Welcome To The Butler Society Southern Cross Region website!
Updated April 2025
NATIONAL BUTLER GATHERING
Friday 17th October to Monday 20th October in Sydney.
Four days of events which present a variety of fascinating stories about Butler men and women.
This is an opportunity to meet other people who have an interest in Butler family history, and are
keen to share and exchange information. By sharing your family history who knows, you may
discover a previously unknown cousin!
Program details & how to register are on the EVENTS page.
Latest Butler News
Captain Butler and the “Old Curiousity Shop” in Geelong in the 1800s.
See the BUTLER NEWS section for this story.
The Southern Cross Region was established in March 1972 as a Branch of The Butler Society to give recognition to the many Butlers who have contributed to the history and development of Australia and New Zealand. We celebrated our 50th Anniversary in March 2022.
And now we have extended our network in the Southern Hemisphere to include Butlers in Argentina! (See the new Butlers In Argentina section)
Our members enjoy sharing information about their family histories through the Southern Cross network, and by doing so, possibly discovering a previously unknown branch of their family tree. Over the years, a variety of reasons have encouraged people with the Butler surname to emigrate from many different countries to this part of the world, and members are also interested to learn more about the lives of their earlier generations back in their country of origin. Researching these earlier generations can sometimes uncover a relative who emigrated to a part of the world other than Australia or New Zealand, and who started another branch of the family. We therefore welcome being contacted by people from other countries and assisting them with expanding the Butler network.
The Butler Society has it’s headquarters in Kilkenny Ireland, but please note that the membership fee charged by the Butler Society in Ireland does not contribute to the operating costs of the Southern Cross Region and it is therefore necessary for us to charge a separate annual fee, currently $50 Australian.
The services and benefits which this fee provides are listed in the Membership Section.
Making Connections
As well as hosting various events and meetings and sharing research results, one of the key aims of the Southern Cross Region is to bring together the many branches of Butler families in order to support existing ties and to make new connections. We do this via:
1) The Southern Cross Newsletter
A story about an ancestor, submitted for publication in our newsletter has on several occasions triggered a response from another member and led too previously unknown cousins becoming acquainted.
2) The Southern Cross Website
Members can list their first Butler ancestor to arrive in Australia or New Zealand on our website. These listings are read by many people any of whom could be a previously unknown family member.
3) Our Triennial National Gatherings
These Gatherings are held in a different location each time and we showcase Butlers who contributed to the early history of that location. When exchanging genealogical information at these Gatherings, participants have quite often uncovered a new family link.
4) The Butler DNA Project
This is another way that Butlers have sometimes made worldwide connections. For full details refer to the DNA Project section of this website.
5) Documents and Family Histories in our Archive
Our Archive contains an interesting collection of documents and family histories relating to Butlers. These documents are currently in the process of being digitised and uploaded to our Members Section.
Origins of the Butler Surname
The Butler Society is a worldwide organization and was formed in 1967 in Kilkenny Ireland. From 1391 until 1967 Kilkenny Castle was owned by a Butler family who became Earls and then Dukes of Ormonde. The family traces their ancestry back to a Theobald Walter who was granted the title Chief Butler of Ireland in the 1180’s by King Henry II of England in order to act as the King’s representative in Ireland.
When surnames first came in to use in the 1200’s Theobald’s descendants adopted the title as their surname. The first written record of this happening occurs about 1220. This may be the origin of Butler as a surname for some people. However, other medieval noble families had a butler in charge of their large households and it is possible that these men subsequently took their ‘job description’ as their surname and started alternative Butler lineages.
For instance, there are records referring to:
1) Richard, the butler to the Earl of Chester in 1086;
2) Arnold who was alive in 1090 and was butler to William de Londres (that is William of London);
3) William le botiller (the butler) of Eaton, Leicestershire, alive in 1154;
4) William the butler of Hockerton, Nottinghamshire, alive in 1175;
5) Richard le butiller, living at Aiserigge, Devon in 1237.
Alternative Spellings
Variations of the spelling of the surname include Boutler (France), Buttlar (Germany), Buteler (Argentina) and Buitlear (Ireland).
Society Contacts:
8 Victoria Ridge, Upper Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156, Australia.
President: Abigail Butler, Tel 03 9758 6469.
Secretary: Kerry Butler Phillips
Treasurer: Alan Squires
Webmaster: Bruce Butler
