Ernest Bertram

Ernest Edward Alfred Bertram (30 June 1881 – 3 November 1942) was an English footballer who played in the Football League as a left half for Sunderland in the 1903–04 season. He also played non-League football for South Shields (renamed from South Shields Adelaide in 1910) and Darlington.[4]

Ernest Bertram
Personal information
Full name Ernest Edward Alfred Bertram[1]
Date of birth (1881-06-30)30 June 1881[1]
Place of birth Dissington,[2] England
Date of death 3 November 1942(1942-11-03) (aged 61)[1][3]
Place of death Monkseaton,[3] England
Position(s) Left half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– South Shields Adelaide
1903–190? Sunderland 1 (0)
– South Shields Adelaide
1907–1909 Darlington
1909–191? South Shields
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

Bertram was born in 1881 at Dissington, near Stamfordham in Northumberland.[2] He was a younger son of James Bertram, a coachman in service at Dissington Hall, and his wife, Isabella.[5] The 1901 Census lists him as a merchant's clerk living with his widowed mother in Newcastle.[6]

Bertram played local football for teams including South Shields Adelaide before joining Sunderland for a pre-season trial in August 1903.[7] He impressed enough to be kept on, played regularly for the "A" team in the Northern League, and was considered promising.[8] He made his first-team debut, which was to be his only Football League appearance, on 5 March 1904 away to Small Heath in the First Division.[1] In a reshuffled half-back line, William Fullarton replaced Alex Barrie at centre half while Bertram stood in for Dicky Jackson at left half, and Sunderland lost 2–1.[9] He finished the season with the A team, and his services were retained for the next two seasons,[10] but not for the first team.

Bertram played for South Shields,[1] and continued his career with Northern League club Darlington. He played in all four of their matches in the 1907–08 FA Cup, scored in two, and signed on for the following season in the North-Eastern League, when he remained a regular in the team and again played in all their FA Cup ties.[11][12] In July 1909, he married Ada, the eldest daughter of James Lunn, Newcastle City Councillor and chairman of Newcastle United F.C., at Brunswick Wesleyan Chapel.[13] In October, he resumed his football career with South Shields Adelaide,[14] finished the season with a runners-up medal in the Durham Senior Cup,[15] and vice-captained the side in 1910–11.[16]

He was by this time employed as a commercial clerk and living with Ada in a large house in Monkseaton.[2] The 1939 Register finds him working as an electricity supply salesman, living with Ada and two adult children at the same address,[17] where he died three years later at the age of 61.[3]

References
  1. "Bertram, EEA (Ernest)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  2. "Ernest Bertram". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. RG14/30804 – via Ancestry Library Edition.
  3. "Wills and probate 1858–1996: Bertram 1942". UK Probate Service. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  4. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  5. "James Bertram". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881. RG11/5098 78 – via Ancestry Library Edition.
    "Ernest Bertram". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891. RG12/4208 117 – via Ancestry Library Edition.
  6. "Ernest Bertram". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901. RG13/4776 17 – via Ancestry Library Edition.
  7. "The Sunderland club". Sunderland Daily Echo. 21 August 1903. p. 5.
  8. "To-day's football". Sunderland Daily Echo. 5 March 1904. p. 6. This was Bertram's first League match, but he has played regularly in the A team ranks this season, and promises well.
  9. "Sunderland v. Small Heath". Sunderland Daily Echo. 4 March 1904. p. 6.
    "On this day: March". Sunderland A.F.C. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
    "Ernest Bertram". The Statcat. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  10. "World of Sport. Football". Sunderland Daily Echo. 4 June 1904. p. 6.
    "Athletic Notes". Shields Daily News. 15 May 1905. p. 3.
  11. 'Old Bird' (23 July 1908). "Sport and Play". North-Eastern Daily Gazette. Middlesbrough. p. 3.
  12. Tweddle, Frank (2000). The Definitive Darlington F.C. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-899468-15-7.
  13. "Marriages. Bertram–Lunn". Newcastle Daily Chronicle. 1 July 1909. p. 8.
    "NUFC 1909/10 – Season Diary". Toon Times. June 30/06. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  14. 'Old Bird' (7 October 1909). "Football Chirps". North-Eastern Daily Gazette. Middlesbrough. p. 5.
  15. "So. Shields Adelaide A.F.C.". Shields Daily Gazette. 2 May 1910. p. 3.
  16. "Association. South Shields". Newcastle Daily Journal. 19 August 1910. p. 9.
  17. "Ernest Bertram". 1939 England and Wales Register – via Ancestry Library Edition.
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