James Butler, 6th Marquess of Ormonde

James Arthur Norman Butler, 6th Marquess of Ormonde, CVO MC (25 April 1893 – 1971) was a British peer. He was the son of James Arthur Wellington Foley Butler, 4th Marquess of Ormonde.

Biography

He served in World War I (1914–1918). He was awarded of the Military Cross in 1918. He was appointed a Gentleman-at-Arms in 1936. Ormonde also fought in World War II (1940–1945). He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant of Kent between 1952 and 1955. He was High Steward of Wokingham from 1956. He was created Commander, Royal Victorian Order in 1960. Ormonde was the 30th Hereditary Chief Butler of Ireland.^[1]

Lord Ormonde reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and commander his regiment, the 17/21st Lancers.

He succeeded his brother James George Butler in 1949.

Marriage and Children

He married Jessie Carlos Clarke, daughter of Charles Carlos Clarke, on 26 January 1924. They had two daughters:

• Lady Jane Butler (b. 9 January 1925, d. 22 October 1992) married Peter Heaton
  • Mark Heaton (b. 1948)
• Lady Martha Butler (b. 14 January 1926, d. 12 August 2010) married Sir Ashley Charles Ponsonby, 2nd Bt
  • Sir Charles Ashley Ponsonby, 3rd Bt (b. 1951)
  • Rupert Spencer Ponsonby (b. 1953)
  • Luke Arthur Ponsonby (b. 1957)
  • John Piers Ponsonby (b. 1962)

His elder daughter, Lady Jane Butler was a renowned beauty and celebrated hostess. In 1943, she joined the WRNS, and was selected to go to Stanmore, where she worked with the German code-breaking group that operated the Enigma Machines. In 1945 she married Peter Heaton, a Clerk in the House of Lords, and lived in a house in Ralston Street, Chelsea. She had one son, Mark Heaton, who was born in 1948. She was divorced from Peter Heaton in 1952.

His younger daughter, Lady Martha Butler was a nurse during World War II. She married Sir Ashley Charles Gibbs Ponsonby, 2nd Bt in 1950. She had four sons.

Levy, Paul (26 October 1992). "Obituary: Lady Jane Heaton". The Independent. Retrieved 3 October 2016. 

In 1967, he sold his family's principal seat, Kilkenny Castle, to the City of Kilkenny for a token sum of £50.^[2]
As he had no male heirs of the body the titles went to a cousin, James Butler, 7th Marquess of Ormonde.

References