Son of a proprietor of a coaching firm in Paddington who built coaches, provided services to funerals and owned two small farms, one at Chalfont St Giles where he rested his horses. Bertram was brought up at Chalfont and then entered the family business where he became a driver and so knowledgeable about horses that he was an important international show judge.
Bertram served in WW1 and on his return moved into the circus business, touring the country, and based each Christmas at Olympia. This was extremely successful and is credited with having revived the British circus scene. His sons, Cyril and Bernard, carried on the business after his death and it only folded in the early 1960s when television changed the entertainment habits of the nation. Died of pneumonia.
