Thomas Butterfield

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Thomas Butterfield (c. 1871 – 13 October 1943) was an Australian politician in South Australia. He began his public service as a Tumby Bay Council councillor in 1910/11 and served as a Justice of the Peace.

Butterfield entered state politics as a Labor organiser and won a seat in the South Australian House of Assembly for Newcastle in 1915, serving until he resigned in 1917 to contest the Senate. He was re-elected for Newcastle in 1918 and held the seat until 1933. During his career he also stood for the Flinders electorate in 1912 and unsuccessfully sought federal office in 1922.

In 1924, in the Gunn government, Butterfield became Commissioner of Crown Lands, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Afforestation. He helped reorganise the Agriculture Department, established the Dairy Department and expanded pine plantations. In 1925 he opened the Agriculture Department Pavilion at the Wayville show grounds, with the Governor-General in attendance, and was praised for delivering a substantial project within financial limits.

Butterfield’s political journey included party splits. He and others were expelled from the Premiers’ Planners in 1931 and formed the Parliamentary Labor Party. He also sought an agreement with the Country Party in 1924, which was rejected. In 1922 he contested the federal Grey seat in a plebiscite, though Andrew Lacey won.

Away from politics, Butterfield was a pioneer farmer around Wudinna, later moving to Johnberg and then a farm in the Mallee; his son Jack ran the Mallee farm before it was lost in 1938. The Butterfield family's Wudinna home, known as the Butterfield home, became a local landmark and was commemorated with a centenary plaque in 1979. Thomas Butterfield retired to the city and died on 13 October 1943.