Sir William James Bull, 1st Baronet, (29 September 1863 – 23 January 1931) was an English solicitor and Conservative Party politician.

Biography

Bull was the son of Henry Bull, a solicitor, and his wife Cecilia Ann Howard, daughter of James Peter Howard. He was returned to Parliament for

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

in 1900, a seat he held until 1918, and then sat for Hammersmith South until 1929. Bull was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1905. That year Walter Long became

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

, and Bull was his Parliamentary Private Secretary. A few years later, the

Anti-Socialist Union The Anti-Socialist Union was a British political pressure group that supported free trade economics and opposed socialism. The group was active from 1908 to 1949, with its heyday occurring before the First World War. Formation Coming from the same ...

was set up, and Bull served on its executive committee with R. D. Blumenfeld, while Long was a vice-president. He ran Hammersmith meetings for the Union, with those attending having to sign affidavits of opposition to

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, and ejected hecklers. Around 1911 Bull became involved with Frederick H. Crawford in running guns to the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from North ...

. He did that in partnership with Herbert Augustus Budden, who was married to his sister Charlotte Annie Howard. They used two firms in Hammersmith, one set up as a front and the other a motor parts supplier set up by Bull's former chauffeur. Police seized over four thousand rifles in a 1913 Hammersmith raid, under the

Gun Barrel Proof Act 1868 A gun is a device that propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). Solid projectiles may be fr ...

. Their informant was Budden. Bull was a suffragist, on good terms with the Pankhursts. In 1908 he visited

Vera Wentworth Vera Wentworth (born Jessie Alice Spink, c. 1890 – 5 August 1957) was a British suffragette, nurse and playwright. She notably door-stepped and then assaulted the Prime Minister on two occasions. She was incarcerated for the cause of women's e ...

in prison. In the discussions before the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) was an act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The act extended the franchise in pa ...

, Maud Palmer, Countess of Selborne of the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association contacted Bull, at the prompting of

Millicent Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English political activist and writer. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897–1919 led Brita ...

, to propose a franchise at the 1916 Speaker's Conference called to start a franchise bill. He involved himself in the question of the minimum age at which a woman should be allowed to vote, starting the bidding with 40, which he later claimed had some support. That was certainly not from the Pankhursts, who held out for adult suffrage. The conference settled by 15 votes to 6 on a minimum age of 30. In 1918 Bull drafted a bill to allow for female

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

. He was admitted to the Privy Council that year. A week before the

Carlton Club meeting The Carlton Club meeting, on 19 October 1922, was a formal meeting of Members of Parliament who belonged to the Conservative Party, called to discuss whether the party should remain in government in coalition with a section of the Liberal Part ...

of 1922 that put an end to the post-war coalition administration, Bull called a smaller meeting of Conservatives. Walter Long, by then in the House of Lords, was invited. It tested the water for a break with

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

, on a group not from the right wing, and determined that they felt the status quo would lead to a split in the party. Bull was that year created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of

in the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

. Bull died in January 1931, aged 67. He is buried in

Margravine Cemetery Margravine Cemetery, also known as Hammersmith Cemetery, is in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The closest London Underground station is Barons Court. History Designed for the Hammersmith Burial Board by local architect George ...

, Hammersmith.

Infrastructure

In the late 1890s Bull chaired the Bridges Committee of the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

that oversaw the construction of the

Blackwall Tunnel The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, England, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road. The northern portal lies just south ...

. He made an early proposal for a

green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

round London, and championed a

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

initiative. He also sat on committees that oversaw the repairs to the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

Works

Bull published: *''The Book of Limericks'' (1916), with "Orion" (sports editor William Warren) of ''The Daily Express'', illustrations by

Heath Robinson William Heath Robinson (31 May 1872 – 13 September 1944) was an English cartoonist, illustrator and artist who drew whimsically elaborate machines to achieve simple objectives. The earliest citation in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' f ...

. * ''A History of the Broadway Congregational Church, Hammersmith'' (1923).

Family

Bull married Lilian Hester Brandon, daughter of Gabriel Samuel Brandon, on 5 January 1904. They had four sons. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son Stephen. His third son,

Anthony Bull Anthony Bull CBE CStJ (18 July 1908 – 23 December 2004) was a British transport engineer and was president of the Institute of Transport. Background and education The son of Sir William James Bull, MP (1863–1931), who was created a B ...

, was Chairman of London Transport from 1965 to 1971. His youngest son,

Peter Bull Peter Cecil Bull, (21 March 1912 – 20 May 1984) was a British actor who appeared on the stage and in supporting roles in such films as '' The African Queen'', '' Tom Jones'' and '' Dr. Strangelove''. Peter Bull wrote twelve books. Biograph ...

, became a well-known

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. Lady Bull died on 3 September 1963.

References

External links

*
The Papers of Sir William Bull
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers ...

, Cambridge {{DEFAULTSORT:Bull, William 1863 births 1931 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Hammersmith UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom English solicitors Members of London County Council