Whilst at Boolathana, Carnarvon, last month Mr. Henry Butcher, one of the best known pastoralists in Western Australia, had a severe stroke from which he did not recover. Accompanied by a Perth specialist, he was taken by plane to the Royal Perth Hospital, but died a few hours after arrival in the early morning of 14th November. He was 62 years of age.
Mr. Butcher was born at Armadale, W.A., and was a member of a pioneer Western Australian family, his grandparents having arrived at the Swan River settlement in the late 1840's. At the age of 15 he went with his brother, Walter, to Bruce Rock, then unsettled, and began clearing a virgin area of 5000 acres with a team of three horses.
Enlisting in the 51st Battalion, Henry Butcher was on active service in France in World War I. In 1920, in partnership with his brother William, he took up pastoral leases in the Lower Murchison district under the Soldier Settlement Scheme, but in 1922 these were sold and Hill Springs was bought. Later additional properties were acquired, until their joint interests included Boolathana and Hill Springs Stations, in the Gascoyne district, Meeberrie Station at Mullewa, Milgun Station at Meekatharra, and Nangetty Station at Mingenew. Some 70,000 to 90,000 sheep were shorn on these stations. Subsequently the ownership in these properties was apportioned, and Henry Butcher acquired the sole interest in Boolathana, Hill Springs, and Meeberrie. In 1948, with his brother William, he established a pioneer stock transport service, using a diesel prime mover and two trailers carrying 700 to 800 sheep, and some two years later the brothers bought the Perth city property known as "London Court" for £210,000, which was then a record price for Perth.
The late Henry Butcher was a member of the executive of the Pastoralists' Association, past president of the Gascoyne committee of the association, the pastoralists' representative on the North West Development Committee, a former member of the Gascoyne-Minilya Road Board, patron of the Perth Football Club, a former president of the Carnarvon Club, and a member of the West Australian and Anzac Clubs in Perth.
He is survived by his widow and four adult daughters.
'Butcher, Harold Henry (Harry) (1893–1955)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/butcher-harold-henry-harry-181/text182, accessed 7 November 2024.
from Pastoral Review and Graziers' Record, 16 December 1955
19 February,
1893
Armadale,
Western Australia,
Australia
14 November,
1955
(aged 62)
Perth,
Western Australia,
Australia
Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.