Rev Walter William Arthur Butt (1849 - 1917)

Biographical notes

Rev Walter Butt was an antiquarian, botanist, some-time president of the Cotteswold Club (1904, 1909 & 1913) and father-in-law of Rev Harry Joseph Riddelsdell.

He is also noted for saving and preserving the herbarium of G. A. O. St Brody, which is now, along with his own personal collection, at Gloucester Museum. His activities are documented in more detail in Riddelsdell, H. J., Hedley, G. W. and Price, W. R. 1948. Flora of Gloucester, Bristol.

Residence

1881 July	Westbury, Wilts.
1861	(Census) Arle Court, Cheltenham
1868	Magdalen College, Oxford
1875	Chilmark
1881	(Census) Westbury, Wilts.
1886	Minety, Wilts.
1904	Kempsford, Wilts.
1909	Oakwood, Chepstow
1917	Oakwood, Chepstow

Societies

Cotteswold Club

Associates

Rev H. J. Riddelsdell
Dr W. A. Shoolbred

Additional links

Annotated family tree
The Meiosis archive contains some biographical information and a handwriting sample.
The Herbaria at Home project has digitised many of Butt's specimens.

Creative Commons Licence

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Timeline

1849 September 18: Birth	1849 September 26 - ¹Hereford Journal - BIRTHS. Sept. 18, at Grovefield, the wife of T. P. W. Butt, Esq., of a son and heir.
1873: Awarded B.A.	Awarded B.A., Magdalen College, Oxford. M.A. in 1875.
1875 August: Curate of Chilmark	1875 August 12 - ¹Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette PREFERMENTS & APPOINTMENTS ... Rev. Walter William Arthur Butt, curate of Chilmark.
1877 September 25: Marriage 1	1877 September 29 - ¹Cheltenham Looker-on MARRIED. September 25th, at Chilmark, Wiltshire, the Rev. WALTER W. A. BUTT, elder son of T. P. Walter Butt, Esq., of Arle Court, in this County, to FANNY BEATRICE, daughter of the Rev. CHARLES TOWER, Rector of Chilmark and Canon of Salisbury.
1881 July: Vicar of Westbury	1881 July 16 - ¹Illustrated London News THE CHURCH. PREFERMENTS AND APPOINTMENTS. Butt, Walter William Arthur, to be Vicar of Westbury, Wilts...
1886 August: Vicar of Minety	1886 August 12 - ¹Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette PREFERMENTS & APPOINTMENTS ... Rev. W. R. Butt, vicar of Westbury, vicar of Minety.
1891 May 21: Marriage 2	1891 May 25 - ¹Gloucester Citizen MARRIAGES. BUTT – LOOKER – May 21, at St Stephen’s, Westbourne-park, London, by the Rev. Thomas B. Harvey Brooks, assisted by the Rev. William H. Creaton, the Rev. Walter William Arthur Butt, vicar of Minety, Wiltshire, eldest son of Thomas Packer Walter Butt of Arle Court, near Cheltenham, to Ellen Mary, eldest daughter of John Billingsley Looker, of No. 20, St. Luke’s-road, Bayswater, London.
1904 February: Vicar of Kempsford	1904 February 4 - ¹The Daily News "The Guardian" announces the following preferments and appointments - ... Butt, Rev. Walter W. A. M.A., of Arle Court, Cheltenham: Vicar of Kempsford, Fairford.
1907: St Brody Herbarium	In 1907 Butt found G. A. O. St Brody's herbarium of Gloucestershire plants in Gloucester Museum. He restored this at his own expense before returning it to the museum.
1917 July 14: Death	1917 July 21 - ¹Gloucester Journal DEATHS. BUTT – July 14th, at Oakwood, Chepstow, the Rev. W. W. A. Butt, aged 67 years. 1921 March 19 - ¹Gloucester Journal The issue of a quinquennial report upon such an institution as a Public Museum inevitably suggests stagnation of effort, if not suspension of activities. ... Since the last Report was issued the Museum has received a considerable number of gifts of objects, amongst the more notable being: ... (2) the herbarium of the late Rev. Walter Butt, which, after the lamented death of its owner, was presented by his son, Mr. Walter Butt, in accordance with the wishes of the deceased. This herbarium comprises perhaps the most complete collection of local plants which has ever been got together;

¹ Transcription reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive

Managed by Richard Middleton; last updated 2023 March 29