John Butler (architect)

John Butler (1828 – 1900) was a British architect who was the surveyor and chief architect for the Metropolitan Police in London between 1881 and 1895.

In the 1880s the number of police stations being built surged following political unrest and high-profile events such as the Whitechapel Murders.

Upon his appointment he undertook a survey of the police estate and replaced a lot of the buildings he found to be inadequate. His designs were influenced by the Queen Anne architectural style used by Richard Norman Shaw with whom he worked on the design of Scotland Yard between 1887 and 1890.

Butler was the fourth architect to hold the role of chief surveyor to the Metropolitan Police from its inception in 1842. He took over from Frederick Caiger, who'd held the role since 1868, and was succeeded by his son, John Dixon Butler, upon his retirement in 1895.