Fernande Butler

Biography

Fernande Marie Marguerite Butler (née Nicolle) was born in Houlgate-Beuzavel, Houlgate, Calvasos, Normandie, France. She was the daughter of Hilliare Pierre Louis Albert Nicolle and Delphine Marie Nicolle (née Morin). She was sent abroad to a convent in England at the age of eleven before returning home to live with her widowed mother in Rouen at the outbreak of war. Fernande married Australian serviceman Sergeant Richard Lionel Butler at the Rouen Town Hall on 28 August 1919. She accompanied her new husband on his return to Australia, with the couple arriving in Melbourne aboard the "Lucie Woerman" on 20 January 1920. The couple settled in Sydney within months of their arrival where Fernande began a career as a model. An oil on canvas life sized portrait of Fernande painted by Norman Carter won the 1922 Archibald Prize. Fernande separated from her husband around 1922 and subsequently went on to have a career as an actress in several Australian films. Fernande later returned to France where she died on 3 June 1972.