James George Anson Butler, 5th Marquess of Ormonde (18 April 1890 – 21 June 1949) was the son of James Arthur Wellington Foley Butler, 4th Marquess of Ormonde and American heiress Ellen Stager, daughter of Union General Anson Stager.
Biography Early life George Butler was born at 21 Park Lane, Mayfair, the home of his paternal grandmother the Dowager Marchioness of Ormonde. His father Lord Arthur Butler was the younger brother and heir-presumptive of James Butler, 3rd Marquess of Ormonde. At the time of George's birth Lord Ormonde had been married for eighteen years but had not fathered any sons; as a result George's succession to the Ormonde family titles and estates was considered a likely eventuality.
George's mother Lady Arthur Butler was an American heiress, and her fortune allowed his parents to acquire the lease of a London House at 7 Portman Square in 1899, as well as the freehold of a medium-sized Country Manor with 170 acres at Gennings Park in Kent in 1901. As a boy he, along with his parents, were present Kilkenny Castle during the visit of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1904.Kirwan, J. (2018). The Chief Butlers of Ireland and the House of Ormond: An Illustrated Guide to the Genealogical History: An Illustrated Genealogical Guide. Irish Academic Press Ltd. ISBN 1911024043. pp. xvi–xvii.
George completed his schooling at Harrow, before enrolling at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He joined the 1st Life Guards regiment and saw active service during the First World War, during which he was wounded. He retired from the British Army in 1920, but retained the Rank of Major in the Reserve of Officers.
Inheritance and Estates Upon the death of his uncle, James Butler, 3rd Marquess of Ormonde, George's father Lord Arthur became the 4th Marquess of Ormonde. As the oldest son and heir to the family titles, George became entitled to use the courtesy title Earl of Ossory, which he was known by until his father's death in 1943. Under the terms of the 3rd Marquess' Will, Lord Ossory inherited a life interest in the family seat of Kilkenny Castle and several other estates traditionally owned by the Marquess of Ormonde. This was made in an attempt to avoid burdening the Estate with death duties for both the 3rd and 4th Marquesses. His father, the 4th Marquess, was supported by the independent wealth of his American wife, Ellen Stager.
The family's English estates were sold in the early 1920s to pay off the death duties payable on the estates following the death of Ossory's Uncle; some £160,000 in taxes, charges and administration fees were payable by the estate, which was valued at approximately £400,000 to £450,000.Dooley, T. (1993). The Decline of the Ormonde Estate 1893 - 1950. Old Kilkenny Review 1993. Kilkenny Archaeological Society. <https://kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie/library/old-kilkenny-review-index/> Accessed 18 May 2025. In addition to the significant costs charged on the estate after the Third Marquess' death, George was also required to make substantial annual outlays from the estate income to his aunt and uncles.
Under the terms of their marriage settlement, The Third Marquess' widow Elizabeth, Dowager Marchioness of Ormonde was entitled to a life annuity of £3,000 from the Ormonde Estates. Under the terms of his will, the Third Marquess of Ormonde had provided for additional annuities of £3,000 to George's father Arthur Butler, 4th Marquess of Ormonde for life, and £275 to Lord Theobald Butler, which would also be payable to Lord Theobald's wife during her lifetime if she outlived her husband.
Ireland The bulk of the Irish landed estates of the Butlers of Ormonde had been sold in 1903 under the Wyndham Land Acts. When Lord Ossory inherited the life-tenancy of the Ormonde Settled Estates Trust in 1919, the family's Irish Landholding had been reduced to 95 acres in and around Kilkenny Castle, 491 acres at Dunmore Park, 900 acres at Garryricken, and some 5,630 acres of woodland (mostly used for forestry and shooting) at the family's shooting lodge at Ballyknockane, Tipperary.
In March of 1921 the 239-acre Garryricken House estate, and an adjoining 277-acre estate which had already been divided into 14 separate lots were sold at the behest of Lord Ossory and his Uncle's Executors.
Kilkenny Castle Following his uncle's death in 1919, Lord and Lady Ossory took up residence at Kilkenny Castle in 1920.
Surviving records from the 1926 Irish Free State census show that in 1926 the Ossory's employed ten servants who lived at the Castle, including a housekeeper, cook, three housemaids, one kitchen maid, a lady's maid, dairy maid, gate lodge keeper, and another male whose role was listed as an unspecified domestic servant (likely a Butler). Lord Ossory also employed chauffeur, motor driver, head gardener and three gardeners who lived in nearby buildings situated on The Parade in Kilkenny City.
The combination of rising taxes and decline income, as well as large death duties levied on the estate in 1919 placed an ever-increasing strain on Lord Ossory's ability to maintain Kilkenny Castle as a private residence. A number of family charges made under the Will and Marriage Settlement of the Third Marquess placed further strain on the falling income of the estate; between 1919 and 1927, the cost of these charge averaged between £2,500 and £4,500.Dooley, T. (1993). The Decline of the Ormonde Estate 1893 - 1950. Old Kilkenny Review 1993. Kilkenny Archaeological Society. <https://kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie/library/old-kilkenny-review-index/> Accessed 9 October 2022. The gradual decline in the family's ability to pay for the Castle is reflected in the outlays which were made on general maintenance and living costs; in 1904 this amount was some £4,400, but this had fallen to £2,166 in the 1920s, and approximately £1,200 in the early 1930s.
Owing to the increasing financial burden of maintaining the castle as a private home, Lord and Lady Ossory vacated Kilkenny Castle in 1935, and thereafter used the family shooting lodge Ballyknockane Lodge, Tipperary as their primary residence during the months of the year they spent in Ireland. Much of the contents of the castle were sold in 1935 and the castle was left neglected during the late 1930s. In 1940 the Castle was requisitioned by the Irish Military authorities. In 1947 George sold the contents of the castle's Muniment Room to the Irish State for £20,000; at the time of their sale they were reputed to be the largest single collection of Medieval deeds and records in Ireland. His brother and successor Arthur Butler, 6th Marquess of Ormonde later obtained retrospective approval from the High Court of Ireland for the sale, as the contents of the muniment room were legally held within the Ormonde Settled Estates Trust, which George had only held a life interest in.
1922 Siege of Kilkenny Castle During the broader slide towards civil war in spring 1922, Kilkenny Castle was briefly occupied by anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army (“Irregular”) forces before being retaken by Pro-Treaty (“Free State”) troops whilst Lord and Lady Ossory were in residence. On 28 April 1922, Irregulars seized key buildings in Kilkenny and by the morning of 2 May a detachment of twenty-two had entered the castle courtyard and ordered Lord Ossory and his household to evacuate. Ossory refused, sheltering with his staff inside the castle while Free State reinforcements—some two hundred soldiers transported from Dublin and supported by an armoured car—began isolating and bombarding the anti-Treaty positions. Sporadic sniper fire and exchanges around high points such as St Canice’s tower continued through 2–3 May until the armoured car breached the main gate on the evening of 3 May, precipitating the surrender of the Irregulars. Remarkably, no fatalities were recorded, though property damage within the castle was later estimated at nearly £1,000. In his diary Ossory recalled his decision to remain—to prevent looting and destruction—and noted the unusually cordial treatment of the captured Irregulars, who were released on 5 May and entertained by local officers before dispersing to other anti-Treaty units.
Marriage and descendants He married the Hon. Sybil Inna Mildred Fellowes, daughter of William Henry Fellowes, 2nd Baron de Ramsey and Lady Rosamond Fellowes, Baroness de Ramsey, on 23 February 1915. The Fellowes and Butlers seem to have been old family friends; George's grandmother Frances, Marchioness of Ormonde, attended the wedding of Sybil's parents in 1877.The Peterborough and Huntingdonshire Standard, Saturday, 21 Jul 1877, p. 3 His parents, then Lord and Lady Arthur Butler, settled an annuity of £1,100 on George and Sybil, with £600 to be paid to Sybil for her life if George predeceased her.National Library of Ireland, The Ormonde Papers, Collection No. 176, Item MS 48,377/12, https://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/176_Ormond%20Papers%20(Additional)%20Collection%20List.pdf Sybil received a dowry of £2,000 from her father Lord de Ramsay, an annuity of £400, and a fifth-share of her mother's £30,000 marriage settlement to be paid on her mother's death as part of the settlement. Following her father's death in 1925, Lady Ossory's settlement was increased to £17,500 under the terms of his will. In 1929 Lady Ormonde settled an additional £15,000 in Trust to George and Sybil, which provided for an additional £400 annuity for Sybil in the event of George's death.National Library of Ireland, The Ormonde Papers, Collection No. 176, Item MS MS 48,377/12, https://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/176_Ormond%20Papers%20(Additional)%20Collection%20List.pdf They had two children: James Anthony Butler, Viscount Thurles (1916–1940), died unmarried serving in Second World War as Driver, Royal Army Service Corps CWGC Casualty record, under name "James Anthony Butler Thurles". Lady Moyra Butler (1920–1959) married (1) Charles Weld-Forester and (2) Count Guy van den Steen de Jehay. Piers Weld-Forester (1946 - 1977) Gerard van den Steen (b. 1949) (m. Patricia Delloye) Moyra van den Steen Ségolène van den Steen Géraldine van den Steen
Lord and Lady Ossory were recorded as living at 19 Gloucester Place, St Marylebone, London in 1920.The National Library of Ireland, The Ormond Papers (Collection No. 176), Item MS 48,377/8, https://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/176_Ormond%20Papers%20(Additional)%20Collection%20List.pdf
Lady Ormonde's mother, Lady Rosamond Spencer-Churchill was the daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, the aunt of Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough (who was married to the most famous of the American 'Dollar Princesses', Consuelo Vanderbilt) and the sister of Lord Randolph Churchill, father of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Lady Ormonde was therefore the first cousin of Winston Churchill.
Lady Moyra married, firstly, Charles Weld-Forester (who was the son of Major Hon. Edric Weld-Forester (who in turn was the son of the 5th Baron Forester of Willey Park) and Lady Victoria Wynn-Carington (who was the daughter of the 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire and a Lady-in-Waiting to Mary of Teck) on 20 April 1940. They had one son, Piers Edric Weld-Forester. The couple were divorced in 1948, and on 3 August of the same year, she married Count Guy Jacques van den Steen de Jehay, a Belgian nobleman.