Born in Dorset, Bartlett attended the RA Schools in 1883,  then studied at Academie Julien, Paris in 1886. From there he spent time in Holland and Venice.  Returning to England in 1889, he exhibited two paintings at the 1894 Nottingham Castle Exhibition that brought together Cornish Painters of Newlyn, St Ives and Falmouth (Hardie 2009 incl Exh Cat).

He exhibited widely and in all the major galleries throughout the British Isles.

Tovey (2009 p 64) finds his signature on a suggestion for the Club box at STIAC in 1892, which not only indicates his presence but fills in some gaps in his residential career. His only period of painting in Cornwall appears to be from 1892-93. Correspondent and researcher D C Karl reports his exhibition of a Cornish work at the RA in 1893, called A Study in a Sail Loft (whereabouts unknown), depicting two little girls playing with the mackerel nets in their father's loft. Though one or two other of his paintings, without tell-tale titles, may be Cornish in content, the short period spent in St Ives means that documented Cornish works are rather rare.

J&G and Benezit give addresses in London (1885), Beer, Devon (1903) and Edinburgh (1913). Bartlett married twice, his first wife dying in childbirth. The following year he spent travelling on the continent with Frank BRANGWYN, who painted a portrait of him painting a Dutch scene,  He also spent time painting in Holland.

In December 1913, he left England with his second wife, Kate, for what was to have been an 18-month trip around the world. With the outbreak of WWI they were stranded in the Far East, and spent most of their time in Japan and China. They arrived in Honolulu in January 1917 and found the climate and the people much to their liking.  After extending their stay in Hawaii several times, they decided to take permanent residence there. (Karl correspondence).

He was a friend of Greville MORRIS, with whom he worked in Berkshire (Tovey) and also Frank BRANGWYN. He travelled to the Far East during 1913-17, then settled in Hawaii (1921).