BUTLER, William John b. 1880

BUTLER 

William John Butler, b. 1880

William John 

Date of birth: 24-Sep-1880
Place of birth: 'Little Scotland', Chapel Street, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK
Date of death: 26-Nov-1936
Place of death: 84 Queen Street, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK
Cause of death: (i) (a) apoplexy (b) arterio sclerosis and (ii) asthma and bronchitis

Father last name: BUTLER

Father first names: Edward
Father DOB: circa 1857
Father died: 10-Feb-1921, at 116 Frizington Road, Frizington, Cumberland, UK

Mother last name: FERGUSON

Mother first names: Annie
Mother DOB: circa 1859
Mother died: 4-Nov-1896, 32 Bolton Street, Workington, Cumberland, UK

Spouse last name: McARDLE

Spouse first names: Rose Ann
Spouse DOB: 26-Mar-1883, Whithorn, Scotland
Spouse died: 6-Sep-1960,Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK

Married date: 28-Nov-1904
Married location: Catholic Church, Whitehaven

Children with above spouse:

1. BUTLER, Jessie Ann, b. 8-Jun-1907, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK
2. BUTLER, Sarah, b. 23-Oct-1911, Lowell, Bisbee, Cochise, Arizona, USA
3. BUTLER, Joseph b. 25-May-1913, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK 
4. BUTLER, Hugh b. 17-Aug-1915, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK 
5. BUTLER, Arthur b. 1916, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK
6. BUTLER, Edward Ferguson, b. 6-Jul-1919, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK
7. BUTLER, Hugh McArdle, b. 21-Nov-1921

About William John Butler

William John Butler was my paternal grandfather. He died about 15 years before I was born. I know little of him except what my father, Hugh McArdle Butler, told me, and what I've been able to find in formal records.

The above photo is the only one I've ever seen of him, and I think it was taken in the doorway of 84 Queen Street, Whitehaven, where my father was raised, but I can't be 100% certain. The house was demolished before 1979, so only someone else's corroborating photos will help know with any remote certainty.

William was a coal miner, more specifically a hewer, and also a 'terrier'. The terrier used to plant the charge and then 'run like hell' before it was set off to break up more coal in the mine.

William worked in the Queen Mine, Bisbee, Arizona for some years between 1907 and 1912, possibly longer. He sailed there with his wife, Rose Ann, and their baby daughter, Jessie Ann. While in Lowell, a part of Bisbee, they had their second daughter, Sarah. Their next child, Joseph, was born after Rose Ann's return to Whitehaven, but I have yet to find details of their passage home.

Dad told me that William used to go by the name of John, not William or Bill, that he was often unemployed, and that he had emphysema. His death at 56 and life as a coal miner, coupled with his death certificate all tie in with this.