de vere was from bolton, the grandson of arthur holt, the liberal member of parliament for bolton west and president of the liberal party. de vere was an illusionist, magician and showman. he took up magic when at school in bolton. he told the "blackpool gazette" in 2006: “with a lot of practice it became a skill – making it interesting enough for people to want to watch was as much the skill as performing the trick or illusion.” his showbusiness mentor, the late comedian bernie winters, bequeathed to him his trusty st bernard, schnorbitz.