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Sir William Waters Butler, Bart

G

glaciermint

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A man whose work is in my opinion worth recording on this site. A member of the Butler brewing family and subsequently a significant part of Mitchells & Butlers brewing history. He contributed to the City and its citizens in many ways and to this day his legacy remains, notably via a Mitchells & Butlers charity, 'The William Waters Butler Welfare Fund' for the benefit of employees and local communities, and the Sir William Waters Butler Award for the best students in Brewing.

For those who would like to know a little more about him, his obituary from the Royal Socety of Chemistry is included below and gives more detail of his life and achievements

Bob


OBITUARYNOTICES.
SIR WILLIAM WATERS BUTLER, BART.
1866-1939.
SIR WILLIAM WATERS BUTLER Bart., who died suddenly on April 5th of this year, had been a Fellow of this Society since 1890. Well known as Chairman and Managing Director of Messrs. Mitchells and Butlers, Ltd., one of the largest provincial brewing concerns, he was a man of wide knowledge and vast experience in all departments of the industry with
which he was connected.
The foundation on which his career was based was an early training in chemistry and such allied subjects as would subsequently enable him to replace empirical methods by scientific control in his father’s brewery. His interest in this aspect was maintained throughout his life, and one of the honours most recently bestowed upon him-the Horace Brown Medal of the Institute of Brewing-was awarded in 1937 in recognition of his many
services, direct and indirect, in the development of the technical side of the industry.
Further associations with the realm of pure and applied science include a long membership of the Society of Chemical Industry, the Royal Metallurgical Society and the American Chemical Society.
Butler was born in 1866 and educated at King Edward’s Grammar School, Birmingham. He entered the family business in 1882. For the next eight years he practised the art of brewing by day, and by night studied the scientific principles involved in the process.
Asa young man he was a highly successful student of the Birmingham and Midland Institute and gained numerous academic distinctions. The activities of the Laboratory Club at Burton in the eighties " and of its leader, Cornelius O’Sullivan, quickly captured his imagination and stimulated his conviction that brewing in the future would be a science
as well as an art. Largely as the result of his energy and application, the business of Butler’s Crown Brewery, Ltd., grew by leaps and bounds, and in 1897 it was amalgamated with that of Henry Mitchell and Co., Ltd. In 1907 he became Deputy-Chairman of Messrs. Mitchells and Butlers, Ltd., and in 1914 Chairman of the Company, which position he held at the time of his death.
Meanwhile the Laboratory Club had become defunct, but the Institute of Brewing had taken its place and in the recorded proceedings of the Midland Section of that Society the name of W. W. Butler occurs with considerable frequency. He occupied the Chair in the period 1899-1903. After the federation of the various country brewing societies into one
body on a national basis, it was natural that he should be a prominent member of the new organisation. One year after its formation, in 1905, he became President of the Institute of Brewing at the early age of 39. On many ofthe Committees of the Institute he served continuously for many years, devoting much time to the development of trade research.
In 1907/8 he was Chairman of the Brewers’ Society. From that date he took a leading part in all matters of national importance in which the brewing industry was concerned.
Soon after the outbreak of the Great War, the Government of the day sought his assistance and he was appointed a member of the State Management Control Board. He was responsible in no small degree for the policy of that body as exemplified by its operations in the Carlisle area. In every way he strove to improve conditions in the licensed trade. He regarded it as a duty of brewers to offer to customers a sound beverage and at the same time provide opportunities for its consumption in surroundings that were themselves refreshing and edifying.
Outside his business associations, he will perhaps be best remembered by his services to education. He never forgot the debt he owed to the Birmingham and Midland Institute, nor underestimated the value of the training he received there. His gratitude was shown in munificent manner. In 1938, when the Institute was labouring under the burden of a large
accumulated deficit, he sent a cheque for the whole amount. Quite early in his career, his enthusiasm, backed by a substantial contribution from his own purse, helped to establish a School ofMalting andBrewing at Birmingham University in the opening year of this century. In 1907 he became a member of the Council of the University, of which he was also a Life Governor. Later he was largely instrumental in the creation of the Adrian Brown Chair ofBrewing to perpetuate the memory of the first Professor in that subject.
When a new Biological Department was added in 1927 , Sir William was mainly responsible for the cost of its erection. More recently, in 1937, he gave to the School of Brewing a Model Brewery to be used for experimental work. Yet again, he assisted, financially and otherwise, in the establishment of Scholarships for brewing students. His beneficence in fostering education was not limited by his industrial interests. In 1936 he endowed the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Scholarships, tenable at the same University and open to residents in Smethwick and Birmingham. In this way he marked his admiration of Birmingham’s great citizen at the time ofthe centenary celebrations.
Many Midland hospitals, including the new Hospital Centre in Birmingham, benefited by his generosity from time to time. His many services, political, social and philanthropic, received well-deserved recognition in 1926, when he was honoured with a baronetcy. Asone on whom leadership devolved, Sir William Butler was always mindful of his responsibilities and extremely conscientious in carrying out any undertaking. As a man, he gained the esteem and friendship of everyone with whom he came into contact. He admired candour and at all times endeavoured to be scrupulously fair. He never failed to appreciate the efforts of his employees and encouraged them to present their various points of view on any matter under discussion. Endowed with a mind of amazing retentivity and rare capacity, he appeared to find no difficulty in working consistently long hours. New and complicated problems seemed to afford him delight. His methods of tackling them were rarely tentative and usually achieved the desired results in a direct fashion.
Sport, particularly cricket and football, interested him, but his hobby was the culture of orchids. In the glasshouses at his home in Edgbaston there flourished one of the finest collections in the country. His many friends will long remember his charming habit ofbringing a box of choice blossoms to functions, both public and private, for the adornment of fellow guests.
The closing years of his life were saddened by the loss of his only son in 1935. He continued, however, to work as he always had done, greatly to the advantage of common humanity, to the day of his death. He is survived by Lady Butler and two daughters.
A. E. CASE.
 
Thanks for that Bob.Dident realise that he gave so mush back to the City
 
Hi there, this is my 1st posting ,
I actually work in Sir William Butlers house, he was an avid orchid collector and the house has a huge "orangery" in which he grew his flowers, he was also subscribed to the Botanical gardens .His collection was worth about £20,000 when he died . His estate was worth about half a million in 1939.
The house is stunning, built for Lord Calthorpe but William bought it for himself and Emily in 1893. Their initials are carved in various places in the house, the over mantels, the ceilings etc... the wood paneling and tiling is all exquiste.

Dj
 
No doubt he must be turning in his grave with the mess the venture capital companies have made of his and most other brewery companies and their estates
Mike
 
Avery interesting post glaciermint. These prosperous families very often gave something back to the people. It's very interesting to read how he achieved all these things.
DjFRENCH, I am so jealous it must be a real joy to work in such a place you can literally bathe in the history.

William Butlers father also William is buried at Key Hill Cemetery. He also was involved in a lot of charitable work which made him very popular with all the community. At his funeral in 1907 the streets were lined with hundreds of people. Fifteen hundred people visited his grave the day after his funeral to show their respect and to view the hundreds of floral tributes. He died on August 24 1907 aged 64 years. Grave no 622 Section I.
 
HI again

the Butler family are buried at the Lodge Hill cemetery, William's father lived at Elmdon House before he died which was in Selly Oak, part of the Northfield parish at the time.

The house is truly beautiful ,it is said to be haunted and of course there have been stories and unexplained happenings here from various people over the years. Mr Butler was supposed to have died on his way to bed and so i tend to look at the elaborate wooden staircase with intrigue...i'm sure Lady Butler must have died here too

i love this building
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi there, this is my 1st posting ,
I actually work in Sir William Butlers house, he was an avid orchid collector and the house has a huge "orangery" in which he grew his flowers, he was also subscribed to the Botanical gardens .His collection was worth about £20,000 when he died . His estate was worth about half a million in 1939.
The house is stunning, built for Lord Calthorpe but William bought it for himself and Emily in 1893. Their initials are carved in various places in the house, the over mantels, the ceilings etc... the wood paneling and tiling is all exquiste.

Dj
Hello DJ I Am interested in William Butler and would like to know the whereabouts of his house ,have you got the address ? i am the secretary for the bowls club he was a member of and have some records of his time there . so i find it interesting
Eric Joesbury
 
Hi there, this is my 1st posting ,
I actually work in Sir William Butlers house, he was an avid orchid collector and the house has a huge "orangery" in which he grew his flowers, he was also subscribed to the Botanical gardens .His collection was worth about £20,000 when he died . His estate was worth about half a million in 1939.
The house is stunning, built for Lord Calthorpe but William bought it for himself and Emily in 1893. Their initials are carved in various places in the house, the over mantels, the ceilings etc... the wood paneling and tiling is all exquiste.

Dj

Yes, old Bill was short of a bob or two.

9A3ACAD0-9019-489B-96D9-26681C41DBB6.jpeg
 
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