About George Butt
Lived 1741 – 1795 (aged 53). George Butt was a British poet.
George Butt (26 December 1741 – 30 September 1795) was a British poet, teacher, cleric. He became George III's Chaplain-in-Ordinary. He and his wife Martha had three children and to varying degrees they were all writers.
Life Butt was born and christened in Lichfield in 1741. He went to Westminster School and then to college in Oxford. He graduated and took a masters in 1768 but he did not become a Doctor of Divinity until 1793. Butt's first job was as rector at Leigh in Staffordshire. This was a position arranged by Sir Walter Bagot. He was taken on by Sir Edward Winnington who employed him as a tutor for his son and after he had him accompany him to the same college that Butt had graduated from in Oxford. After that Winnington found Butt a rector's job at Stanford-on-Teme and built him a rectory.
In 1773 he married a London silk merchants daughter, Martha Sherwood. His new wife rearranged his poor finances and she arranged for him to take in well-off pupils. This transformed his poor financial position. He and his wife Martha had three children and to varying degrees they were all writers. Mary Martha was born in 1775 and Lucy Lyttelton was born in 1781.
In 1778 he was rewarded with the living of the vicarage of Newchurch on the Isle of Wight. This was a gift of the Bishop of Bristol, Thomas Newton, and in 1783 he exchanged this living for a similar one at Notgrove in Gloucestershire. He also became George III's Chaplain-in-Ordinary in 1783.
Works From 1762, Butt regularly published both sermons and poems.
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Important facts
People in George Butt's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped George Butt's
Frequently asked questions
Who was George Butt?
English cleric and poet
When was George Butt born?
George Butt was born on 26 December 1741 in Lichfield.
When did George Butt die?
George Butt died on 30 September 1795 in Stanford on Teme.
What was George Butt's occupation?
George Butt was a poet.
What nationality was George Butt?
George Butt was British.
Sources & further reading
· DBpedia: George Butt (priest)
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). George Butt. https://biography.guide/george-butt/
MLA: "George Butt." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/george-butt/.
Chicago: "George Butt." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/george-butt/.
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