Lt Gen Sir William Butler, G.C.B. with Headquarters Staff, Devenport, 1905

Sir William Butler, an Irishman, entered the army in the 69th Foot [later the Durham Light Infantry] in 1838 and this photograph dates from the year in which he retired. The photograph measures 11.5 x 9.5ins and is on an old album leaf. The General in the portrait well justifies his Spy caricature portrait. His very long career has seen him serve in the 1870-1 Red River campaign, under Wolseley in both the Ashanti and Zulu campaigns, the Sudan and South Africa where he was commander in chief in 1898. The reverse has a similarly sized portrait showing the R A Headquarters Staff at Devenport in 1904.