Captain William Charles Butler (17 January 1844 – 6 December 1914) played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

for England against a Scottish XI in two unofficial internationals in 1870 and 1871. He subsequently became a J.P. and Registrar in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

Family

Butler was the son of Captain Charles George Butler R.N. (1793–1867) and Emily Bayford. His paternal grandfather was Sir Richard Butler, 7th Baronet of Cloughgrenan, descending from James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and 2nd Earl of Ossory, through his second son,

Sir Edmund Butler of Cloughgrenan Sir Edmund Butler (1534 – c. 1585) of Cloughgrenan (and the Dullough), was an Irish noble and the second son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and Lady Joan Fitzgerald. He was a scion of the House of Ormond, and a rebel against the Tudors. ...

(1534–c.1585). This Cloughgrenan line survives to the present day through James Richard Henry Ormonde Brooke (b. 1972), William's great-great-grandson. James Richard is the son of Penelope Eve Butler (b. 1942) and

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...

Lt.-Col. Thomas Christopher Peter Brooke (1938–2020), 1st cousin once removed of Bernard Jocelyn Brooke, author and naturalist. In July 1877, William Charles Butler married Emily Chadwick; they had six children – three daughters and three sons. The sons were: * Henry Beauchamp Butler (1878–1952) who was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

and became a solicitor. He later joined the Colonial Service in Nigeria and took part in the

Egba The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is the Brussels-based trade association representing the leading online gambling operators established, licensed and regulated within the EU. EGBA works together with national and EU authorities ...

Expedition in 1918.
Lt.-Col.Charles Walter Butler OBE
(1880–1941) who was also educated at Charterhouse. He became a soldier in the

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment Line infantry, of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the World War I, First and ...

, fighting in the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

between 1899 and 1900, in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, where he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

twice, and in the

Afghan War War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in t ...

in 1919. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the service of the Indian Army and was invested with the O.B.E. in 1920. * William Bayford Butler (1888–1937) who, like his brothers, was educated at Charterhouse and also fought in the First World War with the 3rd Battalion, Border Regiment. He reached the rank of Captain and was decorated with the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

Football career

Butler was a member of the

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People *Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom * Barnes, London, England ** Barnes railway station **Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes High Stree ...

and

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

football clubs. In March 1870, he was invited by the Wanderers' captain, C.W. Alcock to take part in a match between "England" and "Scotland". This was the first of five "pseudo-internationals" which took place before the first officially recognized international in November 1872. He was the only member of the England XI who was not a member of the Wanderers club. His second appearance for England came in February 1871; the match report included an early reference to the Combination Game style of football:

It seemed as if the cottishdefence would prove more than equal to the attack, until a well-executed run-down by C.W. Alcock, W.C. Butler and
R.S.F. Walker Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Sandilands Frowd Walker (13 May 1850 – 16 May 1917), also known as R. S. F. Walker, was a prominent figure in Malaya during the British colonial era in the late 19th century. During his youth he was an amateur sport ...
, acting in concert, enabled the last-named of the trio to equalise the score by the accomplishment of a well-merited goal for England.

Later career

Butler was enlisted in the Third Battalion, The Border Regiment where in 1884 he reached the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He was later a Justice of the peace (J.P.) for Cumberland and held the office of Registrar of the Probate Division of the High Court of Justice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, William 1844 births 1914 deaths English men's footballers England men's representative footballers (1870–1872) Border Regiment officers Barnes Football Club players

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

Civil Service F.C. players Men's association football players not categorized by position Place of birth missing