1625. “ The Marriage of Cousins ” was a work of considerable theological learning, proving that such 
affinity was no bar to marriage; and Dr. Prideaux, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, said that it was 
the best ever written on the subject. It aroused widespread notice. It arose out of the marriage in Wootton 
Church of Butler’s son, William, to a cousin, Mary Butler, in 1624. 
1633. “ The English Grammar,” signed “ Wotton, Sept. 11, An. D. 1633 ” was “ graciously received 
of His Grace’s sacred hands ” i.e. by Charles I. The chaotic spelling of his times led Butler to invent a 
system of spelling words in line with their accepted sounds, and also place a number of additional letters 
representing these sounds in the alphabet. This phonetic spelling was so drastic, that it hindered the 
spread of his books, agitated the great Dr. Johnson 122 years later in the Preface to the Dictionary (1755), 
and has aroused interest in our own times. Butler, as a spelling reformer on less drastic lines, might well 
have produced lasting effects on the English language. 
1636. “ The Principles of Music.” This was the only book on the theory of music written in the reign 
of Charles I, to whom it was dedicated. Butler used his phonetic spelling, regardless of convention. Two 
early compilers of our musical history take note of his book : Hawkins describes it as “ learned and valu- 
able,” and Burney says, “ this book contains more knowledge in a small compass than any other of the kind 
in our language.” In Book II he deals with musical instruments, the behaviour of the choir, the Puritans’ 
objections to music used in Church and for such purposes as dancing. He insists that Church music can be 
used as an outpouring of the Spirit, and that in every Church one should aim at perfection. As to dancing 
and similar uses of music he concludes, “ there is no sufficient cause that we should wilfully deprive ourselves 
of these permitted comforts.” His last written words occur here, and indicate the background of piety, 
honest thought, and conscientious living, which ennoble Charles Butler, the country parson. “ Live Soberly, 
Righteously and Holily; Holily in respect to God; Righteously in respect of our Neighbour, Soberly in 
respect of Ourselves.” 
The Faithful Vicar of Wootton for nearly Half-a-Century (1600-1647). For 43 years Butler wrote 
his entries of baptisms, weddings, and burials in our Register in Latin and in neat round handwriting. 
For 40 years our splendid Churchwardens’ Accounts give us glimpses of his concern for the fabric and 
furnishings of Wootton Church, and the worship offered there. The Civil War put a stop to both records 
in the early forties of the 17th century. 
BUTLER’S FAMILY 
The Register tells us of Butler’s three sons, William, Edmund, Richard, baptised at Wootton : Edmund’s 
only son, Charles, and three grandsons were also baptised here, and so were Richard’s three sons and only 
daughter. Butler’s daughter, Briget, was buried at Wootton aged nine months in 1605 : and his other 
daughter, Elizabeth, baptised in 1612, and married on St. Valentine’s Day in 1633 to the Reverend Richard 
White, curate of Eastrop, was his “ honey girl.” Butler gave her this name, so says John Aubrey, because 
he had put aside some hives of bees at her birth, and these yielded a marriage portion of £400 ! Elizabeth’s 
great grandson was Gilbert White, the famous naturalist and country parson at Selborne. Her husband 
became Rector of Worting in 1639, and Vicar of Basingstoke 1661-85. Finally there is the record of Mrs. 
Butler’s death at Wootton in 1628; and Butler was a widower for nearly 20 years. There was poverty at 
Wootton Vicarage : and 90% of the benefices in England were valued at less than £26 a year. The slender 
income originally fixed for a celibate no longer matched the needs of a married clergy. Butler’s habit of 
experimenting in the fields of Nature probably proved expensive, for when he was observing the habits of 
the silkworms, he says sadly : “ I doubt me if she will never quit cost.” Probably Mrs. Butler made up 
for this loss by her work in her stillroom, where honey was turned to many uses, as ointment, plasters 
and good old mead. Bee-keeping probably was profitable, for “ whoso keepe wel sheepe or bee’n, sleepe 
or wake, their thrift cooms in.” The two fields named Honeyfield and Waxhanger within a few hundred 
yards of the Vicarage may hold memories of Butler’s time. 
THE WITHERS OF MANYDOWN 
The Register also reminds us of the great house of Manydown, one mile to the south-west of the Church, 
the home of the Withers from 1389. Squire John Wither was buried by Butler in 1620; and his grave-cover 
in the chancel bears lovely lettering and armorials. His gift, a fine silver communion cup and cover-paten 
dated 1625, was first used by Butler. Our oldest mural tablet near the south door is in memory of his 
daughter-in-law, Susanna Wither, who was buried with three of her children in the “ Church lie ” in 1632. 
His son, Richard, gave a new Bible, the noble Authorised Version, in 1628 in memory of a brother, James 
Wither, Fellow of New College, Oxford, who died there in the previous year. His nephew, George V ither, 
of Bentworth, wrote the first Anglican hymn-book, “ Hymnes and Songes of the Church,” in 1623 with a 
glorious treasury of tunes by Orlando Gibbon; and it is likely that the music-loving Butler would have these 
sung by a choir in the west gallery with its “ pare of new stares ” set up in Wootton Church in D76. 
Squire William Wither succeeded his father, John, at Manydown, and became a prominent Parliamentarian, 
dying in 1653, six years after Butler’s death. The Register records no less than 14 Baptisms, 3 V eddings, 
and 9 Burials connected with the Wither Family in Butler’s time. 
