John Butler (bishop)

[1] He married first a lady who kept a school at Westminster; his second wife was the sister and coheiress of Sir Charles Vernon, of Farnham, Surrey, and this marriage improved his social standing.

In the title-page of a sermon preached before the House of Commons at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on the occasion of a general fast in 1758, he is described as minister of Great Yarmouth and chaplain to the Princess Dowager.

In this pamphlet, which ran to three editions, he bitterly attacked John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute and the conduct of his ministry since the accession of George III.

[1] During the American War of Independence he issued a number of political pamphlets, under the signature of 'Vindex,' in which he strongly supported the policy of Lord North.

In 1786, a great fire burnt down the medieval west end of the cathedral nave; Butler was responsible for a fore-shortened modern reconstruction.