Education & Career :

Tobacco Manufacturer (1899)

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

France & Flanders covers all the dates and corresponding locations which are outside the official battle nomenclature dates on the Western Front. Therefore the actions in which these men died could be considered 'normal' trench duty - the daily attrition losses which were an everyday fact of duty on the Western Front.

Detail :

De Ruvigny's BUTLER, FRANCIS MOURILYAN, Capt., 93rd Army Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (Special Reserve), 2nd s. of the late Charles Bulter, by his wife, Franes E.J.; b. Norbiton, co. Surrey, 27 Oct 1876.; educ. Charterhouse; obtained a commission 3 June 1915; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, and was killed in action at Mont-du-Hibou, near Peol-cappelle, 8 Oct, 1917. Buried in Canada Farm, near Everdinghe. His Commanding Offcier wrote: " I have lost a splendidly gallant and capable officer, a good friend and a man of sound judgement who was mad keen on his work. He never spared himself, and was particularly loved by his mean, as he must have been by his horses, for they were his first care. He was in command of his battery at the time," and a brother officer: "He as always doing almost more than his bit in this hard struggle; the final chapter was indeed characteristic of him, for he was on the drag ropes hauling a gun into action under heavy shell fire." He m. in New York, 15 Oct. 1902 Josephine Brown, dau. of the late Capt. Joseph J. Lawrence, and had three children: Vera Lawrence, b. 26 July, 1903; Patience Mourilyan, b. 20 April, 1908, and Francis Charles Joseph, b. 24 March, 1915.

See also: Badsey Society biography.

The following is an excerpt explaining Francis's association to Carswell Manor:

"The buildings were extensively restored and remodelled between 1893 and 1898 by William Edward Graham Niven (1878–1915), a lawyer and architect, and the father of the actor David Niven, to be his country seat. The Niven family's crest and motto are still set in stone above the front porch. The Niven family sold the property shortly after David's birth. The house was bought by Captain Francis Mourilyan Butler and his wife Josephine (née Lawrence), an American heiress. In October 1917 Captain Butler was killed near Ypres during the Great War. His only son (Francis Charles Joseph Butler), born in 1915, was brought up at Carswell Manor and became a noted aviator. In June 1940, whilst serving as a Pilot Officer in the RAFVR, the younger Francis went missing in action. This situation prompted the legal case "Butler's Settlement Trust, Lloyds Bank Ltd. v. Ford" (as to whether being reported missing was sufficient evidence of death) and ultimately led to the sale of the property. There are memorials to both father and son in nearby Buckland church."

Masonic :

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley