William Butcher
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
for twelve years.
Born in Richmond
Richmond, Tasmania
Richmond is a town in Tasmania about 25 km north-east of Hobart, in the Coal River region, between the Midland Highway and Tasman Highway. At the 2006 census, Richmond had a population of 880....
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
on 24 July 1858, William Butcher was the son of squatter and landowner Edward William Burchell Butcher, and Maria Susan née Schaw. He was educated at private schools in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
.
In 1876, Butcher's father joined with other Victorian investors in forming the Murchison River Squatting Company. The following year Butcher, his father and his brother Charles John Hunt Butcher emigrated to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, establishing Barrington Station in the Murchison
Murchison River (Western Australia)
The Murchison River is the second longest river in Western Australia. It flows for about from the southern edge of the Robinson Ranges to the Indian Ocean at Kalbarri. It has a mean annual flow of about 200 million cubic metres.-Course:...
district. In 1878 Butcher took part in an exploring expedition that aimed to find a shorter route to port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
from the Lower Gascoyne district, where he would later purchase land. He later also bought Boolathana Station near Carnarvon
Carnarvon, Western Australia
Carnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately 900 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the Ningaloo Reef lies to the north...
in parnership with John Brockman, whose niece Margaret Harriet Brockman he would marry on 5 November 1892. They would have three sons and five daughters.
Butcher became a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
in 1898. On 24 April 1901, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly seat of Gascoyne
Electoral district of Gascoyne
Gascoyne was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1890 to 1989.The district was located in the Western Australian outback, in the north-west of the state...
as an independent, succeeding George Hubble who had not contested the election. He sat as a Liberal after 1905, holding the seat until the election of 3 October 1911, when he was defeated by John McDonald
John McDonald (Australian politician)
John James McDonald , Australian politician, was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1911 to 1914....
. He contested for a seat in the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
in the elections of 31 May 1913 and 15 September 1914, but was unsuccessful. On 12 November 1915, he won the Legislative Assembly seat of Roebourne
Electoral district of Roebourne
The Electoral district of Roebourne was a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. It was named for the town of Roebourne and was created in 1890, being one of the original 30 seats contested at the 1890 state election....
in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
called because of the still-unexplained abandonment of the seat by Joseph Gardiner
Joseph Gardiner
Joseph Peter Gardiner was the Australian Labor Party member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Roebourne from 1911 to 1915...
. The by-election was a crucial one for John Scaddan
John Scaddan
John Scaddan, CMG , popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.- Biography :...
's Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
government
Government of Western Australia
The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...
, with Butcher's win erasing its two seat majority. He held the seat until the election of 18 October 1917, which he did not contest.
In 1904, the Butcher brothers bought Avondale Estate
Avondale Agricultural Research Station
Avondale Agriculture Research Station or Avondale Discovery Farm is one of thirteen research farms and stations operated by Western Australia's Department of Agriculture and Food...
near Beverley
Beverley, Western Australia
Beverley is a town located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, south-east of the state capital, Perth, between York and Brookton on the Great Southern Highway...
. They expanded Avondale from 5323 acres (21.5 km²) to 9635 acres (39 km²) by purchasing surrounding properties. Four years later the brothers approached the government and offered to sell the land at ₤5/10/- per acre, the government counter offered with ₤5/5/- per acre. The brothers accepted this offer and in March 1910 the sale of Avondale occurred for the total price of ₤51,494/12/6.
In 1910 and 1911, Butcher was president of the WA Pastoralists Association. In 1000 he purchased Meeberrie Station north east of Geraldton
Geraldton, Western Australia
Geraldton is a city and port in Western Australia located north of Perth in the Mid West region. Geraldton has an estimated population at June 2010 of 36,958...
, and later also became owner of Nangetty Station near Mingenew
Mingenew, Western Australia
Mingenew is a town in Western Australia, located north of the state capital, Perth. It is the seat of government for the Shire of Mingenew.- History :...
.
Little is known of Butcher's life after 1917. He died at Nedlands
Nedlands, Western Australia
The City of Nedlands is a Local Government Area in the inner western suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, located about west of Perth's central business district...
on 24 May 1944, and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery
Karrakatta Cemetery
Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, with Robert Creighton. Currently managed by the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board, the cemetery attracts more than one million visitors each...
.