As Berta was trying to catch Daisy, a young man came along and gave chase to the runaway dog. Eventually he caught and returned the dog to Berta. The young man was her future husband, Herbert Hardisty Smith.
Herbert was a keen sportsman. He ran with Salford Harriers and played soccer. It was soccer that led to his exemption from war service – an injury had resulted in a swelling on the side of his neck. He was, however, in the Red Cross.
Berta was also keen on sports and had joined the local lacrosse team. She was selected to play for Lancashire – a source of great pride to her. The young man she had met in the park used to go and watch the games, and Berta’s teammates used to say “Berta, there he is again – he has his eye on you!” Berta wasn’t interested in him – she didn’t consider him very good looking. She did, however, eventually agree to go out with him
In those days, people would dress up in their best clothes to go out, especially on a date. One Sunday when Berta went to meet her new boyfriend, she was horrified to see him wearing a bright tan coloured suit with plus fours. She nearly turned around and walked away, she thought he looked so awful in it. However, it wasn’t long before Herbert’s inner qualities won her over. Berta realised that Bertie (it’s not known what Berta called her husband between themselves, but Bertie seems more likely than Herbert) was a very thoughtful and kind person.
Berta and Herbert’s romance blossomed, and when Bertie proposed, Berta happily accepted. There was, however, one reservation that Berta still had, and that was Bertie’s name. Although she always hated the name “Hodgson” and never used it, even on official documents, Berta had always liked her Collier surname. She thought she would never be able to get used to such an ordinary name as Smith.
Bertie gave his fiancée a calendar for 1917. Bertha thought it was very nice, but it wasn’t until some time later when she noticed the signature at the bottom was “H. H. Smith” that she realised Bertie had drawn and painted it himself. The top part showed a lady with an umbrella and the words “Many an hour wet and dull” and underneath was another lady in the sunshine with a parasol and “Brings on an hour beautiful”.
Herbert’s artistic talents - he also painted the top of a card table with a pack of cards on green baize so realistic that it was as if the cards could be picked up – would have served him well at work, too, for he was a manufacturing jeweller. The partnership with his eldest sister’s husband, Robert Horne, was in Manchester. They had six or seven girls working for them. Herbert made Berta’s engagement ring of three diamonds set in platinum and gold himself. He also made her plain gold wedding ring.
The couple were married at St Mary’s Church, Eccles, on a swelteringly hot day in May 1917. Berta loved her expensive new outfit, but she felt she could hardly breathe! Her navy blue suit was made of a thick woollen fabric and the white blouse was so high on her neck that it almost touched her earlobes. Although they were all but hidden from view by her ankle-length skirt, she felt exceptionally smart in her black leather knee-high boots with their twelve small buttons down the outside edge.
link to Berta & Bertie's family tree: