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143

BULLEN—BULLER—BULLEY.

afterwards joined the Hinchinbroke[1] 28, Capt. Horatio Nelson, whom he accompanied, in 1780, in the armament against Fort St. Juan, on the Spanish Main.[2] He then returned to the Lion, commanded, as at first, by Capt. Cornwallis, and, ultimately, by Capts. Wm. Fooks [errata 1] and Pigot; and, on being lent to the Prince George 90, Capt. John Williams, he participated, as officer in charge of half the middle gundeck, in Rodney’s victory over the Comte de Grasse, 12 April, 1782, after a glorious conflict, in which the Prince George occupied a very conspicuous position, and had 9 men killed and 20 wounded. As Lieutenant, Mr. Bullen’s subsequent appointments were – 2 May, 1785, and 6 July, 1786, to the Carnatic and Bombay Castle 74’s, guardships at Plymouth, both commanded by Capt. Anthony Jas. Pye Molloy – 16 June, 1790, to the Monarch 74, Capt. Peter Rainier, fitting at Spithead for the East Indies – 6 Feb. 1793, to the Agamemnon 64, Capt. Horatio Nelson, actively employed in the Mediterranean – and, 11 Sept. following, to the Victory 100, flag-ship of Lord Hood at Toulon. At the defence of the latter place against the revolutionists he held for three weeks the volunteered command of Fort Mulgrave, where the bursting of a 36-pounder killed and wounded every one present except himself and Capt. Walter Serocold. On 20 Nov. 1793, Mr. Bullen’s exertions were rewarded by his promotion to the command of the Mulette 20, but, the latter vessel being absent, he was appointed Acting-Captain of the Proselyte frigate. In that ship, with the view of rescuing 300 Spanish and Neapolitan troops, who would otherwise inevitably have fallen into the hands of the French, he was the last, when Toulon was evacuated, to quit the harbour; and so impracticable had his escape, in consequence of this voluntary act of humanity, been considered, that Lord Hood, in the despatches he was about to send home, had actually returned the Proselyte as lost. During the early part of the siege of Bastia, in March, 1794, Capt. Bullen served as a Volunteer under Capt. Serocold, who had superseded him in the Proselyte, out of which ship they were both burnt by red-hot shot, and, towards the close of the operations, he commanded an advanced battery. His services throughout were reported by Nelson in the highest possible terms. He invalided in July of the same year, and was afterwards, in the course of 1796, appointed, as a Volunteer, to the Santa Margaritta, of 40 guns and 237 men, Capt. Thos. Byam Martin, and, as Commander and Acting-Captain, to the Scourge sloop, and Alexander 74 – in the first of which ships he assisted in the management of the main-deck guns, and distinguished himself by his meritorious conduct, at the recapture, on 8 June, near Waterford, of the Tamise, of 40 guns and 306 men, of whom 32 were killed and 19 wounded, while of the British only 2 were slain and 3 wounded, after a close and gallant action of 20 minutes.[3] Capt. Bullen, who was advanced to Post-rank 24 Nov. 1796, subsequently commanded, for want of ability to procure a ship, the Lynn Regis district of Sea Fencibles, from 26 Sept. 1804, until the disbandment of that corps in 1810. He has since been on half-pay. He became a Rear-Admiral 28 Aug. 1819 – a Vice-Admiral 12 Nov. 1840 – and a full Admiral 23 Nov. 1841.

Admiral Bullen married, in 1801, Margaret Ann, only daughter of the late W. Seafe, Esq., of the Leages, co. Durham, barrister-at-law. Agent – J. Hinxman.



BULLEN. (Lieutenant, 1830.)

Richard Edward Bullen passed his examination in 1828; obtained his commission 26 Feb. 1830; and was afterwards appointed – 31 Dec. 1831, to the Columbine 18, Capt. Hen. Ommanney Love, in the West Indies – 15 July, 1834, to the Hastings 74, flag-ship off Lisbon of Sir Wm. Hall Gage – 30 Sept. 1835, to the Dee steam-vessel, employed in North America and the West Indies – 12 Dec. 1836, as First-Lieutenant, to the Madagascar 46, Capts. Sir John Strutt Peyton and Provo Wm. Parry Wallis, similarly stationed – 27 March, 1839, to the Coast Guard – and, 22 Sept. 1841, again as Senior, to the Belvidera 38, Capt. Hon. Geo. Grey, in the Mediterranean. He was superseded towards the close of 1842; and is at present on half-pay. Agents – Coplands and Burnett.



BULLER. (Lieutenant, 1828.)

Edward Buller entered the Navy 16 Feb. 1818; passed his examination in 1824; was promoted, 29 March, 1828, into the Menai 26, Capt. Thos. Bourchier, on the South America station; and since 1830 has been unemployed.



BULLER. (Commander, 1817. f-p., 11; h-p., 30.)

Thomas Wentworth Buller is second son of the late Jas. Buller, Esq., of Downes and Shillingham, upwards of 20 years M.P. for Exeter, by Anne, daughter of the Right Rev. Wm. Buller, Bishop of Exeter; brother of the present Jas. Wentworth Buller, Esq., of Downes, Deputy Lieutenant for Devonshire, and formerly representative in Parliament for Exeter; nephew of the late Admiral Sir John Thos. Duckworth, Bart., G.C.B.; and cousin both of the late Vice-Admiral Sir Edw. Buller, Bart.,[4] and of the present Lieut.-General Fred. Buller.

This officer entered the Navy, 7 June, 1806, in a subordinate capacity, on board La Résolue, Lieut. Commander Nicolas, lying at Plymouth, but soon afterwards became Midshipman of the Malta 84, Capt. Edw. Buller, employed off Cadiz. In June, 1807, he removed to the Euryalus 36, Capt. Geo. Heneage Lawrence Dundas, under whom he escorted several thousand troops, commanded by the late Sir John Moore, from Gibraltar to England – thence conveyed to Gottenborg and back the Duke of Angouleme and other members of the French Royal Family – attended the expedition to the Walcheren in Aug. 1809 – and, on 18 Nov. following, assisted in capturing L’Etoile privateer, of 14 guns and 48 men. From Jan. 1810, until Oct. 1812, Mr. Buller next served in the Mediterranean, on board the Tigre 74, Capt. Benj. Hallowell, and again in the Malta, bearing the flag of the same officer. He was then transferred to the Antelope 50, flagship at Portsmouth of Sir John Thos. Duckworth; and, on 8 Dec. in the latter year, he was advanced to the rank of Lieutenant. His subsequent appointments were – 5 Feb. 1813, to the Indus 74, Capt. Wm. Hall Gage, employed in the North Sea – 16 April, 1814, to the Diomede troop-ship, Capt. Chas. Montagu Fabian, in which he sailed for America, where, in Jan. 1815, he joined the Euryalus 36, Capt. Chas. Napier – and, 17 June, 1815, to the Impregnable 104, as Flag-Lieutenant to his uncle. Sir J. T. Duckworth, then Port-Admiral at Plymouth. He was advanced to his present rank 19 April, 1817, and has since been on half-pay.

Commander Buller married, 24 Oct. 1827, Ann, only daughter of the late Edw. Divett, Esq., of Bystock, co. Devon, by whom he has issue.



BULLEY. (Lieut., 1826. f-p., 31; h-p., 4.)

John Bulley was born 22 Dec. 1797, at St. John’s, Newfoundland.

This officer entered the Navy, 12 Feb. 1812, as

  1. Correction: Fooks should be amended to Fowkes : detail

  1. The Hinchinbroke was the first frigate commanded by Lord Nelson.
  2. Admiral Bullen has long been the only survivor of that fatal expedition.
  3. Vide Gaz. 1796, p. 577.
  4. Sir Edward Buller was born 24 Dec. 1764, and entered the Navy at the age of twelve. He served as midshipman of the Courageuxx in the engagement between Keppel and D’Orvilliers, 27 July, 1778; was on board the Sceptre in most of Sir Edward Hughes’ actions with M. de Suffrein, in one of which he was slightly wounded; and commanded the Chaser 14, in the attack on Cuddalore in Jane, 1783 – the Crescent 36, at the capture of a Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay in Aug. 1796 – and, with particular distinction, the Malta 84, in Sir Robert Calder’s action. He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral in 1808, raised to the dignity of a Baronet in the course of the same year, and appointed in 1809-12 to a command at Plymouth and in the Channel Fleet. He died a Vice-Admiral of the Red in 1824.