Henry John Butler (9 November 1889 – 30 July 1922) was an early Australian aviator, he was the first to fly over a large body of water in Australia when he flew across the Spencer Gulf

Spencer Gulf

The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. The Gulf is 322 km long and 129 km wide at its mouth. The western shore of the Gulf is the Eyre Peninsula, while the eastern side is the...

 in 1919.

Early Years

Henry Butler was born on the 9th of November 1889 at the main hostpital of the small town Yorketown

Yorketown, South Australia

←Yorketown is a town in southern Yorke Peninsula, South Australia.Yorketown is in the District Council of Yorke Peninsula, the South Australian House of Assembly electoral district of Goyder and the Australian House of Representatives Division of Grey.-External links:*** Yorke Peninsula Visitor...

 on the Yorke Peninsula

Yorke Peninsula

The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located north-west and west of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. It has geographic coordinates of...

 region of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. The son of James and Sarria Ann Butler, he grew up on a small farm near the village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 of Koolywurtie. From an early age he showed a strong desire to fly. Whilst at school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

 he built model aircraft

Model aircraft

Model aircraft are flying or non-flying models of existing or imaginary aircraft using a variety of materials including plastic, diecast metal, polystyrene, balsa wood, foam and fibreglass...

 and studied the wings of his mothers hens

Chicken

The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

.