Sir Thomas Dacres Butler (3 October 1845 – 29 December 1937) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and senior civil servant.

Biography

Butler was born in

Hambledon, Hampshire Hambledon is a small village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire in England, situated about north of Portsmouth within the South Downs National Park. Hambledon is best known as the 'Cradle of Cricket'. It is thought that Hambledon Clu ...

, the son of Colonel Thomas Butler and Arabella Dacres. He attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

and commissioned into the

52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot The 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot was a light infantry regiment of the British Army throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries. The regiment first saw active service during the American War of Independence, and were posted to India du ...

. He gained the rank of captain in 1873. He was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

on 18 April 1882. Butler served as Secretary to the

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main c ...

in the Royal Household before becoming Yeoman-Usher of the Black Rod, the deputy of Black Rod, in 1892. He served in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in this position until 1929, notably overseeing the installation of electric lighting to the House in 1904. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

in 1918. Butler married Nina Helen Elliot, daughter of Admiral Sir George Elliot and Hersey Susan Sydney Wauchope, on 12 July 1877.J. Foster, ''The royal lineage of our noble and gentle families'' (Рипол Классик), 148. Their second daughter, Hersey, married Ivo Murray Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 20th Baron Saye and Sele.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Thomas Dacres 1845 births 1937 deaths Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst 52nd Regiment of Foot officers British civil servants People from the City of Winchester Members of the Middle Temple