George Butler (1774 - 1853)

Born 5 Jul 1774 in Pimlico, London, England

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Maria (Gray) Butler — married 18 Mar 1818 in St George the Martyr, Camden, Middlesex, England

Descendants

Died 30 Apr 1853 at age 78 in The Deanery, Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Benjamin Smith [send private message]

Biography

George Butler was educated at the Chelsea school where his father taught and proceeded to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he graduated senior wrangler in 1794 (M.A. 1797; B.D. 1804; D.D. (litterae regiae) 1805). He became a fellow of Sidney Sussex, first as mathematical lecturer, and afterwards as classical tutor. He was said to be a brilliant mathematician and distinguished classical scholar; gifted with remarkable versatility of mind.

He was elected a public examiner of the university in 1804, and in the following year was one of the select preachers. As headmaster of Harrow School (1805–1829) his all-round knowledge, his tact and his skill as an track and field athlete rendered his administration successful and popular. In 1814 he was presented by his college with a living at Gayton, Northamptonshire. He acted as rector there in the school holidays while his father, Weeden (I), looked after the parish during the Harrow term. He married Sarah Maria, daughter of John Gray, of Wembley Park, Middlesex, on 18th March 1818 and the two commuted between Harrow and Gayton. He retired from Harrow in 1829 on the grounds of 'ill-health'.

In 1836 he was made chancellor of the diocese of Peterborough, and in 1842 was appointed Dean of Peterborough. Thereafter he and Sarah divided their time between Peterborough and Gayton. He also kept up London connections: he was a founder of the United University Club near Trafalgar Square. He received the medal of the Royal Humane Society for rescuing a woman from drowning, Jan. 9, 1843.

George was the first in the family to apply for a coat of arms from the College of Heralds, and he used the new arms on a very extensive dinner service of stoneware china. The china is said to have been brought back from China by Sarah's brother John. Many members of the family still have pieces from this service.

His few publications include 'Extracts from the Communion Service of the Church'; 'Statutes of Peterborough Cathedral' (translated); 'Sermons' and Some notes of Harrow, entitled 'Harrow, a Selection of Lists of the School between 1770 and 1828'. George died in 1853 ^[1] and was buried at Gayton on 6 May, ^[2] but there is a memorial plaque to him in the church at Harrow on the Hill and a memorial window to him in Peterborough Cathedral.

Sources

1. ↑ England and Wales death index (Registered Peterborough 1853 2nd qu George Butler)
2. ↑ Burial record, Gayton, Northamptonshire (6 May 1653 George Butler, rector and Dean of Peterborough aged 69.)

• G. C. Boase, ‘Butler, George (1774–1853)’, rev. M. C. Curthoys, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2016 accessed 10 Sept 2017. This is a subscription site but access is free to readers of British libraries whose library subscribes.
• Census of England 1841, 1851
• Dictionary of National Biography
• Pallot's Marriage Index
• Wikipedia biography [1]
• http://www.geni.com/people/Very-Rev-George-Butler-Dean-of-Peterborough/6000000018647806009
• Cambridge Alumni
• Notes attached to Butler family tree in possession of NW Smith and passed down to BW Smith