of Surveys for the ministry in 1941 in which capacity he served until 1952.[13]
On 24 June 1947, at a special general meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers, he was elected their president for the November 1947 to November 1948 session.[14] Hetherington was only elected because the death of the president-elect Sir Frederick Cook following his election in May. This was the second successive year that the ICE's president-elect had died before entering office.[14] Hetherington died in 1952.[1]