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William Butler was born in Walkeringham (Church End), Nottinghamshire, England on 18 Sep 1825. He emigrated to Australia in 1840 and on gaining his 'Ticket of Leave', he initialy took up residence in Bankstown NSW. The circumstances of him being a 'Ticket of Leave Man' are still being researched, but it does suggest he had a transported convict background.

We are not sure of William's early history in Australia from 1840 to 1858 but the indications are William remained on the land as a shepherd or drover and made his way across to South Australia and the Riverton area. It is also possible that prior to his marriage, William as a fit, active young man wanting to make his fortune may have been attracted to the Victorian gold fields after 1850.

Having eventually arrived in Riverton, William married Mary Ann Bowen on 28 Jan 1858. Mary Ann was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, England in on 7 June 1829. At the time of their marriage, William was 32 and Mary Ann was 28.

We can say with certainty that in their early years after marriage, William and Mary Ann were on the Victorian Gold fields between Ballarat and Bendigo. The Victoria Gold Rush lasted from 1851 to the 1860's. (See Victorian gold rush - Wikipedia).

William and Mary had three children, John James (b.1859 at Riverton, South Australia), Harriet (B. 1861 at Bald Springs, Victoria) and William (Jr.) (B. 1864 at Vaughan, Victoria ). When the gold rush began to wind down, William and Mary returned to Riverton where Mary's family still lived.

William helped drive the first sheep onto the Yorke Peninsula. This would have been an arduous task with much of the peninsula at that time still covered in mallee scrub. With few natural streams, water for the sheep, drovers and their horses would have been quite a problem. There would also have been some loss of sheep to wild dogs and the local indigenous people taking 'their share'.

On 28 May 1868 Mary Ann passed away in Minlacowie on the Yorke Peninsula. The three children lost their mother at a very early age (all were under ten). Life would have been very difficult for the young family with the hardship of those early days. We can only assume Mary Ann's extended family in Riverton may have been able to assist.

William and Mary's grave site is on Moorowie Station, about 12km South of Brentwood.
The grave is on private land and may only be visited by arrangement. Please respect the rights of the land holder and use the 'Contact Us' page for more information.

No photos or paintings of William and Mary Ann are known to exist today and there is very little memorabilia available. We are heavily reliant on anecdotal information from older family members. William and Mary Ann didn't take up land holdings of their own on the Yorke Peninsula, but their eldest son Jon James did and it is through John James that several generations of the Butler family still live on the Yorke Peninsula today.