History of Butterfields - independent funeral directors
Founded in 1874, Butterfields began when John Butterfield, a skilled joiner, began crafting quality coffins for local families. Around WWI, Charles Thompson Butterfield expanded the business to offer fully furnished funerals, becoming a carriage master with a fleet of hearses and 23 horses. His sons—William, Alfred, and Ronald—later joined, establishing what may have been the area’s first Chapel of Rest and shifting the focus to full funeral services, building the reputation of C.T. Butterfield and Sons.
By the 1950s, Butterfields had evolved into a funeral and carriage service, supplying transportation to several local funeral directors with a Rolls Royce fleet. In the late 1960s, family members earned N.A.F.D. diplomas in Funeral Directing, and Brian Butterfield qualied as an embalmer. Brian’s son, David, joined in 1982, achieving his diploma by age 18.
In 1994, under Brian, his wife Doreen, David, and his wife Susan, Butterfields began signicant upgrades: new funeral facilities, Jaguar vehicles, a memorial workshop, and state-of-the-art mortuary, all culminating in the opening of the Memorial Garden and Gallery in 2011.
A key piece of heritage is the Butterfields Horse-Drawn Hearse, which, after being sold in 1971 and later exported to Australia, was rediscovered and repurchased in 2008. Now fully restored, a Horse-Drawn Hearse is avaliable for those families who desire this historic service, preserving a special piece of Rotherham's funeral history and tradition.
