Butler, Western Australia is a suburb 41 kilometers north of Perth. It is named after John Butler
(d. 1841), an innkeeper and the first known explorer of the Wanneroo and Lake Joondalup areas.
John Butler Immigration to Western Australia
John sailed from Liverpool, England to Australia on a brig ship called the Skerne with his wife, three children, and brother Archibald. The ship’s cargo was almost entirely owned by John and included livestock, farming equipment, furniture, books, and lots of alcohol.
The Butler family arrived in the area around Perth on January 17, 1830. John immediately applied to the Colonial Secretary for the 16,000 acres (6,500 hectares) of land that he believed he was entitled to based on the value of the cargo he brought to Australia.
The colony’s Surveyor-General initially granted John 250 acres in the area now known as Peppermint Grove and later granted him another 972 acres across the river from Perth known as Eagle’s Nest Farm. He was denied additional land, which began a bitter feud between John and the local authorities.
Innkeeping and Exploration
Despite his land troubles, John was determined to make the best life he could for his family in Australia. He soon opened the first licensed wayside inn in the colony, bolstered by the alcohol he brought with him from England. He called it the Bush Inn, but it eventually became known as the Halfway House because it was roughly halfway between Perth and Fremantle.
The Bush Inn flourished, but John and his family often felt threatened by Aboriginal Australians. On one occasion, they set a brush fire that almost burned down the inn, and they frequently interfered with livestock. John requested support from the local authorities, but they refused.
In 1834, John and a small group of men traveled north of Perth along the shore of Lake Joondalup looking for lost cattle. He recorded soil types and other geographical features that led ranchers to use the land for the first time.
After numerous land and other disputes with local authorities, John leased his inn to Thomas Bailey, a local farmer. He left the Perth area for New South Wales in October of 1835 and began operating a sheep station in the Illawarra district. His family followed him to New South Wales a year later.
John died in Sydney in 1841, having lost much of the wealth he had brought with him to Australia.
John Butler’s Legacy in Western Australia
John’s wife, Anne, returned to the Perth area in 1847 and eventually gained formal ownership of John’s property as specified in his will. She died in New South Wales in 1871.
Anne was predeceased by her two sons, William Burton Butler (1821-1866) and John Burton Butler (1824-1861). Her surviving daughter, also named Anne (1822-1908), sold the family land to a group of businessmen in 1891.
The area John discovered in 1834 was named Butler in 1979. Today, it is a thriving residential and commercial suburb of Perth. A local attraction, the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, sits on part of John Butler’s land that was called Butler’s Hump.
Butler, South Australia is named after another Butler – South Australian politician Richard Butler (1850-1925).
Primary Sources:
- Tuckfield, Trevor 1971, 1975, ‘Early colonial inns and taverns’, Part 1, Early Days: Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society, 7, 3: 65-82; Part 2, 7, 7: 98-106.
- Gillard, G. (n.d.). John Butler. Fremantle Stuff.
- Butler`s Swamp. Monument Australia.
- Shoebridge, A. (2019, December 5). My House. ajs-writing.
