Edward Arthur Butler

Who was Edward Arthur Butler?

Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Arthur Butler was an English ornithologist and British Army officer. He is commemorated in the scientific specific name for Hume's Owl, Strix butleri.

Butler was born at Coton House, Churchover, Warwickshire and studied at Eton. He joined the army at the age of 21, and served in Gibraltar, India and South Africa. He retired in 1884 as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Irish Rifles. His son Arthur Lennox Butler was also an ornithologist.

Butler was a keen bird collector and taxidermist. His collections were acquired by the Natural History Museum in part directly and also through the collections of Allan Octavian Hume, Lord Rothschild and others.