Charles Butler KC (14 August 1750 – 2 June 1832) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and miscellaneous writer.

Biography

Charles Butler was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the son of James Butler, a nephew of Alban Butler. He was educated at Douai. In 1769 he became apprenticed to the conveyancer

John Maire John Maire (1703–1771) was a leading English Roman Catholic conveyancer. Maire was the son of Thomas Maire of Lartington, Yorkshire, and an elder brother of the Roman Catholic priest William Maire. He was admitted to Gray's Inn in 1727; as a ...

, and subsequently (on Maire's death in 1773) to

Matthew Duane Matthew Duane (1707–1785) was an English Roman Catholic conveyancer and art patron. Of obscure family origins, by the 1730s Duane had established himself as a 'chamber counsel' and conveyancer in Newcastle and London. He married Dorothy Dawson i ...

. In 1775 he set up his own conveyancing practice and entered

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 ...

. He edited, with Francis Hargrave, ''Coke upon Lyttleton'', published in 1775.

Peter Bellinger Brodie Peter Bellinger Brodie (1815 – 1 November 1897) was an English geologist and churchman, the son of the conveyancer Peter Bellinger Brodie and nephew of Sir Benjamin C. Brodie. He was born in London in 1815. While residing with his fathe ...

was one of his students. A 1777 pamphlet supporting naval impressments won him the patronage of

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792) was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten. During his life ...

, but Butler withdrew from general political activity to press for Catholic relief. Secretary of the Catholic Committee from 1782, he was appointed by them to draft a new relief bill in 1788: despite controversy within the English Catholic community over the extent to which the Catholic condition should be assimilated to that of Protestant dissenters, a bill passed on 24 June 1791. In 1792 Butler helped found the

Cisalpine Club The Cisalpine Club was an association of Roman Catholic laymen formed in England in the 1790s to promote Cisalpinism, and played a role in the public debate surrounding the progress of Catholic Emancipation. Overview The principles of Cisalpi ...

"to resist any ecclesiastical interference which may militate against the freedom of English Catholics". Relations between cisalpine Catholics, minimising the authority of the Pope over English Catholics, and vicars apostolic (especially Butler's long-time opponent

John Milner John David Milner (December 28, 1949 – January 4, 2000) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from to for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Montreal E ...

) were strained; in 1807 a Catholic Board was formed after efforts to repair relations, but Milner would censure Butler in 1822 as 'a rebel to ecclesiastical authority and a public sinner'.Frederick Charles Husenbeth, ''The Life of the Right Rev. John Milner, D.D.'', J. Duffy, 1862, p. 450. He had considerable practice as a conveyancer, and after the passing of the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 (31 George III, c. 32) is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1791 relieving Roman Catholics of certain political, educational, and economic disabilities. It admitted Catholics to the practice ...

was the first Catholic to be called to the bar since 1688. His only appearance at the bar was in Cholmondeley v. Clinton at the House of Lords, which set a precedent for judgements on land removal. In 1832 he took silk, and was made a bencher of Lincoln's Inn. Butler married Mary Eyston in 1776; they had one son (who died young) and two daughters.

Works

His literary activity was enormous, and the number of his published works comprises about fifty volumes. The most important of them are: *''Reminiscences'' (1821–1827) *''Horae Biblicae'' (1797), which passed through several editions *''Horae Juridicae Subsecivae'' (1804) *''Book of the Roman Catholic Church'' (1825), which was directed against Southey and excited some controversy *lives of

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

, Grotius,

Bossuet Bossuet is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627–1704), French bishop and theologian, uncle of Louis * Louis Bossuet Louis Bossuet (22 February 1663 – 15 January 1742) was a French parle ...

, Fénelon He also edited and completed the ''Lives of the Saints'' of his uncle, Alban Butler, Fearne's ''Essay on Contingent Remainders'' and Hargrave's edition of Coke upon Littleton's ''Laws of England'' (1775). A complete list of Butler's works is contained in

Joseph Gillow Joseph Gillow (5 October 1850, Preston, Lancashire – 17 March 1921, Westholme, Hale, Cheshire) was an English Roman Catholic antiquary, historian and bio-bibliographer, "the Plutarch of the English Catholics". Biography Born in Frenchwood Hous ...

's ''Bibliographical Dictionary of English Catholics'', vol. i. pp. 357–364.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Charles 1750 births 1832 deaths English biographers English memoirists English non-fiction writers English Roman Catholics History of Catholicism in England English male non-fiction writers