Lionel Harry Butler

Lionel (Harry) Butler (17 December 1923, Dudley – 26 November 1981, London) FRHistS MA DPhil was an academic and Principal of Royal Holloway College, University of London, (RHC) from 1973 until his death in 1981.

Education and war service Butler was educated at Dudley Boys Grammar School. From 1941-43 he did war service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). He then attended Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was an exhibitioner obtaining First Class Honours in Modern History in 1945.

Career He worked briefly as a lecturer at Magdalen and then as a research fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. In 1955 he was appointed the first Professor of Medieval History and later Vice-Principal of the University of St Andrews. He became the first male principal of RHC in 1973. Butler came to the college expecting to continue the expansion begun by his predecessor, Dame Marjorie Williamson.