Colonel Sir Thomas Pierce Butler, 12th Baronet CVO DSO

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(18 September 1910 – 9 April 1994) was an Irish soldier. He was Resident Governor of the Tower of London from 1967 to 1971.

Early life

He was born in September 1910 in Carlow, where the Butler family settled in Carlow around 1500 at one time owning over 30,000 acres of land. He was the only son of Sir Richard Butler, 11th Baronet (1872–1955), the

High Sheriff of Carlow The High Sheriff of Carlow was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Carlow, Ireland from the 14th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Carlow County Sheriff. The sh ...

in 1905, and Alice Dudley Leigh (daughter of the Very Rev.

James Wentworth Leigh James Wentworth Leigh (22 January 1838 – 5 January 1923) was an Anglican priest in the last decade of the 19th century and the first two of the 20th. He was a very active Freemason, an enthusiastic temperance campaigner, and an ardent social re ...

Dean of Hereford The Dean of Hereford is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of Hereford Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of Blessed Virgin Mary and St Et ...

and son of

Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh (27 June 1791 – 27 September 1850) was a British landowner and minor poet. He was Lord of the Manor of Hunningham. Early life Leigh was the son of James Henry Leigh, of Adlestrop, Gloucestershire, the son of Ja ...

). His family home, known as Ballintemple House near Tullow, County Carlow, a three-story Georgian mansion with a five-bay entrance front burned down in 1917. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

before graduating from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

Career

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Butler served with the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

and fought in France and Belgium. Following the surrender of Belgium, he managed to sail to England after withdrawing to France from Belgium with the surviving Guards battalions. He was later posted as an officer with the 6th Battalion Grenadier Guards to Damascus as part of the

Western Desert In Egypt, the Western Desert is an area of the Sahara that lies west of the river Nile, up to the Libyan border, and south from the Mediterranean Sea to the border with Sudan. It is named in contrast to the Eastern Desert which extends east fro ...

. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

for his gallantry during the

Battle of the Mareth Line The Battle of the Mareth Line or the Battle of Mareth was an attack in the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (General Bernard Montgomery) in Tunisia, against the Mareth Line held by the Italo–German 1st Army (General Giovanni Mess ...

in March 1943. Butler was the commander of the company leading the attack on the German 90th Light Division of the

Afrika Korps The German Africa Corps (, ; DAK), commonly known as Afrika Korps, was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its Africa ...

. Butler was taken prisoner along with two fellow officers, who were both killed when they attempted to escape, by the Germans. Butler himself made several attempts to escape but was not free until the surrender of Italy, when Butler and another officer managed to escape from the

prisoner of war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, ...

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

. Reportedly, Butler walked for over 400 miles, crisscrossing the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

before meeting the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. In 1952, Butler was appointed Assistant Quartermaster General in London under Sir Ouvry Lindfield Roberts. In 1953 under the command of The Duke of Norfolk,

Earl Marshal Earl Marshal (alternatively marschal or marischal) is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England (then, following the Act of Union 1800, in the U ...

for the

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. Elizabeth acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon th ...

, he was responsible "for administration and quartering of the 16,000 Commonwealth officers and troops who were in London to take part in the Coronation ceremony" and was invested as an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1954. Following the death of his father in March 1955, Butler succeeded to the title 12th Baronet Butler of Cloughgrenan. In 1957, he became Lieutenant Colonel in command of the Grenadier Guards. In that capacity, he travelled to Thailand as military advisor to the

Thai Army The Royal Thai Army or RTA (; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. History Origin The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's sovereignty. The army was formed in 187 ...

. In 1959, he was appointed to head the defence staff of the High Commissioner in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

under Sir Francis Cumming-Bruce. In 1967, he became the Resident Governor of the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

, overseeing the transfer of the

Crown Jewels Crown jewels are the objects of metalwork and jewellery in the regalia of a current or former monarchy. They are often used for the coronation of a monarch and a few other ceremonial occasions. A monarch may often be shown wearing them in portra ...

to the

Jewel House The Jewel House is a vault housing the British Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, Crown Jewels in the Waterloo Block (formerly a barracks) at the Tower of London. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994 and refurbished in 2012. Regalia ...

. In 1968 he held the office of Keeper of the Jewel House. While in that post, he lived in the house which had been built for

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...

. In 1970, Butler was invested as a Commander, Royal Victorian Order before he retired as Governor in 1971.

Later life

Following his retirement, Butler and his family returned to Ballintemple. He served as an advisor to the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

in London and was the author of three books: ''Tower of London'', ''Crown Jewels and Coronation Ritual'' (1982), ''The Crown Jewels and Coronation Ceremony'' (1989).

Personal life

On 21 October 1937, Butler was married to Rosemary Liége Woodgate Davidson-Houston, daughter of Maj. James Hamilton Davidson-Houston. Their home in London was demolished during a German air raid on the city. They also maintained a home at Ballintemple. They were the parents of two daughters and a son: * Caroline Rosemary Butler (b. 1939), who married Maj.-Gen. Richard Keightley, son of Gen. Sir

Charles Keightley General Sir Charles Frederic Keightley, (24 June 1901 – 17 June 1974) was a senior British Army officer who served during and following the Second World War. After serving with distinction during the Second World War – becoming, in 1944, th ...

, in 1958. * Sir Richard Pierce Butler, 13th Baronet (b. 1940), who married Diana Borg, a daughter of Col. Stephen John Borg, in 1965. * Virginia Pamela Liége Butler (b. 1949), who married Harold Michael Clunie Cunningham, High Sheriff of Clwyd, in 1970. Sir Thomas died on 9 April 1994 while he was fishing on the

River Slaney The River Slaney (; ) is a large river in the southeast of Ireland. It rises on Lugnaquilla Mountain in the western Wicklow Mountains and flows west and then south through counties Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford for 117.5 km (73 mi), ...

. He was succeeded by his only son

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

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, U.S.A.:

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 615.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Sir Thomas, 12th Baronet 1910 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Irish people

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

12 Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of the Bath British Army personnel of World War II People educated at Harrow School Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society