Christina Violet Butler

Christina Violet Butler (25 January 1884 – 19 May 1982) was a social researcher and educator active in Oxford. She was known for her 1912 study Social Conditions in Oxford which recorded the lives of working class citizens in the Edwardian city. She also taught economics, women's studies, and trained social workers in Oxford.

Early life and education Butler was born at 14 Norham Gardens, Oxford on 25 January 1884 and lived there until 1949. Her father, Arthur Gray Butler, was a law and history academic at Oriel College, Oxford. Her mother worked in charitable causes involving the moral welfare of women. Her aunt was feminist and social reformer Josephine Butler. although this was not formally awarded as she was a woman. She also gained a teaching diploma at London University.

Social Conditions in Oxford Social Conditions in Oxford is a survey conducted by Butler in 1912 in which she recorded the experiences of working-class citizens in Oxford. It was one of several provincial surveys inspired by Seebohm Rowntree's Poverty: a Study of Town Life (1901), the others being conducted in Norwich and Cambridge. Many of her students went on to launch their own local projects across the UK, India, West Africa and Malaya. The collection also contains an interview with her sister, Ruth Butler. Butler talks about her Oxford survey, Barnett House and the Lady Margaret Hall Settlement.

After Butler's death, British civil servant John Redcliffe-Maud, who had been taught by Butler in the 1930s, described her as "an outstanding example of the British volunteer".