Query about Butler family
Matt wrote to us trying to find details of his great great great grandfather, William Butler, who was born in Kilcullen in 1803. With his wife Mary Sullivan he arrived in Auckland in 1847 as part of the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps, made up mainly of retired British Army soldiers and charged with the defence of the early New Zealand settlers against attacks from the indigenous Maoris.
Apparently William had previously spent 12 years or so with the British Army in India.
The image above is an incident in 1851 Mechanics Bay (Auckland CBD area) where a Maori chief had been arrested and the tribes from Taupo, Miranda and Waiheke Island came up and the Fencibles as well as the 58th Regiment were called up in case of violence. As it happens, it's five minutes away from where Matt Welch lives today.
William's parents in Kilcullen were Pat Butler and his wife Mary. There's no record of Mary's maiden name, nor of their marriage in Kilcullen, so it is likely she was from out of the parish and they were married elsewhere.
If anyone has any further information about the Butler family—there's no record of any other children born in Kilcullen—Matt Welch would love to hear about it.
