Family and Education

bap. 8 Oct. 1630, 3rd but 1st surv. s. of William Bull of the Middle Temple and Shapwick by Jane, da. and coh. of Henry Southworth, mercer, of London and Wells, Som.  educ. I. Temple 1651, called 1658.  m. 14 Apr. 1658, Elizabeth (d. 1712), da. of Robert Hunt† of Compton Pauncefoot, Som., 3s. d.v.p. 2da.  suc. fa. 1676.1

Offices Held

Sheriff, Som. 1683–4.

Biography

A barrister of the Inner Temple, Bull was re-elected for Bridgwater in 1690, and was listed by Lord Carmarthen (Sir Thomas Osborne†) as a Whig, probably in error since he had been a Tory in the Convention. He was nevertheless noted as a supporter of the Court in two more of Carmarthen’s 1690 lists, but in April 1691 appeared as a Country party supporter in Robert Harley’s* list. A senior figure among the county gentry, he was reappointed a deputy-lieutenant in June 1690, having been first appointed the previous year. He was granted leave of absence for the recovery of his health on 17 Dec. 1691 but may not have returned to Westminster since he died ‘suddenly’ of diabetes on 28 Jan. 1692 and was buried at Shapwick. His elder daughter being deaf and dumb, his estates passed to his younger daughter, the future wife of George Dodington*.2

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: Paula Watson

Notes

• 1. Collinson, Som. iii. 428; A. J. Jewers, Wells Cathedral, 49.
• 2. Jewers, 49; Luttrell, Brief Relation, ii. 347; Add. 70016, f. 18.