Cornelius Butler

Cornelius Butler was born in Ingatestone and was the son of the town surgeon, Cornelius Haynes Butler. He may have studied at Brentwood School, but had certainly moved to Brentwood by 1812 and in 1814 at the age of 32 was appointed to be one of the guardians of Brentwood School. He would become known for wanting to reform eduction there.

There is a story that Cornelius was the man who broke the news in Brentwood that there had been victory at Waterloo - having heard the news from a passerby, he immediately rode on his horse to the White Hart in Brentwood and shouted the news to the town from there.

He followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a surgeon, and later became a registrar for births, marriages, and deaths as well. He married Martha Rebecca Hawes in 1815 and went on to have about ten children. John Larkin gives a very good description of Cornelius as he remembered him:

He had a large and expensive family of daughters. He was one of those good old-fashioned sort, kind and generous and sympathetic with all his patients. In top boots, breeches and gaiters, gilt buttons on his coat, and a boxer hat. He rode on his stiff white cob round the countryside, for miles, to visit his patients. With his white hair and small side whiskers, rather stout, he was quite a picturesque figure.

Cornelius was also a poet. After his death his family published a collection of his poetry titled Ingrebourne and Other Poems

He lived at different times at two important houses of Brentwood's past; Red House at the east end of the High Street (where the census of 1851 show him and his family living), and Cockayne House at the west end of the High Street (where he is shown in the census of 1841 and 1861, and due to the proximity of other named properties it is likely he was living there in 1871 too).

In the early 1840s a committee was created to re-start the Brentwood Market, which had been extinct for about 50 years. Cornelius, being an already well established figure in the town, was made the chairman. After much planning the market was opened in the old market stalls on 16th November 1843 and Cornelius wrote a number of announcements to be printed in local papers. Regrettably the market was not a success and did not become a regular occurance again.

He had a fall around August 1871 and after that was confined to his bed; his health declined and he died on 9th September 1871. He had been in practice as a surgeon in Brentwood for over 55 years and in respect of that his funeral was a grand affair. Many shops closed on the day of his funeral, and the coffin was escorted by a band from the local industrial school. Many of the people from the town turned out to pay their respects. His coffin was laid to rest in the graveyard at St Thomas' where his gravestone can still be seen.