Sir Adam Courtauld Butler (11 October 1931 – 9 January 2008) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician, serving as an MP for 17 years and holding several junior ministerial offices.

Background

Butler was born in

Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011 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 politician. ''The Times'' obituary c ...

and his wife, Sydney, only child of Samuel Courtauld. He was educated at Maidwell Hall prep school in Northamptonshire and

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

Career

After

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

from 1949 to 1951 as a second lieutenant in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

, he read history and economics at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

from 1951 to 1954 (where his grandfather, Sir Montagu Butler, had been Master). After graduating, he joined the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

for as a captain to serve as aide-de-camp to the

Governor-General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

Vincent Massey Charles Vincent Massey (February 20, 1887December 30, 1967) was a Canadian lawyer and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 18th since Confederation. Massey was the first governor general of Canada who was born in Canada after ...

, for one year. His mother died of cancer in 1954, while he was in Canada. He returned to England in 1955, and he joined the family company,

Courtaulds Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds ...

, working as a director of various subsidiaries. Butler became

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Bosworth in 1970, surprisingly defeating the sitting Labour Party MP,

Woodrow Wyatt Woodrow may refer to: People *Woodrow (name), a given name and a surname Places Canada *Woodrow, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community United Kingdom *Woodrow, Buckinghamshire, England *Woodrow, Cumbria, England United States *Woodrow, Color ...

. He was first Conservative MP to represent the seat since the 1920s, and barely retained his seat at the two general elections in 1974. He served as

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

Joseph Godber Joseph Bradshaw Godber, Baron Godber of Willington, (17 March 1914 – 25 August 1980) was a British Conservative Party politician and cabinet minister. Background Godber was educated at Bedford School, between 1922 and 1931, and became a n ...

, who was

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

in the

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and then at the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

. He became a

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in 1974. After

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

became Conservative leader in 1975, Butler became one of her two Parliamentary Private Secretaries, along with John Stanley. After the Conservative victory at the 1979 general election, he served as Minister of State for Industry at the

Department of Industry Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

until 1981, and then as minister for economic development in Northern Ireland until 1984, where he called in the receivers at the De Lorean motorcar company, and finally as minister for defense procurement until 1985. He was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1984, and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1986. He was also a member of the Court of the

Goldsmiths' Company The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Londo ...

and later chairman of the

British Hallmarking Council The British Hallmarking Council (BHC) is the organisation responsible for supervising hallmarking in the United Kingdom. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The BHC was create ...

from 1998 to 2004; chairman of the Samuel Courtauld Trustees, associated with the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

, from 1989 to 2005; and chairman of the

Airey Neave Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, (;) (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979. During World War II he was the first British prisoner-of-war ...

Trust from 1990 to 2000.

Personal life and family

He lived at his farm at

Lighthorne Lighthorne is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. It is about south of Leamington Spa. The population taken at the 2011 census was 361. Lighthorne is a small village in a valley and is near Moreton Morrell, Kineton and Welles ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. He became a Deputy Lieutenant of Warwickshire in 1993, and served as Vice Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire from 1998 to 2005. He enjoyed field sports, and was chairman of the Warwickshire Hunt for 23 years. He also was member of the Countryside Animal Welfare Group, and campaigned to end the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest an ...

's support for a

hunting ban The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the A ...

as a member of its council. He married Felicity Molesworth-St Aubyn in 1955. He died in Lighthorne, Warwickshire, survived by his wife and their two sons and daughter. Lady Butler died in 2022.Butler
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Arms

References

Sources

*''The

Times Guide to the House of Commons ''The Times Guide to the House of Commons'' is a political reference guide book published by Times Newspapers giving coverage of general elections in the United Kingdom. Following most general elections since 1880, the book has been published. The ...

'',

Times Newspapers Ltd News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ...

, 1983 *
Obituary
''The Times''.

''The Guardian''.

''The Independent''.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Adam 1931 births 2008 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Eton College Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge People from Halstead UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Politicians awarded knighthoods Deputy Lieutenants of Warwickshire Deaths from cancer in England King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Canadian Army officers Northern Ireland Office junior ministers Younger sons of barons Military personnel from Essex