Butters, John Henry (1885 - 1969)

Summary

Sir John Butters was Chief engineer and general managerof the Tasmanian Hydro- Electric Department from 1914-1924 and in 1925-1929 was Chief Commissioner of the Federal Capital Commission. He maintained a private consulting engineering practice until 1954.

Details

MBE 1920, CMG 1923, knighted 1926. Educated Hartley University College, Southampton (University of London intermediate bachelor of science (engineering) degree and first-class certificate for electrical engineering from Hartley College 1904). Apprentice and improver, John I. Thornycroft & Co. Ltd, shipbuilders and engineers of Southampton1904-05, technical department, Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works Ltd 1905-08, assistant engineer, head office, London 1908-09, chief engineer, Australasian branch, Melbourne 1909-11, engineer-in-chief and manager, Hydro-Electric Power and Metallurgical Co. Ltd 1911-14, chief engineer and general manager, Hydro-Electric Department, Tasmania 1914-24, chairman, Federal Capital Commission 1924--29, consulting engineer, Sydney 1929-54, director of a large range of companies. President, Tasmanian Institution of Engineers 1918, chairman, Tasmanian division, Institution of Engineers, Australia 1920, president, Institution of Engineers, Australia 1927-28, president, Royal Automobile Club of Australia 1937-49. Commemorated by Butters Drive, Phillip, ACT.

Chronology

1918

Career event - Member (MAmSocCE), American Society of Civil Engineers

19 Oct 1920

Award - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

2 Jun 1923

Award - Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)

9 May 1926

Award - Knighted, at Canberra, on the occasion of the inauguration of the new Capital, for services rendered as Chief Commissioner, Federal Capital Commission.

1927 - 1928

Career position - President, Institution of Engineers Australia

11 May 1937

Award - King George VI Coronation Medal

Related entries

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• John Henry Butters - Records, 1921 - 1963, MS 4990; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Linge, G. J. R., 'Butters, Sir John Henry (1885 - 1969), engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 7: 1891 - 1939 A-Ch, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1979), pp. 512-514, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/butters-sir-john-henry-5454. Details

Conference Papers

• Gilbert, H. deV., 'The Great Lake (Waddamana 'A') Power Development in Tasmania 1910-1965: Origins and Working History', in 9th National Conference on Engineering Heritage: Proceedings (Melbourne, Victoria: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1998), pp. 151-159., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.546877113641335. Details

Edited Books

• Engineers Australia ed., Anything is possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders (Barton, A.C.T.: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 136 pp, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2025-08/EA2_Anything%20is%20possible_0.pdf. 'A Capital idea - Sir John Butters' p.62. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Obituary : Sir John Butters', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 41 (9) (1969), N68. Details
• 'First members of institution [Diamond Jubilee feature article]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 51 (20) (1979), 69. 'Registered member number 9'. Details
• Anon, 'President of the Institution', Transactions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 8 (1929), vi, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.297619745331115. Details
• Butters, J. H., 'The Great Lake Hydro-Electric Scheme of the Tasmanian Government', Proceedings of the Electrical Association of Australia, Victorian Section, II (1915-1916), 77-107. Details
• Butters, J. H.; Dare, H. H.; Julius, G. A.; Myers, W. H.; Corner, W. S.; McKay, R. T.; Poole, William; Vine-Hall, R.; Stephens, C. T.; Tournay-Hinde, A. W.; Smith, A. C.; Carter, H. G.; Madsen, J. P. V.; Stobie, J. C.; Flockart, A. P.; Child, H. A., 'Notes on the development of the power resources of Tasmania (Discussions and communications)', Transactions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 7 (1927), 616-632, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.865142783447709. Details
• Butters, John Henry, 'Notes on the development of the power resources of Tasmania', Transactions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 7 (1927), 3-36, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.865068251562676. Details
• Butters, Sir John, 'Presidential address [1928]', Transactions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 8 (1929), xxxvii-lxii, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.297899239899988. Details

Reports

• Advisory Council of Science and Industry, Report of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Advisory Council of Science and Industry: for the year ended 30th June 1918 (Melbourne: Government of the Commonwealth of Australia, 1918), 64 pp. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2004795988. Details
• Tillyard, R.J., The work of the Division of Economic Entomology for the year 1928-29 (Melbourne: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (Australia), 1929), 19 pp. https://doi.org/10.25919/2k6y-h875. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q12053946. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/92592040. Details
• 'Butters, John (1885-1969)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-527024. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Engineering Heritage : Biographies', in Engineering Heritage Australia : wiki website, Engineering Heritage Australia, 2024, https://heritage.engineersaustralia.org.au/wiki/Person:Butters,_John. Biography: Sir John Butters. Details

See also

• Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2025-08/EA1_Wonders%20never%20cease.pdf. "Making water work for you", pp.32-3. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia. Sydney Division. Engineering Heritage Committee, The Historic Engineering Plaques of Australia (Milsons Point, New South Wales: The Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1994), 38 pp. p.33. Waddamana 'A' Power Station, Waddamana, TAS. Details
• McFie, H. H., 'Great Lake, Tasmania and Waddamana Hydro-electric Power Development, First (1916) and Second (1923) Stages - an Engineering Heritage Perspective', in First Australasian Conference on Engineering Heritage 1994: Old Ways in a New Land; Preprints of Papers (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1994), pp. 61-69., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.625396454523390. Details
• Sinclair, Bruce, 'Some National Presidents of IEAust', in Eleventh National Conference on Engineering Heritage: Federation Engineering a Nation; Proceedings (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2001), p. 259., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.521182246276277. Details