My dad’s brothers, two of them were bookmakers and they had a business in Ham which they used to run from the house in 1 Lawrence Road in those days because betting was illegal although there was all sorts of things going on, people were exchanging bets in pubs and sort of things but it was illegal really, but they had a proper licenced office at the top of the house where they lived at 1 Lawrence Road and that went on for quite a number of years and they employed two or three people working there. 

When the farm was demolished in Ham in 1958 they took over one of the new shops and they used to trade under the name of Bert Miller, that was their bookmaking name but their real name was obviously Stevens but that was their trade name, Bert Miller Bookmakers or Turf Accountants.