Businessman. Bertram Mills received much acclaim as an international British circus impresario and pioneer. His father, Halford Mills, was the owner of a coach-building works in Paddington, London and was also the owner of two farms, where he sent his horses to be stabled. It was on these farms that Mills spent most of his childhood and where he was taught to ride. He left school at the age of 15 to work in the family business, washing down coaches. Within a year he had graduated to driving a four-in-hand coach from London to Oxford. Following his marriage in 1901, he continued his employment in the family business, which was associated with his grandfather's funeral home, Mills and Sons, Ltd. With the outbreak of World War I, he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, rising to the rank of captain. At the end of the war, he realized the motorcar was replacing the horse and coach for transportation. He joined the "Wilkins and Young Circus.” At this point, he became inspired and decided to form his own circus, which became the "Bertram Mills International Circus.” It very quickly became the annual Christmas event, including clowns, lions and elephants, and beautiful ladies donned in scanty attire riding horses. By 1930 he had inaugurated a touring circus, which became unique among British circuses, always appearing at Olympia for the Christmas season. Among the guests of the show were the political giants, such as Sir Winston Churchill and Ramsey MacDonald. The Royal Family were also great supporters. As a judge in horse shows, he was known for wearing his top hat and cornflower in his coat button-hole. Bertram Mills died of pneumonia and was cremated at Golders Green, with his ashes later interred in the cemetery. With his two sons managing the family business, Bertram Mills Circus continued to be the toast of London until it finally closed in 1967.