James David Butters

[emre43]

Hi everyone

I am trying to find out more about my ancestor, James David Butters. He was born in 1839 and died in 1881. In 1861 he was a Private in 'Her Majesty's 33rd Regiment'. By 1862 he had been promoted to Corporal in the same regiment and was married to a Charlotte Adeline Bellett in Colaba, India. In 1870, he then married Charlotte's sister Sarah in Shahabad, India and was now working as a Station Master. I can find no information on his time in the army other than this basic information. Would he have seen conflict at all?

Thanks

Tom

[pandk2]

He was the son of my 3 X great grandparents, James David Butters (1815?-55, Zinc Worker) and Esther Ann Withers (1815?-1883).  He was born 20 September 1838, and baptised 14 October 1838 in Trinity, Paddington.  He had at least five brothers and three sisters.

Regards

Peter

[CaroleW]

From freebmd  www.freebmd.org.uk

Births December qtr 1838   
James David Butters     St Pancras  1   275

[pandk2]

Thanks for the reply.  The parish register shows they were resident at 39 Warren Street at the time of the baptism, and James was already a Zinc Worker.

I came across one curious thing in the 1911 census.  One of the sons of James D Butters (1838-1891) was Henry David Butters, who in turn had a son James David, born around 1906.  The 1911 census shows two small boys called James Butters:
1. 5 year old James, born in Paddington, living in Paddington with his father, Henry.
2.  A four year old James Butters, born in Kilburn and visiting the family of Hannah Cousins (nee Giles) in Wokingham, Buckinghamshire.  Hannah's half sister, Emma  Cummings was the wife of William J Butters, who was Henry's uncle, and they lived in Kilburn.
There seem to be no other people of that name born around then in London or Middlesex, so it is presumably the same boy.  It seems odd, though, that he would be staying with such distant relatives, and not in the immediate vicinity.

[emre43]

Thanks for that info pandk2.

Henry David Butters was my great, great grandfather. My grandmother tells me that he used to lie about his age and his wife didn't find out his true age until his death in 1953. She thought he was born in 1879, but according to family stories and his birth certificate he was born in 1871 in India. On his entry on the 1939 census his birth year of 1871 is actually crossed out and replaced with 1879.

Additionally, I had always thought of James David Butters as being born in 1838. However, I visited the National Archives at Kew last month and searched the Muster Rolls for the 33rd Regiment of Foot. I located James' entry. It gave his enlistment date as 30 January 1858 and also said that his age at enlistment was 22, this would put his birth at somewhere between January 1835 and January 1836.

[pandk2]

From divorce petition of Nathaniel Butters
1. That your petitioner was on the 15th day of May 1881 lawfully married to Mary Pollie Culver (spinster) in the parish of Hythe in the county of Kent.
2. That after his said marriage your petitioner lived and cohabited with his said wife at No. 2 Bridge Street Kilburn and at No. 22 Kingsgate  Road Hampstead both in the county of Middlesex and at other places  and that your petitioner and his said wife  have had no issue of their said marriage.
3. That in and during the months of August September October and November 1882 at 22 Kingsgate Road  aforesaid the said Mary Pollie Butters frequently committed adultery with James David Butters.
4. That on or about the 11the day of November 1882 the said Mary Pollie Butters left your petitioner  and went to and did live with the said James David Butters at an hotel in Gravesend in the county of Kent with whom and where she committed adultery.
5. That both the said Mary Pollie Butters and  James David Butters continued to live together in adultery at divers places and in particular at the Grapes Public House Luton in the county of Bedford and at No. 60 Kings Road Camden in the county of Middlesex down to the 24th day of May 1891 when the said James David Butters died.

[pandk2]

More information about James David Butters:
The 1921 census now shows that there were in fact 2 different boys called James Butters born around 1906, despite my guess above.  See my blog at https://birdsofcressingham.wordpress.com/2022/02/14/there-really-were-two-boys-called-james-butters/

James David Butters (presumably the one born in 1838) was a for a short time (1883-1884) licensee of the Northampton Arms, Teddington, South West London. https://birdsofcressingham.wordpress.com/2021/06/08/short-spell-as-a-publican/