Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler

Sir Montagu Butler KCSI, CB, CIE, CVO, CBE
16th Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man
In office 1933–1937
Monarch	George V Edward VIII George VI
Preceded by	Claude Hill
Succeeded by	Earl Granville
Personal details
Born	Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler 19 May 1873
Died	7 November 1952 (aged 79)
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Ann Gertrude Smith
Children	Richard Austen Butler, Iris Mary Butler, Dorothy Butler, John Perceval Butler
Alma mater	Pembroke College, Cambridge

Sir Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler KCSI, CB, CIE, CVO, CBE (19 May 1873 – 7 November 1952) was Governor of the Central Provinces of British India 1925–33, Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man 1933–37, and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge 1937–48. He was the father of noted British politician Rab Butler.

Career

Born at Julian Hill, a grade II listed building in Harrow, London, Butler was educated at Haileybury and Pembroke College, Cambridge.^[1] He became a Fellow of Pembroke in 1895 and entered the Indian Civil Service in 1896,^[2] having come top in the entrance exam.^[3] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1909,^[4] a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1916,^[5] a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1918 and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1920.^[6] In 1921 he became President of the Punjab Legislative Council.^[7]

He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 1924 King's Birthday Honours,^[8] and was further knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India in December of that year upon his appointment as Governor of the Central Provinces.^[9] He was President of the Council of State of India from 1924 to 1925^[2] and Governor of the Central Provinces from 1925 to 1933,^[10] and during this same time was chancellor of Nagpur University.^[2] He wrote to his son Rab (13 August 1930) that “There is nothing like a cut across the buttocks for checking religious emotions – I have generally ordered whipping for the low class people caught at this game”. He had wanted to be an official delegate to the Round Table Conference and wrote of Gandhi (28 July 1931) “All this slobber over him disgusts me”.^[11]

Butler was passed over for two other major governorships. His son Rab, currently Under-Secretary of State for India, lobbied Buckingham Palace and the Home Office for his father to be given a job. He was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man on 1 May 1933.^[12] He held that post from 1933 to 1937, and was then Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge from 1937 to 1948.^[2] He was Mayor of Cambridge for two years between 1941 and 1943.^[2][13]

Family

His parents were Spencer Perceval Butler (son of George Butler) and Mary, only child of the Revd Nicholas Kendall of Bodmin.^[2][14] He was the brother of Sir Cyril Kendall Butler KBE, Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler, Sir George Geoffrey Gilbert Butler KBE, and Arthur Francis Norman-Butler OBE.^[2] In 1901, he married Ann Gertrude Smith.^[2] He was survived by son Rab Butler and daughter Iris Mary Butler.^[15]

His great-grandson, Justin Welby, was inducted as Archbishop of Canterbury on 21 March 2013.

Book Cited

• Howard, Anthony RAB: The Life of R. A. Butler, Jonathan Cape 1987 ISBN 978-0224018623
• Matthew (editor), Colin (2004). Dictionary of National Biography 9. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198614111.(essay on Rab Butler)

References

1. "Butler, Montagu Sherard Dawes (BTLR891MS)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
2. "W. H. Auden - 'Family Ghosts'". Retrieved 2011-03-04.
3. Matthew 2004, p199
4. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 28263. p. 4856. 22 June 1909. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
5. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29423. p. 81. 31 December 1915. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
6. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31709. p. 16098. 30 December 1919. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
7. Howard 1987, p.15
8. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 32941. p. 4407. 30 May 1924. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
9. The London Gazette: no. 33002. p. 9149. 16 December 1924. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
10. "Nagpur District Gazette".
11. Howard 1987, p. 49-50
12. Howard 1987, p. 59-60
13. "Cambridge mayors 1940-1950". Cambridge City Council. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
14. "Butler, Sir Montagu Sherard Dawes". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
15. "The Peerage Site".

External links

• "Sir Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2011-03-04.