William Francis Butler

Lieutenant General Sir William Francis Butler, GCB, PC, FRGS. Born into an upper middle-class Roman Catholic family in Ireland, he was educated by the Jesuits and subsequently commissioned an Ensign (2nd Lieutenant) in the 69th Regiment of Foot. He had a long and distinguished career in the British Army, which at the time was unusual for a Catholic Irishman. He was also an explorer, was appointed an Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Queen Victoria, appointed a Member of the Irish Privy Council (PC), a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS), member of the senate of the National University of Ireland, a commissioner of the Board of National Education, supporter of Home Rule for Ireland, and a frequent lecturer. In 1870, he became good friends with Colonel (later Field Marshal Sir) Garnet Wolseley (1st Viscount Wolseley) and rose to become one of his most trusted officers over the course of many years. He was a veteran of many British campaigns of the second half of the 19th century including the Red River Expedition (Canada), the Ashanti War (South Africa), the Anglo-Zulu War (South Africa), and the Nile Expedition (Egypt and the Sudan). Husband of the artist Lady Elizabeth Southerden (Thompson) Butler. Noted for the diversity of his books: biographies, history, memoirs of his experiences exploring western Canada, travel literature, recollections of Victorian military campaigns in which he participated, and finally his own autobiography.