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Butterfield,Thomas Archer
Description
Unique IDPE-000050SurnameButterfieldGiven namesThomas ArcherBirth date1st January 1811Birth date qualifiercircaDeath date1st November 1886Death date qualifierMonth and year onlyBiographical noteThomas Archer Butterfield served in senior responsible clerical positions for the City of Sydney from about 1855 to 1885. He was appointed Clerk to the City Surveyor with a salary of £200 pa by the newly elected Council in May 1857; he may have served in some capacity before this to the City Commissioners whose term of office ended in April 1857 as it seems to have been agreed at his retirement in 1885 that he had served the City for 30 years. In 1858, his job title was Chief Clerk and Accountant in the City Surveyor’s Office. He was then transferred to the Town Clerk’s Department where he served for the rest of his working life. The Town Clerk, CH Woolcott described him in 1866 as “highly efficient and diligently attentive to his duties”. From as early as October 1851, he acted in place of the Town Clerk when required, sometimes for some months, and on creation of the position of Assistant Town Clerk, he was appointed to it with a salary of £400. His salary in that position in 1878 was £450 in comparison to the £600 pa paid to Woolcott, the Town Clerk. His salary rose to £500 in 1884. By March 1885, his health was failing and he was granted sick leave; he did not return to work but resigned in September 1885, having been given a retirement gratuity of £500. Alderman Palmer moved that a testimonial be sent to Butterfield expressing Council’s “appreciation of his efficient services to the City Corporation during a period of 30 years.” He died in November 1886.
Other professional responsibilities:
Between April 1860 and about November 1861, TA Butterfield served as the Council Clerk for the inaugural Council of the Municipality of Balmain. His appointment at the Council Meeting of 20 April 1860 was termed temporary; his salary was set at £50 pa and his attendance was to be after 6 o’clock every evening if required, except Sundays. Advertisements for Balmain Council appear under his name throughout 1860 and 1861.
In April 1862 an advertisement on behalf of the Trustees of the Wynyard Square enclosure calling for tenders for the erection of stone parapet wall and iron railing stated that plans could be inspected at the office of the City Engineer. The notice was placed by Thomas A Butterfield, Secretary.
Personal and Family History
The Butterfield family arrived NSW on 14 October 1854 aboard “Caroline” from Plymouth with 6 children.
Thomas Archer Butterfield was born c1811 in Royston Hertfordshire; his wife, Selina, was born c1816 in Linton, Cambridge. Selina died in Sydney, 12 February 1898.
Their children were:
Selina (c1836-?) married John Robertson, Sydney, 16 July 1858; had issue
Thomas (c1839-1910) married Martha Brown, 18 October 1861; had issue (at least 1 son, 3 daughters); died 15 Sydney April 1910
Caroline (c1840-1921) never married; died Auckland NZ, 1921
George (c1841-1910) married Sarah Chivers, Sydney, 15 March 1876; had issue (at least 4 sons, 2 daughters); died 24 January 1910
Jane (1843-1912) never married; died Sydney, 22 June 1912
Henry b c1845 presumed to have died between 1851 and 1854
Agnes (1846-1886) never married, died Sydney, 19 June 1886, aged 40
[Birth dates of family as per Census of England and Wales, 1851]
The family is recorded in the 1851 Census of England and Wales. Thomas Archer Butterfield was a Master Draper living at Royston Hertfordshire and employing 2 men and 1 girl. His son Thomas Butterfield appears in two entries: one as a pupil at the school run by John Donington at Linton Cambridgeshire (his mother’s birthplace) and the other in his grandmother Phoebe Nicholls’s household at Hadstock, Cambridgeshire, registration district Linton. Selina Butterfield, eldest daughter of Thomas Archer Butterfield, is recorded as a pupil at the school run by SS Wilson and her two sisters at High Road, Tottenham, Middlesex. Interestingly, a resident teacher is recorded as Le Rossignol, born in the Channel Islands. Fellow pupils came from all over England.
Within a month of arrival, Mrs Butterfield and Miss Butterfield (presumably Selina now aged 18) advertised their school for Young Ladies at 287 Elizabeth St opposite the Cleveland Paddocks for boarders and day pupils; the schoolroom was large and airy with views over Darling Harbour and Johnston’s Bay. Pupils were to receive “maternal care” from Mrs Butterfield and tuition from Miss Butterfield who had studied in London “under the first masters, and received from them testimonials of her capability to give instruction in all branches of an English education, as well as the usual accomplishments”. Referees for the school named in the advertisements were Rev Dr Ross, Rev J Beazley, J Fairfax Esq, GA Lloyd Esq, J Thompson Esq and JC Williams Esq. The Butterfields must have had links or brought very positive recommendations with them to respected persons in Sydney.
[The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 November 1854, p1; Empire, 16 November 1854, p1]
The school for Young Ladies conducted by Mrs and Miss Butterfield operated first at Elizabeth St, then moved to Wallscourt Lodge at Balmain in January 1855 and then to Cliffdale House, Balmain in January 1860. These premises were also the family residence. The school seems to have ceased at some time after July 1860. The identity of “Miss” Butterfield may also have changed after the eldest daughter Selina was married in July 1858 to John Robertson by the Rev Mr Joseph Beazley; perhaps her sister Caroline, by then about 18, took over school duties.
Butterfield may on arrival have sought work in the drapery business or at least have established contacts there. It might be significant that two of the referees added to Mrs Butterfield’s advertisements from June 1855 were GC Tuting, a draper with premises in Pitt St and David Jones, well known draper and founder of the David Jones Department Stores. Butterfield appears to have taken at least one commission in real estate; in October 1855, he advertised the house “Maryville” at Balmain as “to let” and invited applications to be made to him at George C Tuting’s shop.
The entry in Sand Directory for 1858/9 for Thomas Butterfield, architect, Wallscourt Lodge, Darling St Balmain is more probably for his son Thomas, aged about 19, as Thomas Archer Butterfield had been employed since at least May 1857 by the City of Sydney Council. Thomas junior married Martha Brown in October 1861 and is listed through the 1860s Sands Directories as a clerk, living first at Balmain and later at Leichhardt/Petersham and eventually in the 1870s at Burwood. In the 1870s Thomas junior was auditor for the Great Victoria Gold Mining Company.
The family remained at Cliffdale until the end of 1865 when it was advertised by J Looke as being available to let. The house was described as having Harbour views, pure water, garden and bathing-house and being “suitable with every convenience for a gentleman’s family”.
Sands Directories in the late 1860s list TA Butterfield at Leichhardt/Petersham and then in the 1870s at Burwood. From 1880, the name of his house at Wallace St, Burwood is listed as “Linton”, the birth place of his wife. The house occupied by his son Thomas junior is Remuera at Burwood Heights. His son George married in March 1876 to Sarah Chivers and appears in Sands Directories from about 1880 as a surveyor living at Marrickville. In 1882, he provided maps relating to the Water Works to Council.
References
City of Sydney Archives: CRS 7 Minutes of City of Sydney Council; CRS 27 Letters Sent;
CRS 26 Letters Received, CRS 21 Reports of Committees, CRS 22 Reports of the Finance Committee: (item descriptions or digitised objects available online);
Sands Directories of Sydney (available online)
Newspapers, 1854 to 1886: Sydney Morning Herald; Empire; Evening News; digitised by the National Library of Australia and searchable online: www. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper
NSW Births Deaths Marriages Registry, indexes online
26 January 2016; Marilyn MasonRelationship legacy dataRELATED TO: City Engineer and City Surveyors Department I AG-0086 - Employee
Occupational historyOffices held:Clerk to the City Surveyor c1855-c1859Clerk to the Town Clerk c1859-c1864Assistant Town Clerk c1864-September 1885Acting Town Clerk at various times 1861-.Other municipal office:Council Clerk, Municipality of Balmain, 1860-1861Thomas Archer Butterfield served in senior responsible clerical positions for the City of Sydney from about 1855 to 1885. He was appointed Clerk to the City Surveyor with a salary of £200 pa by the newly elected Council in May 1857; he may have served in some capacity before this to the City Commissioners whose term of office ended in April 1857 as it seems to have been agreed at his retirement in 1885 that he had served the City for 30 years. In 1858, his job title was Chief Clerk and Accountant in the City Surveyor’s Office. He was then transferred to the Town Clerk’s Department where he served for the rest of his working life. The Town Clerk, CH Woolcott described him in 1866 as “highly efficient and diligently attentive to his duties”. From as early as October 1861, he acted in place of the Town Clerk when required, sometimes for some months, and on creation of the position of Assistant Town Clerk, he was appointed to it with a salary of £400. His salary in that position in 1878 was £450 in comparison to the £600 pa paid to Woolcott, the Town Clerk. His salary rose to £500 in 1884. By March 1885, his health was failing and he was granted sick leave; he did not return to work but resigned in September 1885, having been given a retirement gratuity of £500. Alderman Palmer moved that a testimonial be sent to Butterfield expressing Council’s “appreciation of his efficient services to the City Corporation during a period of 30 years.” He died in November 1886.Archivist noteDrafted 26 January 2016 by Archives Volunteer Marilyn MasonLegacy dataRegistered by: Smith, Michael
Registered date: 29/01/2016
Amendments:
Last amendment date: None
Minister: NoneUpdated Date: 08/12/2017
Updated User: mdsmithSource system ID50
Other professional responsibilities:
Between April 1860 and about November 1861, TA Butterfield served as the Council Clerk for the inaugural Council of the Municipality of Balmain. His appointment at the Council Meeting of 20 April 1860 was termed temporary; his salary was set at £50 pa and his attendance was to be after 6 o’clock every evening if required, except Sundays. Advertisements for Balmain Council appear under his name throughout 1860 and 1861.
In April 1862 an advertisement on behalf of the Trustees of the Wynyard Square enclosure calling for tenders for the erection of stone parapet wall and iron railing stated that plans could be inspected at the office of the City Engineer. The notice was placed by Thomas A Butterfield, Secretary.
Personal and Family History
The Butterfield family arrived NSW on 14 October 1854 aboard “Caroline” from Plymouth with 6 children.
Thomas Archer Butterfield was born c1811 in Royston Hertfordshire; his wife, Selina, was born c1816 in Linton, Cambridge. Selina died in Sydney, 12 February 1898.
Their children were:
Selina (c1836-?) married John Robertson, Sydney, 16 July 1858; had issue
Thomas (c1839-1910) married Martha Brown, 18 October 1861; had issue (at least 1 son, 3 daughters); died 15 Sydney April 1910
Caroline (c1840-1921) never married; died Auckland NZ, 1921
George (c1841-1910) married Sarah Chivers, Sydney, 15 March 1876; had issue (at least 4 sons, 2 daughters); died 24 January 1910
Jane (1843-1912) never married; died Sydney, 22 June 1912
Henry b c1845 presumed to have died between 1851 and 1854
Agnes (1846-1886) never married, died Sydney, 19 June 1886, aged 40
[Birth dates of family as per Census of England and Wales, 1851]
The family is recorded in the 1851 Census of England and Wales. Thomas Archer Butterfield was a Master Draper living at Royston Hertfordshire and employing 2 men and 1 girl. His son Thomas Butterfield appears in two entries: one as a pupil at the school run by John Donington at Linton Cambridgeshire (his mother’s birthplace) and the other in his grandmother Phoebe Nicholls’s household at Hadstock, Cambridgeshire, registration district Linton. Selina Butterfield, eldest daughter of Thomas Archer Butterfield, is recorded as a pupil at the school run by SS Wilson and her two sisters at High Road, Tottenham, Middlesex. Interestingly, a resident teacher is recorded as Le Rossignol, born in the Channel Islands. Fellow pupils came from all over England.
Within a month of arrival, Mrs Butterfield and Miss Butterfield (presumably Selina now aged 18) advertised their school for Young Ladies at 287 Elizabeth St opposite the Cleveland Paddocks for boarders and day pupils; the schoolroom was large and airy with views over Darling Harbour and Johnston’s Bay. Pupils were to receive “maternal care” from Mrs Butterfield and tuition from Miss Butterfield who had studied in London “under the first masters, and received from them testimonials of her capability to give instruction in all branches of an English education, as well as the usual accomplishments”. Referees for the school named in the advertisements were Rev Dr Ross, Rev J Beazley, J Fairfax Esq, GA Lloyd Esq, J Thompson Esq and JC Williams Esq. The Butterfields must have had links or brought very positive recommendations with them to respected persons in Sydney.
[The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 November 1854, p1; Empire, 16 November 1854, p1]
The school for Young Ladies conducted by Mrs and Miss Butterfield operated first at Elizabeth St, then moved to Wallscourt Lodge at Balmain in January 1855 and then to Cliffdale House, Balmain in January 1860. These premises were also the family residence. The school seems to have ceased at some time after July 1860. The identity of “Miss” Butterfield may also have changed after the eldest daughter Selina was married in July 1858 to John Robertson by the Rev Mr Joseph Beazley; perhaps her sister Caroline, by then about 18, took over school duties.
Butterfield may on arrival have sought work in the drapery business or at least have established contacts there. It might be significant that two of the referees added to Mrs Butterfield’s advertisements from June 1855 were GC Tuting, a draper with premises in Pitt St and David Jones, well known draper and founder of the David Jones Department Stores. Butterfield appears to have taken at least one commission in real estate; in October 1855, he advertised the house “Maryville” at Balmain as “to let” and invited applications to be made to him at George C Tuting’s shop.
The entry in Sand Directory for 1858/9 for Thomas Butterfield, architect, Wallscourt Lodge, Darling St Balmain is more probably for his son Thomas, aged about 19, as Thomas Archer Butterfield had been employed since at least May 1857 by the City of Sydney Council. Thomas junior married Martha Brown in October 1861 and is listed through the 1860s Sands Directories as a clerk, living first at Balmain and later at Leichhardt/Petersham and eventually in the 1870s at Burwood. In the 1870s Thomas junior was auditor for the Great Victoria Gold Mining Company.
The family remained at Cliffdale until the end of 1865 when it was advertised by J Looke as being available to let. The house was described as having Harbour views, pure water, garden and bathing-house and being “suitable with every convenience for a gentleman’s family”.
Sands Directories in the late 1860s list TA Butterfield at Leichhardt/Petersham and then in the 1870s at Burwood. From 1880, the name of his house at Wallace St, Burwood is listed as “Linton”, the birth place of his wife. The house occupied by his son Thomas junior is Remuera at Burwood Heights. His son George married in March 1876 to Sarah Chivers and appears in Sands Directories from about 1880 as a surveyor living at Marrickville. In 1882, he provided maps relating to the Water Works to Council.
References
City of Sydney Archives: CRS 7 Minutes of City of Sydney Council; CRS 27 Letters Sent;
CRS 26 Letters Received, CRS 21 Reports of Committees, CRS 22 Reports of the Finance Committee: (item descriptions or digitised objects available online);
Sands Directories of Sydney (available online)
Newspapers, 1854 to 1886: Sydney Morning Herald; Empire; Evening News; digitised by the National Library of Australia and searchable online: www. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper
NSW Births Deaths Marriages Registry, indexes online
26 January 2016; Marilyn MasonRelationship legacy dataRELATED TO: City Engineer and City Surveyors Department I AG-0086 - Employee
Occupational historyOffices held:Clerk to the City Surveyor c1855-c1859Clerk to the Town Clerk c1859-c1864Assistant Town Clerk c1864-September 1885Acting Town Clerk at various times 1861-.Other municipal office:Council Clerk, Municipality of Balmain, 1860-1861Thomas Archer Butterfield served in senior responsible clerical positions for the City of Sydney from about 1855 to 1885. He was appointed Clerk to the City Surveyor with a salary of £200 pa by the newly elected Council in May 1857; he may have served in some capacity before this to the City Commissioners whose term of office ended in April 1857 as it seems to have been agreed at his retirement in 1885 that he had served the City for 30 years. In 1858, his job title was Chief Clerk and Accountant in the City Surveyor’s Office. He was then transferred to the Town Clerk’s Department where he served for the rest of his working life. The Town Clerk, CH Woolcott described him in 1866 as “highly efficient and diligently attentive to his duties”. From as early as October 1861, he acted in place of the Town Clerk when required, sometimes for some months, and on creation of the position of Assistant Town Clerk, he was appointed to it with a salary of £400. His salary in that position in 1878 was £450 in comparison to the £600 pa paid to Woolcott, the Town Clerk. His salary rose to £500 in 1884. By March 1885, his health was failing and he was granted sick leave; he did not return to work but resigned in September 1885, having been given a retirement gratuity of £500. Alderman Palmer moved that a testimonial be sent to Butterfield expressing Council’s “appreciation of his efficient services to the City Corporation during a period of 30 years.” He died in November 1886.Archivist noteDrafted 26 January 2016 by Archives Volunteer Marilyn MasonLegacy dataRegistered by: Smith, Michael
Registered date: 29/01/2016
Amendments:
Last amendment date: None
Minister: NoneUpdated Date: 08/12/2017
Updated User: mdsmithSource system ID50
Relationships
CollectionPeople and PositionsRelated agenciesCity Engineer and City Surveyor's Department I
Registration
Date registered5th December 2018Registered byData Migration UserRegistration statusApprovedDetailed recordYes
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Butterfield,Thomas Archer [PE-000050]. City of Sydney Recollect - UAT, accessed 04 Aug 2025, https://cosauat.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/62721