Bertram Mills Circus (1920 - 1967)
Dates
- Existence: 1920 - 1967
Biography
Bertram Wagstaff Mills was born in London on August 11, 1873, the son of Halford Lewis Mills of Smarden, the proprietor of a coach building firm and funerary company.
Bertram became part of the family business as a carriage builder and only became involved in the circus through a wager in 1919 of £100 from Sir Gilbert Greenhall, a fellow coaching enthusiast, who was encouraged by R.G. Heaton, the Managing Director of Olympia to put on a first class circus after watching what was in his eyes a very disappointing show at Olympia.
Mills has originally planned to win the wager by engaging Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey to come to London for the 1920-1921 season but cancellation of the contract resulted in Mills decided to put on his own show. He rose to the challenge and the following year he presented a circus which would become an annual highlight for London audiences and introduced world class performers to the British public.
Between 1930 and 1964, and alongside his annual shows at Olympia, Bertram Mills Circus toured the country under the management of his sons Cyril and Bernard. Following the lines of excellence, production and performance standard set by the Olympia shows, according to Bertram Mills, ‘The Mills Circus will perform like professionals and live like gentlemen."
After approximately nine years of exhibiting in London, he created a tenting show which was said to have cost £40,000 to launch and £2500 to run weekly. With the crème de la crème of circus performers forming part of his touring repertoire, regional audiences thrilled to some of the leading artists of the day appearing in the specially designed German big top which travelled by their town by rail, the first British showmen to do so.
Bertram Mills’ status as an innovator and re-invigorator of the circus was heralded on both sides of the Channel. He only selected the best and most polished performers in the world and one of his major impacts as a producer was his ruthless ability to select the best five minutes of a twenty minute act. Circus historian Don Stacey lists these as part of his five principles the others being the ability to attract and convert influential people to the cause of the circus, using individual acts to promote as the star of the show with his treatment of Koringa being a case in point, and finally his ability in using publicity and marketing for the benefit of the show. As one contemporary commentator observed, 'It is not an exaggeration to say that he brought back the circus to England at a time when it seemed that it was about to quietly expire, killed by the War and mechanical entertainment'.
Mills believed in attracting and encouraging the attentions of the great and the good and following on a tradition laid out in the nineteenth century when circus was patronised greatly by the Royal Family, he aimed to make the Quality Show part of the establishment. From 1926 onwards following a visit of the then Prince of Wales to Olympia, the association between the Bertram Mills Circus and the Royal Family resulted in over sixty visits to the shows during its time in Olympia and other venues.
Bertram Mills became President of the Showmen’s Guild of Great in 1935, only the second circus showmen to hold such a position and the first and only time in its history that the position was occupied by someone not born into the business. He proved to be a successful and capable President, often travelling thousands of miles on Guild business including attending the First International Showmen’s Congress in Paris in 1937. Also this year Bertram Mills was the first circus in the world to be televised.
Mills died at the age of sixty-four of cardiac syncope and bronchial pneumonia on 16 April 1938 at his home, Pollards Wood, Chalfont St Giles, the day the tenting circus opened, at Luton, but the circus opened that evening. His death was greeted by the public and industry alike with shock as tributes to Britain’s No 1 Showman and King of the Circus appearing on the newsstands. However, the legacy he built was second to none, the principals laid down by the Quality Show with its attention to detail, model professionalism and quality of acts would be continued by both his sons and provided a template for the industry to follow.
By 1965 Bertram Mills Circus was in decline due to raising costs and the new way of competition the advent of television brought to the entertainment sector. The last winter season at Olympia was delivered by catering and hotel magnate Maxwell Joseph who leased the business for the 1966-1967 season, which will be the last one. Bertram Mills Circus closed 1967.
Found in 198 Collections and/or Records:
British Circuses Programmes, 1921 - 2018
Business Records, c1900 - 1999
Business records comprissing minutes of meetings, books of accounts, receipts, annual statements and other documents related to the Circus Friends Association of Great Britain, Bertram Mills Circus, Hans Brick and Bostock and Wombwell.
C & B M. Silver Jubilee Programme, 1951 - 1952
Blue faux velvet with silver embossed letters decorative cover, inside colour photograph of white face clown breaking through paper on top left and showgirl on bottom right on a white background on front cover, inside introduction, black and white photographs and illustrations of acts and performers with text, programme with illustrations in the centre and commercial advertising, 24p.p.
Carrick Theatre Programme, c1940
Southport. White and brown type on a green, white and brown background on the front cover, Bertram Mills Circus programme in the centre and commercial advertising, also contains a handbill for another event. Printed by Richard Whewell (Bolton)Ltd., 225 Folds Road, Bolton, 4p.p.
Catalogues, 1844 - 1980
Catalogues of sale of circus property including Van Amburgh and Bertram Mills.
Catalogues for Sale of Bertram Mills Circus Property, 1965 - 1967
Various catalogues of sale of the property of Bertram Mills Travelling Circus and Bertram Mills Circus Ltd and lists with ammendments, containing lists of items, some photographs and some annotations.
Chipperfield's Circus Scrapbook, 1949 - 1990
Scrapbook containing black and white photographs, newspaper cuttings, programmes and some items of ephemera from Chipperfield Circus and other various other circuses including Wilkie's, Bertram Mills, MikkenieJoh Pearson and Billy Smart, some pages are blank, 84p.p.
Christopher Palmer Collection
Circus programmes and VHS tapes from Billy Smart’s Circus and Chipperfields’s Circus collected during the 1970s and early 1980s by the TV producer, Christopher John Palmer. There are also a number of promotional photographs of artistes and other ephemera related to the circus.
Circus Films, c1950 - 1959
Copy of film on DVD showing performers at Harringay and with Bertram Mills, Polack Bros. Cole Bros Circus and Rosaires among other circuses. Also showing Digger Pugh on the trampoline and roller skates, other acts include female aerial acts, acrobatics, clowning, wild animal acts, equestrian acts, fakir acts, clowning and circus parades. Also scenes of performers behind the scenes and outdoor performances. Black and white and colour with narration and background music.
Circus Friends Association Collection
This collection consists of a large library of books and journals, as well as archival material including posters, programmes, photographs, films, handbills, research material, scrapbooks, original artwork and many other items of ephemera relating to British, Irish and European circuses
Circus Friends Association of Great Britain's Notes Scrapbook, 1953 - 1954
Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings and photographs of The Circus Fans' Association Notes by 'Dicky Bird', 'The President' and 'The Hon Secretary', as well as articles on Billy Smart's, Chipperfield's, Rosaire's, Fossett's, Sanger's, Billy Russell's and Bertram Mills, 45p.p.
Circus Life No. 3, Whirlings, Circus and Vintage Thrill Makers 'Circus Edition' Films, c1927 - 1989
Circus Photographic Album, 1952 - 1954
Photographic album containing black and white photographs of circus, including tents, animals, performers, transport and people from various circus including Smart, Bertram Mills, Wilkie's, Chiperfield's and Fossett's and performers including Priscilla Keys, Togare, The Corinthians and The Bakers, some images are missing, 22p.p.
Circus Photographs, 1910 - 1964
Circus Photographs, 1953 - 1992
Colour and black and white photographs of Jay Miller's Circus, Mike Austin's Circus, Gerry Cottle's Circus, Robert Brothers Circus, Chipperfield's Circus, Circus Krone, Circus Paulos and Gandey's Circus including tents, performers and acts, also Bertam Mills and Blackpool Tower Circus posters, circus enthisiast events, circus models, also a wedding at Galaxy Circus.
Circus Photographs Scrapbook, 1934 - 1975
Scrapbook of photographs, relating to multiple circus and acts including Chapman's Bertram Mills, Lord George Sanger's, Chipperfield's and Bostock and Wombwell's, 37p.p.
Circus Scrapbook, 1949 - 1961
Scrapbook containing newspaper and magazine cuttings on British and foreign circuses in colour and black and white, including Circus Medrano, Hunt Bros. Royal International Circus, Bertram Mills, Smarts, Fossetts, Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey amongst others, some obituaries, wedding news and other articles on performers and circus news, 34p.p.
Contract, 12 December 1932
Top section of contract between Bertram W. Mills Circus and Miss Testo, Snake Charmer, to furnish and exhibit three snakes. Black type on light green paper, 2p.p.
Cyril Critchlow Collection
Den Curtis' Photographic Albums, 1936 - 1969
Photographic albums put together by Den Curtis, containing black and white photographs of circuses, performers and animals with annotations, including Sanger, Chipprefields, Bertram Mills, Smarts, Hoxie Bros., Blackpool Tower, Belle Vue, Robert Bros., Fossett and Luckens Continental Circus and others, also some loose photographs removed from the albums.