Iris Mary Butler (15 June 1905 – 9 November 2002) was an English journalist and historian. Butler was born in

Simla Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summe ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, to Sir Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler and his wife Ann. Her brother was the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician

Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politici ...

.''The Daily Telegraph''
Iris Portal
(22 November 2002). She wrote for the ''

Eastern Daily Press The ''Eastern Daily Press'' (''EDP'') is a regional newspaper covering Norfolk, northern parts of Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to ...

'' and in 1967 published an account of the tempestuous relationship between Queen Anne, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough and Abigail Masham. In 1927, she married Gervas Portal, a half-brother of Lord Portal of Hungerford, but published works under her maiden name. Iris Butler's daughter is Jane Williams, Baroness Williams of Elvel. Her grandson is

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is an Anglican bishop who served as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 2013 to 2025. After an 11-year career in the oil industry, Welby trained for ordination at St John ...

, who was appointed the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

in 2013."Welby's Maternal Grandmother"
/ref>

Works

*''Rule of Three'' (1967). *''The Viceroy's Wife: Letters of Alice, Countess of Reading, from India 1921-1925'' (1969). *''The Eldest Brother: the Marquess Wellesley 1760-1842'' (1973).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Iris 1905 births 2002 deaths English journalists People from Shimla 20th-century English historians British people in colonial India Iris Iris