Frank Hedges Butler was a balloon aviator, car enthusiast, violinist, wine merchant, adventurer, and author of five books
If you look up the term “renaissance man” in the dictionary, you won’t find a picture of Frank Hedges Butler. But, you should. He lived a remarkable life full of fantastic adventures with some of the most influential men of the early 20th century.
Hedges & Butler
Frank was born in London in 1855, the fifth son of wine merchant James Butler. His mother was Frances Mary Hedges, the eldest daughter of his father’s business partner, William Hedges.
After attending prep schools in Brighton and Upper Clapton, Frank moved to France and Germany to learn the languages of those countries. When he returned to England in 1882, he joined the family business, Hedges & Butler.
The firm of Hedges & Butler was established in London in the late 1600s as a wine and spirits merchant. In the 1800s, it supplied champagne, port, and fine wines for the coronation banquet of King George IV, who granted Hedges & Butler a Royal Warrant in 1830. Over time, the firm became a noted supplier of wine and spirits to royal houses, both British and overseas. After the Second World War, it became known for blended scotch whiskies. Today, the brand is owned by Ian Macleod Distillers.
He Had a Need for Speed
Frank was one of the first people in Britain to own a motor automobile. He bought his first Benz in 1897 and was the first honorary treasurer of the Automobile Club of Great Britain.
As an avid car enthusiast, Frank became friends with Charles Rolls, who would later go on to fame as a co-founder of the Rolls-Royce car company. In 1900, he and Rolls worked together to organize automobile events, including the Royal Automobile Club 1000-mile Challenge. The 20-day event started in London and followed a route through Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Derby, Kendal, Carlisle, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, and back to London. The challenge was a watershed moment in motoring and countered the then-popular perception that automobiles were impractical, unreliable, and dangerous.
The English engineer and inventor Edward Butler designed the first petrol vehicle in Britain.
5,000 Miles in a Balloon and Flying with Wilbur Wright
On September 24, 1901, Charles Rolls took Frank and his daughter, Vera Hedges Butler, for a ride in a balloon named City of York.
While drinking champagne above Sidcup, Vera proposed the idea of an aviation club inside the Automobile Club. Her idea became the Royal Aero Club, which was the first regulating organization for aviation in England. It issued pilot licenses and played an integral role in developing military aviation in the country. Most military pilots in England were trained at the Royal Aero Club until 1915.
Frank continued ballooning and at one time held the record for the longest solo flight in England. In 1905, he flew from London to Caen to witness a solar eclipse, which unknowingly set a new record for the longest cross-channel balloon trip. By 1907, Frank had completed hundreds of flights and published 5,000 Miles in a Balloon, which recounted many of his ballooning adventures.
When Wilbur Wright arrived in France to demonstrate his flying machine in 1908, Frank was his second English passenger. Inspired by the trip, Frank became the first student to take a flying lesson at Louis Blériot’s flying school in Hendon.
Other Pursuits and Adventures
In addition to his automotive and aeronautical pursuits, Frank was a golfer, sailor, big-game hunter, and talented amateur violinist. His musical resume included the founding of the Imperial Institute Orchestral Society in 1894.
Beyond normal business travel to France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal, Frank’s adventures took him to the Far East, North and South America, Russia, and Lapland, an area in Scandinavia that the indigenous Sami people call Sápmi.
In 1917, he published Through Lapland with Reindeer and Skis, which tells the story of his voyage to Lapland. He followed this with three more travel books: Fifty Years of Travel by Land, Water, and Air (1920), Round the World (1925), and Wine and the Wine Lands of the World (1927).
Family and Death
Frank died in a London nursing home in 1928. He was predeceased by his wife, Ada Tickle, the daughter of a wool merchant. In addition to their daughter, Vera Hedges Butler, Frank and Ada had a daughter named Frances, who died as an infant.
Recommended Reading:
- 5,000 Miles in a Balloon – Frank Hedges Butler, F.R.G.S. – Google Books.
- Butler, F. Hedges. (1919). Through Lapland with skis & reindeer: with some account of ancient Lapland and the Murman Coast. London: T. F. Unwin.
- Butler, F. H. (1920). Fifty Years of Travel by Land, Water, and Air.
- Butler, F.H. (1924). Round the World.
- Butler, F.H. (1926). Wine and the wine lands of the world: With some account of places visited. T. Fisher Unwin ltd.
- Barbara Sjoholm. “Mr. Butler Goes to Lapland.” The Antioch Review, vol. 63, no. 2, 2005, pp. 247–59. JSTOR.
