Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler (1 August 1869 – 2 March 1938) was an officer of the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

who was the leading British official in Burma for much of his career, serving as Lieutenant-Governor (1915–17 and 1922–23) and later Governor of Burma (1923–27). He also served as Lieutenant Governor of the

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1921; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province had been ...

from 1918 to 1921 and later was the first governor of

from 1921 to 1922.

Life and career

Butler was born on 1 August 1869 in Middlesex, England and died on 2 March 1938 in London, at age 68. He was the brother of

Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler Sir Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler, (19 May 1873 – 7 November 1952) was Governor of the Central Provinces of British India (1925–33), Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man (1933–37), and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge (1937–48). ...

and

Geoffrey G. Butler Sir George Geoffrey Gilbert Butler (15 August 1887 – 2 May 1929) was an English people, English historian, academic and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency), Cambridge University, 1 ...

. Educated at Harrow School and Balliol College, Oxford, Butler entered the Indian Civil Services soon afterwards, in 1890. He served as governor of United Provinces from 3 January 1921 to 21 December 1922, and was followed by Sir William Sinclair Marris. Butler later went on to serve as Governor of

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

from 2 January 1923 to 20 December 1927; he had already been lieutenant-governor of Burma from 28 October 1915 to 22 September 1917, and held the title briefly again from 21 December 1922 to 2 January 1923. On that date, the position became that of "Governor". The Government of India in 1910 had appointed Butler as the first Member for Education with a seat on the

Viceroy's Executive Council The Viceroy's Executive Council was the cabinet of the government of British India headed by the Viceroy of India. It is also known as the Council of the Governor-General of India. It was transformed from an advisory council into a cabinet consistin ...

. He was also the first president of

Delhi Gymkhana The Delhi Gymkhana Club or Delhi Gymkhana is a club in New Delhi. It is located on 2, Safdarjung Road. History Originally called the 'Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club', it was founded on 3 July 1913, at Coronation Grounds, Delhi. Its first pres ...

, founded in 1913. Butler was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander ( GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointmen ...

(CSI) in 1909, knighted as a Knight Commander (KCSI) of the same order in 1911, and promoted to Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) of the order in 1928. He was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

(CIE) in November 1901, and was promoted to a Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) of the same order in 1923. The

Harcourt Butler Technological Institute Harcourt Butler Technical University (HBTU) is a Premier State Technical University in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation ( help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state ...

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...

established in 1921 was named after him which was granted a university status in September 2016. Also Harcourt Butler Higher Secondary School (now known as Harcourt Butler Senior Secondary School), New Delhi was also named after him in 1917. It was earlier called Bengali Boys School. Butler helped the opening of the

University of Medicine 1, Yangon The University of Medicine 1, Yangon ( my, ဆေးတက္ကသိုလ်(၁) ရန်ကုန် ; formerly the Institute of Medicine 1), located in Yangon, it is the oldest medical school in Myanmar. The university offers M.B., B.S. ( ...

, on 2 February 1927. From 1927 to 1929 he chaired the Butler Committee on the governance of the British Raj in relation to the

princely states A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

Family

Butler married Florence Katherine Wright in London in 1894. They had one son, Victor Spencer, born in 1900.

References

Links

*
Myanmar (Burma)
worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
Speeches 1921
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Harcourt 1869 births 1938 deaths Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Knights of the Order of St John Administrators in British Burma Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Indian Civil Service (British India) officers People educated at Harrow School People from Kanpur