Samuel Butler
30 January 1774 -
4 December 1839

Family

Samuel Butler was the son of William Butler. In 1798 Samuel married Harriet, daughter of Rev. Apthorp, vicar of Croydon and rector of St. Mary-le-Bow. They had two daughters, Mary and Harriet, and one son, Thomas, the later rector of Langar.

Education

Butler was admitted to Rugby in 1783, and entered St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1792. In the following year, he was elected Craven scholar in competition with S. T. Coleridge (the poet-philosopher) and Christopher Bethell (the later Bishop of Bangor). He proceeded to his B.A. in 1796, and in the following year won the chancellor's medals and the member's prizes and was elected to a fellowship at his college. In 1798 he was made Headmaster of Shrewsbury, a position that he held for thirty-eight years. In 1811 he was made D.D.

Church Appointments and Service

In 1802 Butler became vicar of Kenilworth. Five years later he was instituted as prebendary at Lichfield. In 1821 he was appointed Archdeacon of Derby. In June 1836 he was made Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry.

Noteworthy Publications

Butler, through Cambridge University Press, published a four-volume edition of Aeschylus (1809-1826). In 1813 he published a popular Sketch of Modern and Ancient Geography. In addition to many other educational works, Butler also published a number of sermons, including the funeral sermon of Dr. Parr.

Footnote

"Although many ecclesiastical benefices were conferred on him . . . , the school occupied most of his attention, and [Shrewsbury] acquired a very high reputation during his head-mastership." -- DNB 3: 528-29