Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

John Bullock (31 December 1731 – 28 December 1809) was an English politician and military officer who sat in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1754 to 1810, representing the constituencies of

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham District, Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, north of the coastal town of Shoreha ...

and

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. Born in Faulkbourne,

, he was a prominent member of the

Bullock family The Bullock family traces its roots to the 12th century, living primarily in the southern English counties of Berkshire and Essex from the mid-Norman period to the late Victorian era. Origins of the name The name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ...

whose long service in the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

resulted in the title of

father of the House Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously ...

being bestowed on him.Bullock, Llewellyn C W, ''Memoirs of the Bullock Family'', A J Lawrence 1905

Early years

John Bullock was born on 13 December 1731 in Faulkbourne,

. He was the eldest surviving son of Josiah Bullock J.P. D.L. of Faulkbourne and Mincing Lane, London and Hannah Cooke, youngest daughter of Sir Thomas Cooke, Member of Parliament for Colchester and governor of

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. Bullock was educated as a fellow commoner at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

and at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

(1750). He succeeded to Faulkbourne Hall on the death of his father in 1752.

Political career

At the age of 23, he embarked on a parliamentary career that lasted 56 years and culminated in him becoming father of the house until his death. His period in the house spanned the

Seven Years’ War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, the

War of American Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, the French Revolution and the earlier

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. He sat as a fellow member with the Pitts,

Burke Burke (; ) is a Normans in Ireland, Norman-Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (''circa'' 1160–1206) had the surname'' de B ...

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

and Sheridan. He commenced his parliamentary career in 1754 as member for

; he was returned twice more for the borough in 1761 and in 1768 (polling 443 votes against the 455 of John Huske and the 328 of Jon Hennker). In 1774, he temporarily abandoned his parliamentary career for reasons of cost and it was not until 1780 that he returned to the house. He was returned as member for

in Sussex in 1780, which returned two members until the Reform Bill of 1832. Steyning began returning two Members of Parliament from 1278 and as a

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or Electoral district, constituency in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, or the United Kin ...

made up of a depopulated port became similar to

Dunwich Dunwich () is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon ...

until the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

. In 1784, he shared the representation of the

County of Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

with Thomas Bramston of Screens and sat as Whig Member for the county continuously and without contest for 26 years until his death in 1809. This absence of contest was due a "family compact", which was the outcome of the ruinous expenses of the two previous elections, by which for more than thirty years one Whig and one Tory were regularly returned. The colonel's second co-member was Admiral Harvey who commanded the “Téméraire” at

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * The Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England Trafalgar may also refer to: Places * Cape Trafalgar, a headland in ...

. The colonel is recorded as being a member of

Boodle's Boodle's is a gentlemen's club in London, England, with its clubhouse located at 28 St James's Street. Founded in January 1762 by Lord Shelburne, who later became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and then 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, it is t ...

club in St James's in 1787. Despite the efforts of other parliamentarians, the colonel resisted attempts to make him understand the complexities of foreign affairs and his kinsman, the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of Fran ...

, described him as "a good-natured fox-hunting boy"; the colonel's grandfather was Edward Bullock MP, of Faulkbourne Hall (1663-1705), whose relative was Elizabeth Howland, Duchess of Bedford, wife of

Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford KG (1 November 1680 – 26 May 1711) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the son of William Russell, Lord Russell, and his wife Lady Rachel Wriothesley. From 1683 until 1694, he was styled L ...

. Both the colonel and the Duke of Bedford had their portraits painted in the early 1770s by

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

. Colonel Bullock never made a speech in Parliament during his career. The long duration of the "compact" was due to the high respect in which Colonel Bullock was held throughout the county for his political independence and he was well-liked. At his death, the peaceful state of affairs came to an end.Bullock, Osmund, ''Faulkbourne and the Bullocks'', 2000

Military service

Bullock was appointed an officer in the East Essex Militia, a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

-sized unit of the British Militia, at the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in 1759. He was the second in command of the unit when it was first mustered on 15 November 1759 and when it was mustered again on 19 April 1778 after the outbreak of the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Faulkbourne

He took a keen interest in Faulkbourne Hall and undertook many improvements to the house and grounds in the 18th century. A drawing shows a Palladianisation of the west front, but the later work seems to have taken it back to – and extended – the gothic original look. He ordered fine tapestries from Aubusson in France and armorial porcelain from China. A patron of the arts, he founded a wide-ranging collection of pictures. In 1803, the house contained many good paintings by

van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of Frans van Dyck, a wealt ...

, Van de Velde,

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

Sir William Beechey Sir William Beechey (12 December 175328 January 1839) was a British portraitist during the golden age of British painting. Early life Beechey was born at Burford, Oxfordshire, on 12 December 1753, the son of William Beechey, a solicitor, and ...

, Sartorius and other masters.

Family

Whilst his wife Elizabeth (née Lant) was a considerable heiress to large slum estates in Southwark of over 17 acres and containing 400 houses, he exhausted a large part of her fortune on Parliamentary life. She died in 1793 and they had no children. He left his estates on his death, in 1809, to his nephew, Jonathan Josiah Christopher Watson, son of his sister, Elizabeth who had married Jonathan Watson JP DL FRS of Ringhall in Suffolk. In 1810, Jonathan Josiah Christopher took the surname Bullock under the

Royal sign-manual The royal sign-manual is the signature of the sovereign, by the affixing of which the monarch expresses their pleasure either by order, commission, or warrant (law), warrant. A sign-manual warrant may be either an executive act (for example, an a ...

. The death of the colonel without issue led to the first break in the regular family succession for more than 200 years, since John Bullock of

Moulsham Moulsham is a suburb of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It is located to the south of the city centre and has two distinct areas: Old Moulsham and Moulsham Lodge. History Moulsham is located on the south side of the River Chelmer. Moulsham Street fo ...

founded the Essex Branch of the family.

Gainsborough portrait

In the early 1770s, a fine portrait was painted by

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, Saskatchewan, Ca ...

showing the colonel in full uniform resting his left elbow on a pedestal which supports a classic urn. In his right hand, he holds his laced hat. By his side sits a large Newfoundland dog. In the background are trees and water. The Gainsborough portrait has been at auction several times in the past 25 years: it made £1.2m in 1987, and then £2.65m in 2002, both times setting a world record for Gainsborough. Before the 1987 sale it had been in the same British collection for 90 years - for a long time it was on loan to the government, and hung at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

for two years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullock, John 1731 births 1809 deaths People from Braintree District Alumni of Clare Hall, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 Members of Parliament for Maldon