Chairs Mark the Square

        Mark Butcher

Mark Butcher was born in Suffolk, England, in 1814, to a family of cabinet-makers. He immigrated with his parents to Prince Edward Island in 1829.  In 1835, at the age of 21, Butcher opened of a Charlottetown workshop. Supported and encouraged by a market for locally-made furniture, his business flourished. By 1867, the factory was employing 40 people and had converted from horse-drawn power to steam machinery to run the wood-working lathes.  In 1874, he needed 20 additional joiners and cabinet-makers to meet the  ever-increasing demand for his furniture, and to assist with the production of other items. One carver specialized in figureheads for ships; others in the factory were engaged in making coffins as Butcher also provided undertaker services.  A retail shop was opened in Charlottetown with branch stores in Cardigan and Georgetown. Finished goods were also shipped to New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Butcher was active in the community in many other ways. He designed a market building for Charlottetown,  a powder magazine, and the Prince Street Methodist Church in conjunction with architect Thomas Alley, and he was a member of the Charlottetown City Council from 1865 to 1869.

Following his death in 1883, the business was taken over by his nephew Mark Wright, who continued it under his own name.