Charles Bartlett
Sir Charles Bartlett (c1890-1955), chairman and managing director of Vauxhall
1955 Obituary [1]
THE death occurred on August 10th of Sir Charles Bartlett at his home, near Harpenden, Herts, after an illness of many months. He was sixty-five.
Sir Charles, though he began work in a bicycle shop at the age of twelve, intended to devote his life to horticulture, and after serving during the first world war with the Devonshire and Dorsetshire Regiments, it was the after effects of a wound that compelled him to give up the outdoor life.
He entered the British subsidiary of the General Motors Corporation as a book-keeper in 1921 and became managing director five years later. When General Motors acquired Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., he became its managing director, and was chairman from June, 1953, until last December. His work over nearly thirty years with Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., was unsparingly devoted not narrowly to the firm but also to its workers, and the human problems of industry were a strong concern of his.
In 1944 he was knighted in recognition of his own and his company's war effort. He was a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Bedfordshire.
His early interest in gardens lasted throughout his life, joined with a liking for many sports.
1956 Obituary [2]