Description:Dr. John Kerr Butter sitting in his BSA car with his chauffeur, John William Wardle. He lived at Highfield House on Wolverhampton Road, Cannock. The house later became the Police Station, but was demolished in the 1950s.
Dr. Butter was born in Forfar, Scotland in 1856 and came to Cannock in the 1890s to set up his practice. He was well known as a Cannock doctor, but perhaps more remembered for his private zoo, kept at the back of the house. As well as giraffes, ostriches and chimpanzees, he had a kangaroo, an elephant, an ocelot and rare animals such as the fossa and phalanger. He attempted, without success, to train a zebra to pull his pony-drawn trap. He died in Cannock in April 1920 and his body was taken back to Scotland for cremation.
The chauffeur, John William Wardle, emigrated to Australia in 1928, where his relatives continue to live.