Hervius or Hervey (1128-1170) the Norman ancestor of the Butlers, accompanied the Conquerors to England and obtained large possessions of lands in Norfolk, Suffolk and Lancaster. Succeeded by Hervey Walter (1143-1189) his son, who continued the name until deposed by Edward Earl of Carrick, when, according to custom, the Christian name was only used with the title. Hervey married Matilda daughter of Theobald de Valoines, Lord of Parham, Suffolk, and had Theobald FitzWalter (1156- 1206) married Maud, eldest daughter of Theobald de Valoones, a great Baron of Yorkshire and had five sons. Theobald FitzWalter became the First Butler of Ireland in 1177. Hubert,(1193-1205) the second son, born West Durham, Norfolk, where he built a monastery and encompassed the Tower of London with a strong wall and a deep moat. In the reign of Henry II, one of the Barons of Exchequer and Dean of York on the 1st November King Richard advanced him to the See of York. Hubert commanded the English forces at the Siege of Acre, the Holy Land, where he was taken prisoner. While there translated to Canterbury and upon his return was made Chancellor, Chief Justice and Treasurer of England. Hubert, while bishop of Salisbury accompanied Richard I on the third crusade. Theobald Butler II (1199-1230) was five years of age when his father died and was of full age during the fifth year of the reign of Henry III. Theobald Butler III adhered to the King, Henry III, in his wars with the Barons. He married Elizabeth Margery, eldest daughter of Richard de Burge, ancestor of the Clanricardes. He was succeeded by his son Theobald IV (1229-1285) of Ireland who assisted Edward I in his wars with Scotland. He married Joan, forth and youngest daughter of Baron John Fitz-Geoffry of Tiby, Lord of Essex, Lord of Scotland and Ireland. He died at the age of 43 and left eight sons and two daughters. Theobald V, (1268-1299) honorary Butler of Ireland was presenting the first Parliament in 1296, attended the King, Edward I, on his invasion of Scotland, when Edinburgh lost 2500 Scotts and all of her fortresses. He died unmarried in 1299 and was succeeded in the Butlership of Ireland and in his estate by his brother Edmond 6th Butler (1290-1321, Earl of Carrick, Governor of Ireland and 6th Chief Butler. Edmond, in 1302, sat in parliament as a Baron by the name of Edmond Botilher. He was knighted in London by Edward II in 1309. In the same year with John after the Earl of Kildare dispersed the rebellion in Connaught and Offaley. In 1312, on January 9th, he repressed the invasion of the Byrnes and O’Toole numerous and potent clans. For his service against Edward Bruce of Scotland, Edmond was created Earl of Carrick McGreffyne in September 1315 by Edward II in the County of Tipperary. In 1315, Edward II granted him the castle and manor of Karryk MacGriffyn and Roscrea. He died six years later in 1321 returning to London from a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James of Compostela, Spain. He is buried in Gorvan, County Kilkenny. Edmunds son, James Butler (1306-1337) in 1328 was created 1st Earl of Ormond and married in 1327 Eleanor of Bohun, granddaughter of Edward II, King of England. By the 15th Century the Butlers owned huge tracks of land mainly centred in the present day counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary. He died in his manor at Moyalvi; Co Tipperary.The Ormond Castle was built in Kilkenny between the 14th and 15th centuries. He was succeeded by his seven year old son James, (1331-1382) the Noble Earl, 2nd Earl of Ormond. He married Elizabeth Darcy, the daughter of Lord Darcy, his guardian. James 2nd Butler was Lord Justice of Ireland in 1364 & 1376. He died in 1382 at Knocktopher aged 51. James Butler (1350-1405) Earl of Gowran and 3rd Earl of Ormond built his castle in Gowran. It was he who purchased the Kilkenny castle from Hugh Despenser between 1391 and 1393. Being fluent in Irish, the 3rd Earl was able to improve his relations with the O’Neills, O’Brians, O’Conners and MacMurroughs, and to forge bonds of amity with the O’Kennedy sept that brought a measure of peace to North Tipperary for four centuries. He had several illegitimate children, but he also had two sons by the daughter of Lord Wells. He died at Gowran in 1405 and was succeeded by James (1392-1452) the 4th Butler (the White Earl) was a seasoned warrior, having served with Henry V at Agincourt. A benefactor of St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, it was said of him, “no man within this land so mighty and so able to keep this land as he is.” Was this James that persuaded Henry V to create a Chief Herald for Ireland? A robust and corpulent man, he died at 62 of the plague at Ardee and is buried in St Mary’s Abbey, Dublin. By his first wife Joan Beauchamp, daughter of Lord Abergavenny, he had three sons. James 5th Earl, John 6th Earl and Thomas 7th Earl. The eldest of them, James 5th (1420-1461) was created by Edward VI on July 8th 1449, Earl of Wiltshire, in the Peerage of England. In 1451 he was made Lord Deputy of Ireland. In 1454, he was constituted Lord High Treasurer of England and made Knight of the Garter in 1459. James 5th married Lady Eleanor Beauford. After the battle of Towton, his Lordship was beheaded at Newcastle May 1st 1461, when the Earldom of Wiltshire expired. James 5th was succeeded by his brother John 6th Earl of Ormond (1425-1478) known as the first Gentleman of the age. It is reportedly said by Henry IV, that if good breeding and liberal qualities were lost in the world, they might be all found in the Earl of Ormond. John was a complete master of the languages of Europe and Ambassador to its principal courts.
Among the numerous Catholic Butlers who were loyal Jacobites perhaps the most noteworthy were the Abbe’ James Butler of Nantes, who was chaplain to Prince Charles Edward (the young Pretender) in the 1745 expedition; and Pierce Butler (1652-1740), third Viscount Galmoy, who fought with Sarsfield in all his Irish and French campaigns.
The Butler family came about in 1177 when Theobald Fitzwalter, a descendent of the Duke of Normandy, accompanied Henry II to Ireland where he served in the reduction of Kingdom and being rewarded with very large possessions made Ireland his home. At this time, Henry II, having conferred upon him the BUTLERSHIP of IRELAND, Theobald Fitzwalter was created Chief Butler of Ireland. This meant that he and his successors were to attend the Kings of England at their coronation and present them with their first cup of wine. The presage of wine was another matter: it involved the right to about one tenth of the cargo of any wine ship that broke bulk in Ireland. This right was granted to the Butlers and their descendants until it was restored to the Crown by Act of Parliament in 1810. About the year 1220 the family took the surname of Butler. The seventh in descent from him was created Earl of Ormond in 1328. In 1391 the head-quarters of the Ormond’s was removed from Gowran to Kilkenny Castle, county Kilkenny. The Butlers, being Normans, held a strong alliance to the King of England and governed the country up until the death of the Great Duke of Ormond in 1688. There is much to be said about the Butlers of this era; however, we will skip over to England. In the early 1500’s one of the sons of Ormond was granted lands in Essex, England. This Butler had a son George (1520-1575) born in Bocking, Essex about 1520 who married Mary Throckmorton (1525-1585). They moved to Tofte, Sharnbrooke, Bedfordshire and had a son John (1549-1610. John married and moved to Whitechapel, Bocking and had a son Stephen, (1568-1620. Stephen married Sarah Elliot in Braintree, Essex and had two sons, Richard, born about 1612 & William, born about 1610.
In 1632, William (1603-1648) and Brother Richard (1612-1684) and their two sisters, set sail aboard the Hector from Essex to America along with the Rev Thomas Hooker. They arrived in New Town now Cambridge and settled there until becoming a freeman at Cambridge on May 14th, 1634. Shortly after, Richard moved to Hartford where he received 16 acres of land on the south side of little river and became a Deacon in the First Church with the Reverend Thomas Hooker. Richard married Elizabeth Bigelow (1606-1691) of Hartford, his second wife, in 1633. Richard and Elizabeth had nine children, the third one being, Samuel (1639-1692) born Oct 12, 1639 in Wethersfield, Conn. Samuel, in 1668 was chosen school master. Samuel married Elizabeth Mary Olmstead (1646-1681) of Hartford in 1664, they had eight children. Their third son was Jonathon, born in 1678 at Wethersfield. In January 1729, at age 51, Jonathon married Elizabeth Cadwell Easton, (1687-1780) after the death of his first wife (1728) Mary Easton (1681-1728). Jonathon had nine children by his first wife Mary and one son, George Cadwell Butler (1728-1788, by Elizabeth. George, born November 17, 1728 in Hartford later married in 1753, Mary Nichols (1728-1795) of Hartford. George C Butler was the Captain of the whaling vessel Welthea, named after his daughter. The Captain and Mary had seven children, the third of which was George Butler Jr. (17601822) - born 21 May 1760 in Hartford. Capt George C and his son George Jr. converted the vessel Welthea from a whaling ship to a merchant cargo vessel and began running food, liquor and live stock from Wethersfield via Bermuda and as far south as Antigua. Around 1780 the Welthea put into the harbour in Bermuda and George went into business with Chaddock Claxton (1738-1785) of Sandy Parish. George C Butler died at sea in 1788 and George Butler Jr. became owner and Captain. Four years earlier George Jr. married the daughter of his business partner, Aster Clark Claxton (1766-1800. George, now 27, and Aster had a son Robert Claxton Butler(1788-1843), born at Sandy Parish on April 5, 1788, shortly after his grandfather died at sea. Two years later, in 1790, George, Aster & Robert arrived at Potters Cay dock in Nassau harbour and decided to make Nassau their new home. George continued to transport food & liquor between Wethersfield, Bermuda and the Bahamas for several years. George built a home on Bay Street in Nassau and eventually set up a small shop selling liquor and ships stores. While in this business George met a Scotsman from Fairfield Co. South Carolina, Henderson Ferguson (1770-1824), now living on his estate, Forest Estates, George Town Exuma. While George and Henderson became best friends, so did George son Robert and Henderson’s daughter Frances. Robert and Francis (1799-1828) were married on December 7, 1816 at Christ Church in Nassau. Robert, the first Butler born in the Bahamas, was a successful merchant and carried on the Butler shipping and liquor business until his death in October of 1843 in Nassau.
Six years after Robert & Frances were married George died while visiting his best friend Henderson in Exuma. Two years later in March of 1824, Frances father died in Exuma. George Butler & Henderson Ferguson, friends forever, are buried side by side, covered with beautiful marble slate imported from Hartford on the vessel Welthea. The grave site is at the Hermitage on the Ferguson private estate just outside of George Town.
Robert and Frances lived in Nassau and had six children. On the 10th of June 1822, at age 34, Robert & Frances, in Nassau, gave birth to their third son Henderson Ferguson Butler (1822-1869. About 1840 Henderson met and married Minnie Malvese (1840- ) in Nassau. Minnie & Henderson had seven children, the seventh being Henderson F. Butler, Jr. born July 6th 1861 and died at Nassau June 6th, 1921.
On the 15th of October 1889 Henderson married Agnes Beatrice Perpal (1864-1938), the Grand daughter of Juan Perpal (1762-1824) of Menorca, Spain who had immigrated to the Bahamas about 1800. Henderson & Agnes had nine children, all of whom I remember. The fourth one being my Grandfather, Henderson Robert (1896-1969) (Pops). Pops was born on the 26th of August 1896 at their home in Nassau. Pops served as a gunner (manning the canons) in the Canadian Army during the First World War. He told me many stories over the years, one being that when he was fighting in Europe he was leading the horses that pulled the cannons and the bombs were falling everywhere. His sergeant yelled at him to get in the damn hole, the second he jumped in the hole a bomb blew up three of his horses that he was still holding on to. Pops worked for his dad, my great grand father, in their liquor/grocery store until the US prohibition of 1919, the Volstead Act. The details are not entirely clear, but, as a five year old I was playing in the garage at the Buen Retiro home in Nassau and went into a small storage room in the back of the garage and found a huge slot machine. When I asked Pops what it was and where it came from he told we it was a gift or actually a payment from Al Capone from Chicago. When I got to be a little older, I remembered the slot machine and started asking questions.
Well, what do you know; my pops was a big time bootlegger. This brings in my grandmother, Ma, as we all called her was Matie Marie Lightbourn (1902-1992) was born April 13th 1902 in Nassau. Matie, or Ma, was the daughter of James Thomas Lightbourn (1864-1927) and one of six children, five of which I knew as I grew up in Nassau. More importantly, Ma or Matie was the Granddaughter of Captain Henry Clement Lightbourn (1832-1894) who owned a square rigged vessel the Vigilante. Born in Kent, England, he sailed in from Bermuda around 1850 after marrying Emily Treco (1840-1906) in Paris, France. Matie had an older sister Emilie (1899-1991) who married Benjamin Malone (1895-1994). BP, as he was called, was always in love with Ma. BP would always send Ma flowers and perfume. All that said, as they were both beautiful women, Henderson, not BP, married my grandmother Matie on the 15th of October 1923 in Brooklyn, N.Y…
Ok I asked, so what were you two doing in New York. Apparently they owned a home with a basement in Brooklyn and spent a couple of years distributing their bootlegged liquor to a friend named Joseph Kennedy. Joe, as Pops called him, only visited Nassau once and stayed with Ma & Pops at the house on the corner of Shirley Street and Village Road. But that was long before his son Jack became President of the United States.
Pops had three ships for running liquor to Miami and New York, the Joan Marie, after aunt Joan, the Matie Marie after my Grandmother, and the (I don’t remember). Anyway one great story that Ma told me as that one day they were sailing to Miami with a boat load of Liquor and the kids, David & Marette, on board when they were stopped and boarded by pirates. They would offload the liquor in Miami into the back of an open car and let David and Marette sit on the contraband as not to draw suspicion. While in Brooklyn, Ma & Pops had a house with a basement in which they stored their smuggled liquor. On night, after returning from a cocktail party, they were confronted by robbers with machine guns in their own home. As Ma tells it, “There I was with a Tommy gun in my face and my white gloves in the air” they took all of the liquor from the basement but no one was hurt.
Pops loved to go pigeon shooting, usually with my 2nd cousins Jimmy & Sidney French. Pops had a 12 gauge Remington and could drop five birds in a single shot and most of the time Mike; his black retriever would find all five birds. I remember Pops coming back from a shooting trip with Captain David Maurie on the yacht Cigatoo and we cooked up a huge pot of stewed pigeon. Tasted great, but you had to spit out the buck shot as you ate.
Ma & Pops were both avid bridge and canasta card players. Ma was also president of the IODE and loved to entertain and dance. When Sir Harry Oaks was murdered in Nassau, Ma was executive secretary to Harold Christie. Quite a bit of controversy and intrigue there. Travel was also Ma’s passion although Pops would rather stay home and watch his Brooklyn Dodgers play baseball. Any time I would ask Pops where anything was he would always answer, in Nelly’s room behind the wall paper. Never did figure out who Nelly was or where her room was. One evening, when I was fourteen, I stole Ma’s new Austin Cambridge Auto while they were at the Prime Minister Sir Roland Symonette’s home. Unfortunately, I got lost and was unable to return the car on time. The following morning I was summoned to The Prime Ministers residence to explain myself. Uncle Roland proceeded to inform me that the next time I borrowed my Grandparents Auto I would be arrested and sent to prison for auto theft. That was the last time I borrowed that car. When I got home Ma was still very angry. She said to me,” I wish your father was here to slap your teeth down your throat” and Pops responded, “Why, and pay good money to put them back, just give him a key.” I really did love my Pops. Every morning we would go into the garden, several acres, and water, plant and harvest the fruits and vegetables we would need for that day. Shaddock, a pink grapefruit was my favorite and okra was my least favorite. Pops was a diabetic and not allowed to eat sugar or drink alcohol. Every time Ma would catch Pops eating something he shouldn’t, she would nag at him. His response was always the same, na na na na na, shut up woman. Ferme la bouche was the only French I think Pops knew.
Matie & Henderson had four children, David, Marette, Joan and Bernard (my Dad). Uncle David, born 19th August 1924 was also in the Canadian Army in World War Two and was close friends with The Duke of Windsor, Edward; King of England, who abdicated the throne to marry an American, Mrs. Wallis Simpson. David was the YMCA swim champion in Ontario Canada. David (1924-1985) was an avid stamp collector. I still have a 1962 first day cover that Uncle David mailed to me in West End. David died on the 8th of December 1985 in London, Ontario.
Marette (1926-2000) was born 16th of November 1926 in Nassau and married on 13th September 1949 Peter Holden (1922-1961) of Blackburn, England. They lived in Nassau but spent time in Yorkshire, England. They had three children. Cathie (1951), Jonathon (1957) & Nicola (1960). Uncle Peter was a writer of children’s books, who unfortunately died in an auto accident on East Bay street Nassau in 1961. Marette was secretary to HRH Edward, the Duke of Windsor, at the Governors House in Nassau. The x-King was assigned the colonial post as Governor of the Bahamas during World War II. Sir Jack Haywood of Freeport, a personal family friend, told me that it was his opinion and the opinion of many that Marette was the prettiest girl in Nassau.
Joan was born 15th September 1928 in Nassau and married Bertram Johnson (1925) (Uncle Buck) of Harbour Island. Joan & Buck had four children. Donna (1952), Paul (1954), Gail (1958) & Stephen (1961). We grew up very close to this family. Mom always said anytime Joan got pregnant she was soon to follow. Donna is six weeks older than I am as it is with all four of us. We spent our summers together on the pink sand beaches of Harbour Island where Ma & Pops always owned a house on the beach. When my parents moved back to Nassau from Toronto in July of 1952, Joan and my mother became best of friends.
Bernard Ray (1932-1989) was the last of the four, born September 16th 1932 in Nassau at the home on the corner of Village Road & Shirley Street. Dad grew up in Nassau attending Queens College. He played Rugby at the eastern parade, but his passion was swimming. His hobby was building and flying gas powered model airplanes. This interest in aircraft took him to Toronto in 1950 where he attended the University of Toronto’s school of aeronautics. While attending a YMCA dance in down town Toronto, Dad met a beautiful seventeen year old red headed Irish Catholic girl Lucille Rutledge. Lucille (June 20, 1933) was the forth and youngest child of Leo Rutledge (1897-1989) and Lucille Newman (1899-1973). Lucille’s older siblings, Marie (1922), Bill (1923-2005) & Joan (1924-2000) all grew up and lived in Toronto. On the 13th day of May 1952, Bernard & Lucille gave birth at 1:10pm to a 6 pound 4oz baby boy at St. Joseph’s Hospital in North York, Ontario, Canada.
Jeffrey Bernard Butler, that would be Me, born with blue eyes and a head full of brown hair. Five weeks later, on June 22, 1952, I was Baptized at St. Anne’s Church by Father J.T. Egan with Terry and Marie Delaney becoming my God Parents. Present were my Grandparents, Nana & Grandpa Rutledge, my Great Grandfather, Frank Newman (1872-1954), Mom & Dad and Mary Margaret Cronyn, a family friend who died in a tragic fire while residing in Freeport, G.B..
One week later the family, Mom, Dad & I were on our way to Nassau. Dad purchased a 28 foot Correct Craft Cabin cruiser with a single Chrysler Crown 6cyl engine and named it the Jay Bee (after me). He also purchased a small dingy and named it the Jay Bee Jr. Dad was one of, if not the best, skin diver, spear fisherman in the world. The boat was used for sport fishing, spear fishing and sightseeing charters. Dad chartered the Jay Bee and provided his underwater expertise to 20th Century Fox for the filming of Jules Verne’s 20 thousand leagues beneath the sea, staring Kirk Douglas. While Dad was transporting Kirk Douglas and staff to the underwater filming site and setting up the underwater props and cameras. Kirk’s wife and son Michael were staying at the Lyford Cay Club out west in Nassau and had invited me out to play on the beach. Michael Douglas is a couple of years older than I am and at three I would not remember him anyway. Ma & Pops were life long members of the Royal Nassau Yacht Club, so that is were we usually hung out. Mom went to work for the Carousel children’s clothing shop right next to Pop’s soon to be liquor store in the Boyle building just opposite Rawson Square. Pops family had been in the liquor business, in one form or another, since before arriving in the Bahamas in 1790. At one time, Pops imported Rum molasses from Barbados and in a bath tub at home mixed the molasses with water and bottled the cheap rum in clear soda bottled which he sold for a shilling, then 14c. In July of 1952, when we returned to Nassau from Toronto, Pops was working for Kerland Ltd. liquor store on Bay Street. This is the time when Pops and Everett Sands, a tour agent with R.H. Curry Co. began the plans to open Butler & Sands Company Limited. Pops had the knowledge of liquor needed to start the business and Everett had the credit and the connections with the cruise ships and the ability to market the product.
On June 11th of 1954 Colleen Lucille was born at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau. Jeff by now was attending Mrs. Monroe’s pre school and living in a rented house in Palm Dale.
In September of 1958 the family moved from Nassau to West End , Grand Bahama for Dad to open the first Grand Bahama branch of Butler & Sands Co. We moved into an apartment above the liquor store which was located in the Buccaneer Club building situated in the middle of the West End Village. Their wasn’t much their at the time, except the Jack Tar Hotel and the far west end. The Jack Tar was a huge property owned by Charlie Sammons of Texas. Mr. Sammons purchased the property in 1949 from the Butlins Holiday Camp organization from England. Mom & Dad set up and operated the liquor store while Colleen and I went to school at the Grand Bahama Academy at the hotel. Upon arriving in West End we met another Nassau family, The Waugh, and immediately became close friends. Gregg Waugh, my age, and I went to school at the Grand Bahama Academy at the Jack Tar Hotel, a school set up for the children of the hotel employees. Three years latter I was on the steps of the apartment when my mother asked me if I would like to go to school in Canada. Sure I said. The end of summer 1960 I was put on a Viscount four engine aircraft ant off I went to live with my Aunt Marie and Uncle Terry Delaney in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. Toronto for those of you doesn’t know where Scarborough is. This was my first time back to Toronto since I left in 1952. Marie and Terry had six children and one on the way. Christine, Lucille, Paul, Jimmy, Brad, Patty-Anne and Colleen. The house at 151 Laurel Ave was somewhat crowded yet very comfortable. This year with the Delaney family was to be a very important experience for the nine year old from the Bahamas. Large school, St. Maria Gorette, Cub Scotts, snow, ice hockey, baseball and many field trips with Grandpa Rutledge.