13 replies to this topic

[Dennis Hockenbury]

Can anyone tell me what became of Peter Berthon (and Lorna as well if possible) after his work with Harry Weslake?

I have searched a number of sources and I cannot find much of anything on Berthon after his move by Sir Alfred to Weslake.

Many thanks.

Edited by Dennis Hockenbury, 10 January 2010 - 19:15.

[Doug Nye]

Waiting for somebody else to pick up the cudgel...

After removal from Weslake Research and the Rubery Owen advanced products group there PB was set up by Sir Alfred in a small garage business near to Weslake's in Rye, Sussex. He remarried and had two sons - I believe. He ultimately suffered a fatal heart attack and reputedly drowned while swimming in the Indian Ocean during a holiday in his second wife's native South Africa. I believe it was off Durban or East London but cannot cross-check my over-taxed memory at the mo... I asked the East London newspaper to check but they had no mention so perhaps it was Durban....or somewhere much further south???? After their divorce Lorna remarried and apparently became a very much steadier, more calm personality. She certainly survived into very old age and when I last heard - in the early 1990s - she was living, widowed I believe, in a retirement home here in the south.

DCN

[Dennis Hockenbury]

My thanks Doug.

[Hieronymus]

I discovered this old thread and am curious to know if there was any new information on Berthon's somewhat mysterious death?

What was the exact date of Berthon's death?

[kevthedrummer]

I may be able to shed some light on this next time I have the chance to speak to a relative of his. It's quite a strange connection but his nephew taught me drums at high school and lives in Dundee. I'll give him a call in the next couple of days and see if he knows anything.

[Hieronymus]

Thanks

...exact place of death will also be of interest.

[wdm]

Berthon's obituary appears in "The Times" on 20th January 1971.

Sadly, it doesn't add much to that mentioned above. "Swimming near Durban" is reiterated, but precise location and date of death are not given. Neither does it describe anything of his post-BRM career.

[Hieronymus]

I'll hope to find something in the local newspapers, but for that I need the place and date. If it was near Durban, I'll check the Natalian newspapers first.

If the obituary was published on 20 Jan 1971, one presumes the death must have occurred a week or so prior to that???

[Geoff E]

Originally posted by Hieronymus
I'll hope to find something in the local newspapers, but for that I need the place and date. If it was near Durban, I'll check the Natalian newspapers first.

If the obituary was published on 20 Jan 1971, one presumes the death must have occurred a week or so prior to that???

A claim that it was on the 15th Jan-

http://www.oldracing...ory=Teamsstarts

[Richard Jenkins]

A fellow from the Times sent me a whole load of information about Peter Berthon, including his obituary. Basically, any mention in the Times about him, which includes Jo Bonnier's win. If you want me to scan/post it here, let me know.

I have death, at sea, off the Durban coast on the 15th as Geoff put above from a heart-attack whilst swimming and subsequent drowning. Although he was taken to a local hospital, he was already long dead.

[Hieronymus]

Thank you, Richie

I'll appreciate it very much if you can post here or email it to me. The date of death will make it much easier for me now to draw some newspapers from the library. It will be interesting to see the local reports in this incident. Did they see it as a mere drowning or what? I am pretty sure that they would have reported on it, since summer holiday drownings always make the papers. I guess nothing has changed over the years, since my local Cape Town newspaper was full of such reports in the last month or so.

[cdrewett]

Can anyone tell me what became of Peter Berthon (and Lorna as well if possible) after his work with Harry Westlake?

I have searched a number of sources and I cannot find much of anything on Berthon after his move by Sir Alfred to Westlake.

Many thanks.

In a certain sanguine thread yesterday a shaggy dog was complaining about trivialities and asking whether TNF could get back to discussing real motoring history. Well here goes.
I've always been intrigued by Peter Berthon and whether he was a brilliant intuitive engineer or a slightly dilletante character who picked up other people's ideas and copied them rather badly. He doesn't come out very well in Tony Rudd's book although Doug is a bit kinder.
I know there was a thread about how he died but I'm more interested in how he lived.
What's clear, thank goodness, is that the enthusiastic amateur just would not thrive in today's Grand Prix engineering.
Has anyone got personal recollections?

Chris

Edited by cdrewett, 10 January 2010 - 10:39.

[fuzzi]

Bill Cakebread worked for Berthon on the V12 (which I think followed the Eagle engine). He tells his story in "Motorcycle Apprentice - Matchless by name and reputation" Published by Veloce

[oldtimer]

A personal recollection from a spectator at the 1957 practice session for the Easter Monday race at Goodwood.

The BRM cars were having terrible brake problems and Peter Berthon and Raymond Mays were in attendance, both in tweed jackets.

When the time came to fire up Salvadori's car, the mechanics were required to step back and allow Berthon to fasten the engine engine cover. This action presumably stemmed from a 1956 testing incident when the engine hood flew off and Mike Hawthorn narrowly missed a serious incident. Making sure the engine hood was secure had become an upper management job.

Meanwhile, Mays was asking the whereabouts of his no.1 driver, Salvadori.

"He's out on the circuit, in a Cooper," came a voice from the back.

"Then call him in" replied an indignant Mays.

I had followed the fortunes of the BRM team through the eyes of journalists, particularly Denis Jenkinson. Witnessing this little scene, and the management styles of the tweed jacketed pair, gave me quite an insight into the earlier failings of the BRM team.

Edited by oldtimer, 10 January 2010 - 19:03.