Martha Gammell (1836-1868) and her descendants

Martha Janet Gammell, known as Jessie, was the 8th child and only daughter to survive childhood of Captain James Gammell of Ardiffery and his wife Sydney Holmes. She was born in Edinburgh on 7 May 1836. Her parents moved to Bath in the 1850s, and she was married there at St. Saviours Church on 25 January 1866 to Julius Alfred Bertram (1828-1901), a solicitor and son of Charles Bertram, a wine merchant. This Charles Bertram's sister, Rosa Bertram, had married Jessie's uncle Ernest some fifteen years earlier. Jessie and Julius had only one child, Julius, who was born on 8 November 1866 and Jessie died on 31 July 1868, two days after giving birth to a stillborn second child.

On 28 March 1883, Julius Alfred married for the second time, his bride being Miriam Sophia Adelaide Messiter (nee Gammell), widow of Colonel John Messiter, and only daughter of Major

William Gammell. There were no children of this second marriage. Miriam and Julius died of natural causes on the same day at their Regent’s Park home in London on 14 July 1901. 

Julius Bertram (1866-1944)

Julius Bertram, the son of Jessie and Julius Alfred, became a lawyer like his father, practicing in London. In the 1906 General Election he was elected as the only ever Liberal MP for Hitchin, however he lost the seat in the next election, in January 1910. On 14 December 1907, he married Marjorie Sutton (1877-1947).  He lived at "Sishes", Pin Green, Stevenage, Hertfordshire from 1897-1930, after which the family moved to Abington Hall, Cambridgeshire and later Martinhoe Cleave, North Devon. His London house was at Ashburn Gardens, Kensington. He was very fond of music and attained considerable proficiency as a player of the organ.  He and his wife were occasional visitors to Drumtochty, and Sydney James Gammell and his wife often visited the Bertrams at Cambridge. Julius died on 5 November 1944.

Julius Bertram and his wife Marjorie Sutton had two children, Oliver Henry Julius Bertram born 26 February 1910, and Quentin Charles Frederick Bertram born on 1 March 1914 and who died on 10 October 1931. 

Oliver Henry Julius Bertram (1910-1975) and his descendants

Oliver H J Bertram was educated at Stowe School, Buckinghamshire between 1923 and 1927 and then at Trinity College, Cambridge University.   He was called to the Bar in 1933 and practiced as a Barrister at 2 Essex Court Chambers, London EC4.  At the outbreak of war in 1939, Bertram was a Second lieutenant in the Army Reserve and later that same year, enlisted in the Regular British Army. In 1947, Oliver Bertram, gained the rank of Major.

After the Second World War, Oliver resumed his legal career and having served in the Army, was appointed as a Judge Advocate in 1952, which saw him try cases around Europe.

Oliver was also a racing driver.  Having started racing at Cambridge in 1929, he became the Brooklands outer lap record holder in his 8-litre special Barnato-Hassan Bentley racing car on 5 August 1935 with a time of 69.85 seconds, attaining an average speed of 142.60 miles per hour (229.49 km/h). However, this record stood for only 2 months 2 days, as on 7 October John Cobb regained the title in his Napier Railton with a speed of 143.44 miles per hour (230.84 km/h).  He won the Easter Short handicap race in 1935 and with John Cobb, took first place in 1937 in the BRDC 500 Kilometres Race – a shortened version of the 500 Miles Race. He was awarded the British Racing Drivers' Club gold star twice – in 1935 and 1938.

On 14 July 1932 he married Anne Margery Shaw Mellor, but sometime between before 1943 they must have divorced, since on 30 October 1943, he married Jennifer Anne Pleasant Clark in Nairobi. Jennifer and Oliver had 2 children, James Julius Bertram and Janet Lavinia Bertram.  Again, this marriage must have ended, because in early 1974 he married Jane K Starkey/Boulton in Barnstable, Devon. Oliver died in Devon on 13 September 1975. 

James Julius Bertram (1944-2015)

His son, James Julius Bertram was born 24 November 1944 and became a solicitor and practiced in Hong Kong.  He married and had two children, George and Gillian.  He died in France on 19 June 2015.

Janet Lavinia Bertram (1946-2016)

Janet Lavinia Bertram was born 14 August 1946.  She became an actress and died on 11 October 2016.  She had no children.