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Richard C. Butler

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Richard Clive Butler
President of National Farmers' Union of England and Wales
In office
1979–1986
Preceded byHenry Plumb
Succeeded bySimon Gourlay
Personal details
Born(1929-01-12)12 January 1929
Died28 January 2012(2012-01-28) (aged 83)
Occupation
  • Farmer
  • merchant banker

Sir Richard Clive Butler (12 January 1929 – 28 January 2012) was a British farmer and merchant banker, President of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales.

Early life

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One of the sons of the Conservative politician Rab Butler, by his marriage to Sydney Elizabeth Courtauld, daughter and co-heiress of Samuel Courtauld, the young Butler was educated at Eton College and Pembroke College, Cambridge, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Horse Guards.[1]

The Courtaulds owned estates in north Essex, and on completing his National service, Butler concerned himself with estate management.[2]

Career

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Butler became a farmer in 1953[3] and inherited a 1500-acre arable estate in Essex on the death of his mother in 1954.[2] He was an active member of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales, joining its council in 1962.[3] In 1970, he became vice-president, and in 1971 deputy president to Henry Plumb, continuing almost until the end of the 1970s.[2] He was then president from 1979 to 1986.[3]

He was knighted by H. M. the Queen at Buckingham Palace on 10 November 1981.[4]

After retiring from the NFU for a year, Butler was president of COPA, the union of European farmers, and also took on business directorships.[2] In the City of London, he became a director of County Natwest Investment Management and served as chairman from 1989 to 1996.[3]

Butler listed his recreations in Who's Who as “hunting, shooting, DIY”[3] and was chairman of the East Essex Hunt for forty years.[2]

Personal life

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On 5 July 1952, Butler married Susan Anne Maud Walker, a daughter of Patrick Bruce Walker and Sybil Middleton Turner. They had a daughter, Antonia Mary (1954), and twin sons, Richard Michael and Christopher Patrick (1956).[1]

Honours

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Burke's Peerage, vol. 3 (2003), p. 4044
  2. ^ a b c d e "Sir Richard Butler", in The Daily Telegraph, 6 February 2012; "Butler, Sir Richard", clementjones.com, accessed 22 December 2022
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Butler, Hon. Sir Richard (Clive)", in Who Was Who 2011–2015 (2016, ISBN 9781472924322}
  4. ^ The London Gazette, Issue 48819, 11 December 1981, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/48819/page/15769 p. 15769]