John Bertram

Who was John Bertram?

John Bertram was a businessman and a Member of Parliament in Canada.

Bertram was born at Fenton Barns, near Dirleton, Scotland, to Hugh Bertram and Isabella Mack. John emigrated to Canada in 1860. He married Helen Shiells in Almonte Ontario and settled in Peterborough, Ontario where he was a wholesale hardware dealer. From 1872 to 1878 sat for Peterborough West as a Liberal in the House of Commons.

In 1881, John moved to Toronto and became prominent as president of the Collins Inlet Lumber Company and as president of the Bertram Engine and Shipbuilding Company, a firm he ran with his brother George Hope Bertram. John was well known in public life and was chairman of the Dominion Commissionon Transportation and in 1897 was member of the Ontario Forestry Commission. Unitarian. He died in Toronto and was buried in Little Lake Cemetery, Peterborough Ontario.