Raymond Butt FRAS | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1941-02-26)26 February 1941 Colchester, Essex, England |
| Died | 23 March 2018(2018-03-23) (aged 77) |
| Education | The King's School, Peterborough |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Occupation | Teacher |
| Known for | Published a directory of every railway station in Britain |
Raymond Venimore Jack ButtFRAS (26 February 1941 – 23 March 2018) was a British schoolteacher and fellow of theRoyal Astronomical Society. An accomplished rower and coach, he twice won the Boston rowing marathon. He was a member of the Stewards' Enclosure atHenley Royal Regatta for nearly 50 years.
He was said to be able to recitepi to 3,500 places and to have once memorised the entire British railway timetable. He formed a large collection of railway tickets and in 1995 published a directory of "every station, halt, platform and stopping place on the British passenger network".[1]
Raymond Butt, also later known as Peter,[2] was born in Colchester, Essex, on 26 February 1941 to Herbert Butt and his wife Kathleen Butt née Upchurch. He was educated at theKing's School, Peterborough, where he was a chorister and developed an interest in rowing.
He studiednatural philosophy (physics) at theUniversity of Edinburgh where he was taught by the futureNobel laureatePeter Higgs and the mathematicianAlexander Aitken.[3] He married Jane Woods in 1980 and the couple had a son and a daughter. They divorced in 1989.[3]
Butt trained as a teacher at Cambridge from where in 1965 he joinedAbingdon School where he taught physics and coached rowing before moving toThe King's School, Canterbury, where he taught physics and astronomy and continued as a rowing coach. His pupils at The King's School includedMichael Foale, the first British-born astronaut. Hisparty pieces there were said to include recitingpi to 3,500 places and having once memorised the entire British railway timetable.[3][4]
He created the observatory at The King's School and earned a master's degree in astrophysics. He was elected a fellow of theRoyal Astronomical Society in 1977[3] and jointly authored scientific papers about the Moon. He formed a large collection of railway tickets[3] and in 1995 published a directory of "every station, halt, platform and stopping place on the British passenger network".[1]
After his retirement from teaching in 1998 he worked for a decade as anusher at Ashford County Court and was an examiner for theBritish Physics Olympiad.[2]
He rowed at theHenley Royal Regatta in 1968 when he competed in theSilver Goblets competition forcoxless pairs and in 1969 was elected to the Stewards' Enclosure there, performing nearly 50 years service.[3][4] He twice won theBoston rowing marathon.[3] At The King's School he implemented new techniques of rowing based on his knowledge of physics that involved the rowers pausing for a split second at the end of each stroke.[4]
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Late in life, Butt converted from theChurch of England to theEastern Orthodox Church, taking the name of Peter and becoming a reader at theSt Edward the Martyr Orthodox Church in Brookwood, Surrey, for which he was required to learn the Greek and Slavonic liturgy. He died from the effects ofpancreatic cancer on 23 March 2018.[3] His funeral was at the Saint Edward Brotherhood at Brookwood, Woking, according to theByzantine Rite.[5]