George Bertram’s uncle, a wealthy City merchant, had sent him to Oxford where he made a brilliant record. Inclined toward the church and unwilling to follow his uncle’s advice to adopt commerce as a career, he postponed his decision until after a visit to the Holy Land. In Jerusalem he met his father Sir Lionel Bertram, whom he had not seen since his boyhood and who had shown no interest in his upbringing. Sir Lionel held a minor military diplomatic post that kept him in the East, and while personally charming was little better than a worthless spendthrift. (Wikipedia)
