Bass was the son of
Hamar Alfred Bass and his wife Louisa Bagot (1853–1942), daughter of
William Bagot, 3rd Baron Bagot. His father's family traced its fortunes to
William Bass, who founded the famous
Bass Brewery. He was educated at
Harrow School and started at
Trinity College, Cambridge, but appears to have decided to join the army instead. He was commissioned a
second lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, the
East Surrey Regiment on 14 April 1898. He transferred to the
10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars on 18 November 1899 and served in the
Second Boer War in
South Africa from 1900 to 1902, attached to a provisional regiment of hussars, during which he was promoted to
lieutenant on 3 October 1900. Following the end of the war, he returned from
Cape Town to England on
SS Maplemore in August 1902. In the First World War he served with the
Reserve Regiments of Cavalry. He lived at
Byrkley Lodge in the
Tatenhill area of
Staffordshire. He succeeded to the
baronetcy of Stafford in 1909 following the death of his uncle,
Michael Bass, 1st Baron Burton. Bass was first chairman of Provincial Cinematograph Theatres, which was founded in 1909 with the aim of opening a cinema in every town in the UK with a population of 250,000 or more. He also gave financial support to the London Film Company. However, Sir William (or Billy Bass as he was known) was most noted for his ownership of racehorses. He was a member and steward of the
Jockey Club, was on the
National Hunt Committee and joint Master of the Royal Hunt. He enjoyed his first success in the
Cesarewitch Handicap in 1903 with Grey Tick, and also owned the horses
Rosedrop,
Cyllene and
Sceptre. He was a Steward of the
Pony Turf Club and was involved in the foundation of
Northolt Park Racecourse in 1929. In 1947, along with others, Bass continued the family tradition of acting as a benefactor to the
Burton upon Trent area by donating a peal of five bells to
All Saints Church to be installed as a war memorial. == Family ==