William Francis Butler

Lieutenant-General Sir William Francis Butler GCB PC ADC (31 October 1838 - 7 June 1910) was an Irish 19th century British Army officer, writer, and adventurer.

He was born at Ballyslatteen, Golden, County Tipperary, Ireland, the son of Richard and Ellen Butler.cite book |last= Butler|first= Sir William|year= 1911|title= Sir William Butler: An Autobiography |publisher= Constable and Company|location=London] The great famine of 1847 and scenes of suffering and eviction were amongst his earliest recollections. He was educated chiefly by the Jesuits at Tullabeg College.

He entered the army as an ensign of the 69th Foot at Fermoy Barracks in 1858, becoming captain in 1872 and major in 1874. He took part with distinction in the Red River expedition (1870-71) and the Ashanti operations of 1873-74 under Wolseley and received the CB in 1874.

He married on 11 June 1877 Elizabeth Thompson, an accomplished painter of battle scenes, notably "The Roll Call" (1874), "Quatre Bras" (1875), "Rorke's Drift" (1881), "The Camel Corps" (1891), and "The Dawn of Waterloo" (1895). They had six children.

He again served with General Wolseley in the Zulu War (as brevet lieutenant colonel), the campaign of Tel-el-Kebir (after which he was made an "aide-de-camp" to the Queen) and the Sudan in 1884-86, being employed as colonel on the staff 1885 and brigadier-general 1885-86. In the latter year he was made a KCB. He served as brigadier-general on the staff in Egypt until 1892 when he was promoted to major-general and stationed at Aldershot, subsequent to which he was given command of the southeastern district.

In 1898 he succeeded General William Howley Goodenough as commander-in-chief in South Africa, with the local rank of lieutenant-general. For a short period (December 1898-February 1899), during the absence of Sir Alfred Milner in England, he acted as high commissioner, and as such, and subsequently in his military capacity, he expressed views on the subject of the probabilities of war which were not approved by the home government; he was consequently ordered home to command the western district, and held this post until 1905. He also held the Aldershot command for a brief period in 1900-01. Sir William Butler was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1900 and continued to serve, finally leaving the King's service in 1905.

In October, 1905, having reached the age limit of sixty-seven, he was placed on the retired list. The few years of life which remained to him he spent in Ireland, devoted chiefly to the cause of education. He was a frequent lecturer both in Dublin and the provinces on historical, social, and economic questions—he had been an admirer of Charles Stuart Parnell. He was a member of the senate of the National University of Ireland, and a commissioner of the Board of National Education.cite book |last= Butler|first= Sir William|year= 1911|title= Sir William Butler: An Autobiography |publisher= Constable and Company|location=London] In June, 1906, he was appointed Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, and in 1909 he was made a member of the Irish Privy Council. He was buried at the cemetery of Killaldriffe, not far from his ancestral home.

He had long been known as a descriptive writer, since his publication of "The Great Lone Land" (1872) and other works and he was the biographer (1899) of Sir George Colley.

He had started work on his autobiography a few years before his death, but died before it was completed. One of his daughters, Eileen, Viscountess Gormanston, completed it and it was published in 1911. Eileen found among his papers a poem he had written, which began:

"Give me but six-foot-three (one inch to spare)"
"Of Irish earth, and dig it anywhere;"
"And for my poor soul say an Irish prayer"
"Above the spot".cite book |last= Butler|first= Sir William|year= 1911|title= Sir William Butler: An Autobiography |publisher= Constable and Company|location=London]

Notes

References

* William Francis Butler (1872). "The Great Lone Land; a Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of America". London.
* William Francis Butler (1873). "The Wild North Land: Being the Story of a Winter Journey, with Dogs, Across Northern North America". London.
* Lieut.-General The Rt. Hon. Sir W. F. Butler G.C.B. (1911). "Sir William Butler. An Autobiography" London.
* Eileen Gormanston; Atkins (1953). "A Little Kept". London & New York.
* Edward Alexander McCourt (1967). "Remember Butler. The Story of Sir William Butler". Toronto.
* Martin Ryan (2003) "William Francis Butler, a life 1838-1910". Dublin.

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6598 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online]
*gutenberg author|id=William_Francis_Butler|name=William Francis Butler