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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]
Mr. John Marten Butt
Mr. John Marten Butt, Government Auditor for Australasia of the Bank of New Zealand, is the only surviving son of the late Archdeacon Butt, of Marlborough, who came to New Zealand in 1842 as surgeon to Bishop Selwyn's mission, and who subsequently took holy orders, becoming the first incumbent of Christ's Church, Nelson. Mr. J. M. Butt was born in Nelson in 1845. He was one of the first party of Nelson College boys upon the founding of that institution, under the head mastership of the late Rev. J. C. Bagshawe. Entering the Bank of New Zealand in April, 1862, at Blenheim, Mr. Butt occupied various positions in that service on the West Coast goldfields and elsewhere up to 1875, when a year's leave of absence was granted him to enable him to visit Europe. Returning to active service in 1876, he was despatched to Fiji to take over the business of the Fiji Banking and Commercial Company, which had been acquired by the Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Butt remained in Fiji as manager of the Bank till 1883. During his residence there, and until the increasing stress of other duties necessitated his relinquishing it, he occupied, as appointee of the Crown, the office of warden (an office which in a Crown colony “of a severe type” corresponded approximately to that of mayor in colonies enjoying representative institutions), as well as that of chairman of the school board. In 1883, Mr. Butt was re-called to New Zealand to join the inspecting staff of the Bank, and upon the assumption by Mr. W. T. Holmes in 1891 of the office of general manager, was appointed inspector, a position he retained until his resignation in November 1894, when he was appointed to his present post. Mr. Butt is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers, London, and of the Royal Colonial Institute.
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