Bertram Henry Samuel Romilly

Bertram Henry Samuel Romilly (1878-1940), of Huntingdon Park, Herefordshire, was born on 6 October 1878, the eldest son of Samuel Henry Romilly (1849-1940), barrister and J.P., and Lady Arabella Charlotte (d. 1907), eldest daughter of James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk. His great-grandfather was Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818), Solicitor-General and legal reformer. Bertram was educated at Charterhouse and Sandhurst before joining the 1st Battalion, Scots Guards, in 1898. He joined the battalion in South Africa in January 1900, with the first draft of reinforcements, and was later attached to the Scots Guards mounted infantry company, operating against the Boers in the north of the Cape Colony. He was awarded the D.S.O. and mentioned twice in despatches. He left South Africa in September 1902.

In 1904 Romilly was attached to the Egyptian Army Camel Corps in the Sudan, leading the force from 1913. By December 1914, having completed ten years seconded service with the Egyptian Army, he was posted back to his regiment, the Scots Guards, in England. In January 1915 he rejoined the 1st Battalion in France, defending a section of the front near the village of Cuinchy, in command of 'B' Company. On 4 December 1915 he married Nellie, daughter of the late Colonel Sir Henry Hozier and Lady Henrietta Blanche, eldest daughter of the 7th Earl of Airlie.

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