Edward Paine Butler (1811-1849), lawyer, and his wife Martha Sarah Butler (née Asprey, 1811-1864), arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1835. Edward was the eldest son of lawyer Gamaliel Butler (1783-1852) and his wife Sarah, who had emigrated to Van Diemen's Land in 1824, leaving their six English-born children in the care of relatives. Gamaliel invested in land and established a legal practice in Hobart in 1824. Soon after his marriage to Martha, Edward followed his father to Van Diemen's Land to take up a position in this business. It has also been suggested that he came to the colony for its more salubrious climate, suffering as he did from tuberculosis. Hobart newspapers through the 1830s and 1840s document professional and personal involvement in property and land matters of Edward and his father. Martha and Edward settled in Battery Point in a home named Bellevue and had five children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Edward died of tuberculosis, aged 39, at Bellevue, in February 1849. Martha did not remarry and died in 1864. The business established by Gamaliel Butler in 1824 - Butler, McIntyre & Butler - is still operating and is the oldest law firm in Tasmania.
