Brian Danvers Butler (18 April 1876 – 18 August 1916) was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Danvers Butler | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 18 April 1876 Swithland, Leicestershire, England | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 18 August 1916(1916-08-18) (aged 40) Longueval, Somme, France | ||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
| 1913–1914 | Marylebone Cricket Club | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Source: Cricinfo, 23 March 2021 | |||||||||||||||
The son of the Earl of Lanesborough and his wife, Anne Elizabeth Clarke, he was born in April 1876 at Swithland Hall in Leicestershire.[1] In the early years of the 20th century, Butler played cricket for Leicestershire Second XI, though he never featured for the first XI.[2] He later moved to East Grinstead in Sussex, where he was a popular figure who played for East Grinstead Cricket Club, in addition to being a keen golfer.[3] A member of the Marylebone Cricket Club since 1909,[1] Butler made two appearances in first-class cricket for the club in 1913 and 1914, playing against Hampshire on both occasions.[4]
Butler served in the British Army during the First World War, being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps in April 1915.[1][5] He was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant in September 1915.[6] Butler fought on the Western Front and was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme on 18 August 1916.[1]