Weeden Butler (1742 - 1823)

Born 22 Sep 1742 in Margate, Kent, England

Ancestors

Husband of Anne (Giberne) Butler — married 16 Dec 1771 in St Paul, London, England

Descendants

Died 14 Jul 1823 at age 80 in Greenhill, Harrow, Middlesex, England

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

Biography

Weeden Butler is Notable.

Weeden Butler, son of Daniel Butler and his wife, Mary Morris, was christened on 6 October 1742 in St. John the Baptist Church, Margate, Kent, England^[1][2][3][4]. He was left an orphan at the age of 14 and his elder brother, Richard, apprenticed him as a clerk to Benjamin Rosewell, an attorney, of Throgmorton Street in London. Here he served his apprenticeship for 6 years and was offered a partnership in the firm at the age of 20. He preferred however to take holy orders and meanwhile worked as amanuensis, and later curate, to the Rev. William Dodd, D.D., a fashionable preacher at a chapel in Charlotte Street, Pimlico, where Queen Charlotte at one time had four pews. Weeden worked for 13 years for Dr Dodd (1764-1777). He lived part of this time in his patron's house together with some of the sons of the latter's wealthy supporters who had been sent to him for tuition. The son of Lord Chesterfield was among them and Weeden's diary records spending part of the day arranging headings for the Earl's famous work 'A Father's Advice to his Son'. Weeden also helped Dodd with his three-volume commentary on the Bible and with other learned works.

Weeden was ordained in 1767 and became curate and 'morning preacher' at the Charlotte Street chapel to which he was attached for some 44 years (1770-1814). He also preached at St. Clements, East Cheapside, and St. Martins, Ongar, and later (1799) became one of the domestic chaplains of the Duke of Kent, the father of Queen Victoria.

Weeden was married on 16 December 1771 in Saint Paul Covent Garden, Westminster, London, England to Anne Giberne (1738 - 1803). ^[5]

Dr Dodd got heavily into debt and forged the signature of one of his ex-pupils and patrons and he was imprisoned for forgery, then a capital offence. In spite of strenuous efforts made on his behalf by Samuel Johnson he was hanged in 1777, the last man in England to be hanged for forgery and, according to Samuel Johnson, the first clergyman of the Church of England to be publicly executed for 'immorality'. Weeden was apparently the only friend who remained loyal to Dodd throughout his ordeal and showed him love and sympathy. He visited him in prison and undertook to edit Dodd's last long effusion in blank verse 'Thoughts from Prison'. Weeden is in fact mentioned in this poem in the lines beginning 'Oh Butler midst a million faithful found, Oh canst thou think, who knowst, who long has known my inmost soul..'

After Dodd's execution Weeden was appointed to Dodd's post at the Charlotte Street Chapel and a year later he opened a school at his home in 100 Cheyne Walk which was to become well known. He took with him some of Dodd's pupils as the nucleus of the school of which he was head-master for 35 years. Weeden became a well-known figure in Chelsea. He started the Chelsea Sunday Schools in 1787 and on account of his many social works and his clerical attire they called him "the Bishop of Chelsea".

In 1814 he retired to Gayton, and handed over the headmastership of Chelsea School to his eldest son, also Weeden. In Gayton he acted as curate to his second son, George, who had been appointed to this parish but could not fulfil the duties since he was also acting as Headmaster of Harrow School at this time. He remained curate till 1820, when, in consequence of increasing infirmities, he withdrew, at first to the Isle of Wight, next to Bristol, and finally to Greenhill, near Harrow, where he died on 14 July 1823.

His published works are: 1. ‘The Cheltenham Guide,’ London, 1781, 8vo (anon.). 2. ‘Account of the Life and Writings of the Rev. George Stanhope, D.D., Dean of Canterbury,’ London, 1797, 8vo (anon.). 3. ‘Memoir of Mark Hildesley, D.D., Bishop of Sodor and Man,’ London, 1799, 8vo. 4. ‘Pleasing Recollections, or a Walk through the British Musæum. An interlude of two acts,’ Addit. MS. 27276. 5. Poems in manuscript, including ‘The Syracusan,’ a tragedy, and ‘Sir Roger de Coverley,’ a comedy. He also prepared editions of Jortin's ‘Tracts,’ 2 vols. 1790, and Wilcock's ‘Roman Conversations,’ 2 vols. 1797.'

He was buried on 19 July 1823 in St. Luke, Chelsea, Middlesex, England.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NNKD-QMR : 11 February 2018, Weeden Butler, ); citing St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,737,003.
2. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJWG-MY5 : 11 February 2018, Weeden Butler, ); citing St. John the Baptist Church, Margate, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,886,154.
3. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N1DB-KY1 : 11 February 2018, Weeden Butler, ); citing St. John the Baptist Church, Margate, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,866,678.
4. ↑ Baptismal record St John the Baptist, Margate (6 Oct 1742 Weeden Butler son of Daniel Butler and Mary) Viewed at Ancestry. Text only
5. ↑ Marriage record, St Paul, Covent Garden (16 December 1771 Weeden Butler married Anne Giberne)FHL Film Number: 942 B4HA V. 35. Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Text only
6. ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J8BT-XMF : 10 February 2018), Weeden Butler, burial 19 Jul 1823; citing St. Luke, Chelsea, Middlesex, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 592,611.

• Notes attached to Butler family tree in possession of NW Smith and passed down to BW Smith
• Thompson Cooper, ‘Butler, Weeden (1742–1823)’, rev. Philip Carter, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 10 Sept 2017. This is a subscription site but access is free to readers of British libraries whose library subscribes.
• Biography [1]

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Butler-1563 created through the import of Towne-Weeden.ged on May 29, 2011 by J X. See the Changes page for the details of edits by J and others.