John Parker Buttfield

John Parker Buttfield was born on 28 August 1822 at Maidenhead, England.  He and his family arrived in South Australia on board the Baboo in 1848 from the mission fields in British Honduras.  During that voyage, his wife Anna Louisa, whom he had married on 25 October 1844, gave birth to their third child, Spencer Carey, named after his grandfather. The family soon made its way to the Adelaide Hills where John  found work as a missionary at Gumeracha, where he became the first minister to receive a salary.

After some difference of opinion with that congregation, he became the driving force in the building of the Kenton Valley Baptist Church in 1849. Before its completion he had often held services in any hut available for that purpose.  His next appointment was in 1851, at Uley, near present day One Tree Hill, where his brother Albert had a store.  By this time the family had expanded to six.  During their stay at Uley, Buttfield became a large landowner and a pioneer for the church.  Their property was named Careyville.

John at times gained too much attention, on one occasion his congregation sent a petition to the Baptist Church in Adelaide, protesting that he had taken part in a cricket match at One Tree Hill, where another his brother, Francis, was the local postmaster and storekeeper!  He retained his love for the sport all his life and as late as 1876 it was said that "his wielding of the willow proves that he would be a dangerous opponent", even though playing cricket was still considered unseemly of a Baptist minister.

He continued to work very hard for both the church and the school. By 1855 he had become Honorary Secretary of the Uleybury School Building Committee, and the following year on 6 December 1856 he sold to an acre of his land to the Committee on which the school was built.  For nearly five years he was also the teacher of the Uleybury school.  A school inspector after a visit reported that "Owing to the care he displays, and the consequent progress of his pupils, Mr Buttfield is deservedly esteemed as a teacher in the neighbourhood".

As a reverend he was required to travel lengthy distances.   On 25 April 1860 he was at Ardgour to perform the wedding ceremony between John Forbes, butcher of Smithfield and Margaret McLean. Three months later, on 12 July he was on his way to Lower Light for a similar occasion.  In 1861 he travelled to the Gawler Hills to perform the wedding between John Alexander of Glasgow and Margaret Graham, at Yattlunga, the residence of the bride's father.

While still at Uley, John’s wife, Anna Louisa died on 1 July 1862.  She was only thirty-six, and died due to complications following the birth of their eleventh child Percy Algeron.  A year later the family moved to Port Lincoln where John took up a new appointment.   

Port Lincoln proved too small to support the Reverends rather large family, so he decided to retire from the ministry for more remunerative work.  In 1866 John was appointed as Sub-Protector of Aborigines at Blinman for the Northern Region.  His position expanded to include a Special and Stipendiary Magistrate.  As Coroner he was often required to travel to nearby settlements or stations.  His many duties could involve long absences from his home, and so, mindful of the responsibilities of a large family, he married again on 3 September 1868 to Jessie Hay Cameron.  They were to have another eight children.