John Buttery (c. 1829/31 – 29 November 1912) was a merchant operating in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Malacca and Singapore.
It is uncertain exactly when John Buttery arrived in Straits Settlements or when he left, but his coming may have had to do with Walter Scott Lorrain, whose signature he (or his father) stood witness for, in Glasgow, when Lorrain gave notice of withdrawing from his partnership in Brown & Co., Penang, on 6 November 1847.
[1][2] Brown & Co. was established by David Brown, a qualified lawyer from Longformacus (Berwickshire, Scotland) who, when he arrived in Penang in 1800, helped sort out the financial problems plaguing the spice business of James Scott, Francis Light's former partner, who had overextended himself.
[6] John Buttery was born either in 1829, as suggested by the notice published at the time of his death,[7] or 1831, according to the research of Mackintosh Architecture (Univ.
These dates and sequence of events also suggest his arrival at the Straits Settlements would have been after, rather than before, 1847, and it is possible that Lorrain, then well established in business after his experiences at Douglas, Mackenzie & Co. of Singapore, and Brown & Co. of Penang, sent for Buttery to join him at Lorrain-Sandilands.
Buttery, together with a "Dr. Lorain" (possibly a typographical error for what might have been "Mr. Lorrain") departed Southampton for Penang on 20 February 1852.
Under the foremanship of Stuart Herriot, he served alongside other prominent members of Penang like John Rodyk, Henry Smith, George Combe, Alexander Ramsay Clarke, Andrew Creem James MacLaine Fraser, Samuel Nicholson Greene, William Charles Spencer Padday, Charles Stevens, William Taylor, Charles Le Bouche De Lisle, James Lamb, Michel Jules Moniot, George Scott, Alexander Stuart Brown, Thomas Ferrao, Duncan Clerk Presgrave, Walter Scott, and George Evans Lidiard Dawson.
Buttery, too, was in Glasgow at the time when he signed the instrument of dissolution as himself and as attorney for Sandilands who was handling the liquidation at Penang.
His contemporaries in The Association at that time included, among others, James Montague Bent Vermont, L. C. Brown, R. Klunder, V. Krieger, C. C. Wiget, A. C. Padday, P. J. C. Rosa, W. S. Peterbridge, J. A.Anthony, D. Comrie, W. Allen, M. A. Anthoony, Shaik Eusoof, W. A.
In May 1878 The Association met to discuss, among other things, the levying of tools at the "Sunghy Rambie" bridge, and the state of Penang's finances.
[25] On 12 July he attended the opening of the Prye River Docks in Penang where he received a toast from James Montague Bent Vermont, which Buttery returned on behalf of the mercantile community there, remarking the benefits that the new Prye River Docks would bring to Penang's port, and help extend and develop shipping there.
The firm had originally purchased the land for $20,000 to $23,000 and, with the buildings on them, could not be worth more than $40,000, he said, citing Sandilands' own words, spoken publicly.
Government buildings would, indeed be built, but it was intended to sell a part of or the whole of it, and the cost of this purchase would be recouped from the proceeds of that sale.
The Straits Times reported him attending the Sultan of Johore's farewell banquet, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sir Rutherford Alcock and former Governor Cavenagh.
In the early part of the year he joined together with W. H. M. Read, J. Guthrie, M. F. Davidson, C. A. Rigg, W. McTaggart, H. M. Simons, J. M. Little, M. Little, J.
[33] Regular attendance at these functions allowed him to network and keep a finger on the pulse of things back in the Penang and Singapore.
Through meetings such as this, Buttery continued to exert influence over the policies to be adopted in the Straits Settlements, and by extension, the Malay States under British protection at that time.
[36] It is possible that James Gibson had already been in charge and running things since 1893 – Gazette notifications show him appointed to the Municipal Commission whose members were usually nominated by important firms to represent their interests there.
On 5 October 1894, John Buttery and wife, set off from London, on the Caledonia, heading for Penang. [38] Shortly after, on 3 March 1895, John Buttery and wife departed Penang aboard the Ganges, headed for Hong Kong. It shipped tin all over the world and consigned Province Wellesley sugar to England and Scotland for refining.