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BUTTS Family History

Butt is a name which since the 17th Century had been very popular in Devon and Cornwall and has been spelled variously as Butts, Butson and Butting, the latter two meaning "son of But". It is a topographic name derived from the Middle English "But" mark for archery, target or goal, ultimately from the old French "but", aim, target. Hence, Butt has come to describe an individual who lived near the archery butts, or perhaps who was himself an archer. The vicar George Butt (1741 - 1795) was appointed Chaplain to King George 111 in 1783 and in 1883 Sir Charles Parker Butt (1830 - 1892) was appointed Justice of the High Court and Knighted.