Bertram Hutchings
Harry Bertram Hutchings (1886-1967) of Bertram Hutchings Caravans, a pioneer of British caravanning.
1886 December. Born in Winchester, Hampshire, ithe son of Harry Albert Hutchings (1860-1937) and his wife Diana Rose Lamb (1861-1938).
Married Grace Eva Ings (1887-1977) and had two children Gwendolyn and Lionel.
1933 Joined the Royal Photographic Society
1967 March. Died aged 80 years.
Bertram Hutchings was the owner of a health food shop in Winchester. He began caravanning after living in a tent for four months buying a horse-drawn caravan in September 1911. After designing a lighter and more portable caravan by 1912 he was building caravans commercially for hire. After the first world war the two-wheeled trailer was introduced in 1919 and the Winchester streamlined model at the 1930 Motor Show. This set the standard for caravans. The company advertised its caravans under the slogan 'the Rolls-Royce of caravans' and has as its company slogan: 'always to excel and be superior to others'.
During the second world war the production of caravans for leisure use ceased, although they were used for billeting troops and to support the war effort. After the second war war the company struggled to complete with its hand-crafting and quality materials unable to compete with cheaper, mass-produced models. Manufacturing of the Winchester models ceased in 1959. Bertram and his son, Lionel, supported the making of a new version of the Winchester by the company Stephens and West Ltd of Cirencester until 1963.
During their production the Hutchings caravans were consider the Rolls Royce of the caravanning world. The remaining archive of Bertram Hutchings Caravans, later known as Winchester Caravans, was deposited the Caravan and Motorhome Club Collection in 2015 and is now housed at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu