Noel Albert Butcher (19 November 1894 – 23 January 1968) was an Australian businessman and politician who served as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1951 to 1953, representing the seat of Gascoyne. Butcher was born in Mardella (on the outskirts of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

) to Rachael (née White) and Hugh John Butcher. He left school at the age of 14, and began working at the

Midland Railway Workshops The Midland Railway Workshops in Midland, Western Australia, were the main workshops for the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) for over 80 years. History The first railway workshops in Western Australia were located at Fremantle a ...

as an apprentice fitter and turner. In the 1920s, Butcher worked variously as a bank teller, engineer, and sheep farmer (at Bindi Bindi). He eventually trained as a mining engineer, and worked for periods at Mount Morgans, Yellowdine, and

Marble Bar Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed ...

(as mine manager and a company director). Butcher enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF) during World War II, serving with engineering and field radar units.Noel Albert Butcher
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 14 January 2017. Discharged from the RAAF in 1944, Butcher initially returned to mining, working at Nullagine and briefly serving on the Nullagine Road Board. He moved to Carnarvon in late 1945, where he grew bananas. Butcher entered parliament at the 1951 Gascoyne by-election, caused by the resignation of

Frank Wise Frank Joseph Scott Wise AO (30 May 1897 – 29 June 1986) was a Labor Party politician who was the 16th Premier of Western Australia. He took office on 31 July 1945 in the closing stages of the Second World War, following the resignation of ...

(a former

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

premier). He stood as an "Independent Liberal" candidate, and was elected with 51.3 percent of the

two-candidate-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

vote. Butcher's time in politics was short-lived, however, as he was defeated by Labor's

Daniel Norton Sir Daniel Norton (1568 – 4 July 1636) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1629. Norton was the son of Sir Richard Norton of Rotherfield. He was knighted at Whitehall on ...

at the 1953 state election. He eventually left Carnarvon, operating a fuel depot at Karlgarin for a few years before retiring to

Mandurah Mandurah () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 107,641 as of the 2021 census. Mandurah's ...

. Butcher died in a road accident in 1968, aged 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher, Noel 1894 births 1968 deaths Australian mining engineers Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Western Australian local councillors Road incident deaths in Western Australia Royal Australian Air Force officers