Sir John Henry Butters, CMG,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(23 December 188529 July 1969) was an Australian electrical engineer notable for his role in the Tasmanian Hydro-electric Department from 1914 to 1924, and as the head of the

Federal Capital Commission The National Capital Authority (NCA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government that was established to manage the Commonwealth's interest in the planning and development of Canberra as the capital city of Australia. Timeline of the ...

, which developed

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

between 1925 and 1930.

Biography

Butters was born in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England, and trained as an electrical engineer at Hartley College,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. He moved to Australia in 1909. He is best known for his role as Chief Commissioner of the

. The FCC was active during the early expansion of the new federal capital,

, and was successful in planning and building many significant buildings. For his role in the city's development he is sometimes referred to as the 'Founder of Canberra'. Butters left Canberra in 1929 for

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where he made a career as a consulting engineer, which continued until his retirement in 1954.

Honours

He was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) on 19 October 1920, "in recognition of service during the war". On 1 June 1923 he was made a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) for his work as Chief Engineer of the Tasmania Hydro-Electric Department. On 8 July 1927, Butters was knighted to honour his work as Commissioner of the Federal Capital Commission.It's an Honour: Knight Bachelor
/ref> Butters Drive in the Canberra suburb of

Phillip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

is named in his honour. He was an inaugural inductee into the Canberra Engineering Hall of Fame.

John Butters Power Station The John Butters Power Station is a conventional hydroelectric power station located in Western Tasmania, Australia. The power station forms part of the King Yolande River Power Scheme and is owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania. Technical det ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

is named after him. The Butters Bridge in the Molonglo Valley, Canberra is also named after him and was opened in September 2016. It is the longest pedestrian bridge in the Southern Hemisphere.

Notes

References

* The Canberra Engineering Hall of Fame. 2004
Inaugural Inductees - 2002
*https://web.archive.org/web/20080818051822/http://www.usyd.edu.au/alumni/about/vales/john_butters.shtml {{DEFAULTSORT:Butters, John 1885 births 1969 deaths Australian electrical engineers Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George British emigrants to Australia