John Blackstocke Butterworth, Baron Butterworth (13 March 1918 – 19 June 2003) was a British lawyer and the first Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

. Butterworth was graduated in jurisprudence from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. On the eve of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he enlisted in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and spent much of the war in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, protecting strategic targets from air attack.

Background and family

He qualified in 1946 as a barrister at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, and then became a law tutor at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. He had a reputation as an outstanding teacher and he was made an Honorary

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

of Lincoln's Inn in 1953. He was quick-witted and shrewd, which accounts for his appointment as

bursar A bursar (derived from "bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education (f ...

of New College for the last seven years of his time at Oxford. Butterworth married his wife Doris in 1948 and they had one son and two daughters, including Anna Walker, who became a senior civil servant of some distinction.

University of Warwick

In 1963, he became the first Vice-Chancellor of the

. Warwick was one of the handful of new universities created in the wake of the

Robbins Report The Robbins Report (the report of the Committee on Higher Education, chaired by Lord Robbins) was commissioned by the British government and published in 1963. The committee met from 1961 to 1963. After the report's publication, its conclusions wer ...

(1962). One of his colleagues at the time described him as "a noisy" vice-chancellor. Butterworth believed strongly that his job was to select professors who would be leaders in their discipline and that he should stand aside and let them develop their subjects in their own way (though within a tight budget). Because he had worked only at Oxford, he wanted Oxford's standards of academic performance at the undergraduate level and in research. He had a belief that Warwick must maintain a balance between 'pure' and 'applied' disciplines: you could justify a strong commitment to the

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

if you had a

Business School A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...

, a very pure Maths Department if you had Engineering. A large part of Warwick's success stems from Butterworth's cultivation of links with the rich industrial enterprises of the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. One of his first creations was an industrial centre, intended as a stimulus of advanced engineering in the region. Similarly, he cultivated (and earned) municipal goodwill. He also built the

Warwick Arts Centre Warwick Arts Centre is a multi-venue arts complex at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. It attracts around 300,000 visitors a year to over 3,000 individual events embracing all types of theatre and performance, contemporary and cl ...

. His link with Miss Martin, the famous 'Anonymous Benefactor', represented the crucial launching pad for the project, but funds came from many sources including a contribution for the third and final phase from the about to be abolished

West Midlands County Council West Midlands County Council (WMCC) was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for the West Midlands county, a metropolitan county in England. History The WMCC existed for a total of twelve years. It was established on 1 April 1 ...

whose gift was steered through by a Coventry Councillor. It was somehow typical that Butterworth, whose politics could not have been more different, could persuade a left wing politician that such a project deserved support. He traded on the sympathies of his friends on grantmaking committees for consideration of Warwick and held forth without giving quarter to ministers he happened to bump into in corridors. Butterworth's period as vice-chancellor was not without controversy, particularly regarding his opposition to the establishment of a

Students' union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

. Above the main bar of the Students Union building at Warwick University there is an inscription quoting him as saying "The Students' union shall never have its own building". His period of office included the student protests beginning in the late 1960s. During one event the vice-chancellor's office was occupied and files rummaged through. These protests were supported by the social historian, the late Professor Edward Thompson, one of Butterworth's own appointments.

Other activities

His other passions were the

Association of Commonwealth Universities The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) was established in 1913, and has over 500 member institutions in over 50 countries across the Commonwealth. The ACU is the world's oldest international network of universities. Its mission is ...

, a post-imperial organisation devoted to providing assistance to anglophone universities in developing countries, of which he was chairman for ten years; and the

Foundation for Science and Technology The Foundation for Science and Technology is a UK charity, providing a neutral platform for debate of policy issues that have a science, technology or innovation element. Established in 1977, the Foundation brings together Parliamentarians, civi ...

, of which he became chairman in 1990, subsequently holding the position of president until his death. Butterworth was also the chairman of Midland Community Radio, the consortium which successfully bid for the

Independent Local Radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2003, ...

franchise for Coventry and Warwickshire. The radio station launched as

Mercia Sound la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

in 1980.

Peerage

He was appointed to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

as a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

on retirement from the University in 1985. He was created Baron Butterworth, ''of

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

in the County of Warwickshire'' on 15 May 1985, and he took the

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

whip.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterworth, Jack People from Sutton-in-Ashfield English barristers Fellows of New College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) life peers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Vice-Chancellors of the University of Warwick Deputy Lieutenants of Warwickshire Deputy Lieutenants of the West Midlands (county) 1918 births 2003 deaths Legal scholars of the University of Oxford 20th-century English lawyers British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery personnel Life peers created by Elizabeth II