William ButlerPrint Page

The clock commemorates William Butler (1831-1917), often known as the "Father of Kilcoy".   He arrived in Sydney in February 1854 and began handling stock at Rannes Station near Gladstone. Over many years he managed stations in various parts of Australia.

In Kilcoy, he was a member of the first Roads Board, and served as a Justice of the Peace.

The greenstone monument with a granite base has four clock dials, with the mechanism of the clock controlled by a master clock in the Shire Council Chambers.

The late William Butler, of Kilcoy, Q., who died last month, was born in Cambridgeshire, England, on 11th November, 1831. He came to Australia in one of the early East Indian tramp sailing ships engaged in trading with this country, and arrived in Sydney in February 1854.

Mr. Butler had his first pastoral experience on Rannes Station, in the Port Curtis district of Queensland, and in 1856 was in charge of a droving trip, overlanding a mob of sheep from Moreton Bay to Melbourne. Whilst in Victoria he went to Bendigo and followed the various gold rushes.

In 1861 he managed the well-known Cressbrook Station, Queensland, for Mr. D. C. McConnel, and at a later date Durundur for Mr. John McConnel. In 1867 he managed Albinia Downs for the Hon. Louis Hope, and in 1870 took the management of Kilcoy for the same gentleman, holding that position till 1907, when the property was sold to the Government. The late Mr. Butler, however, continued to live at Kilcoy House until the time of his death.

Everyone who knew William Butler loved and admired him. He leaves several sons and daughters. One son, Lieut.-Col. Graham Butler, a Brisbane doctor, who left Australia with the A.A.M.C., received the D.S.O. for gallantry at Gallipoli, and since joining the A.I.F. had been promoted from Captain to his present rank. He is still at the front. Another son has been invalided home, and received his discharge after being seriously wounded.
Excerpt from Pastoral Review, 16 July 1917, published in
Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.

On Sunday afternoon, (Oct. 12) the clock memorial, erected by the residents of Kilcoy district to the memory of the late Mr. William Butler, who was generally looked upon as the father of Kilcoy, was unveiled in the presence of very representative gathering, including all the available members of the Butler family.  
Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser (Qld),  24 October 1919. 

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