- Colonel John Bullock
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Colonel John Bullock of Faulkbourne M.P. (1731 - 1809) was an English landowner and Member of Parliament for 56 years becoming Father of the House. He was appointed High Sheriff of the County of Essex in 1802.[1]
Contents
Early Years
John Bullock was born in 1731, the younger 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.
He was educated as a Fellow Commoner at Clare Hall, Cambridge.
Political Career
At the age of 23, he embarked on a Parliamentary career that lasted 56 years culminated in him becoming Father of the House until his death.
His period in the House spanned the Seven Years’ War, the War of American Independence, the French Revolution and the earlier Napoleonic Wars. He sat as a fellow Member with the Pitts, Burke, Fox and Sheridan.[1] He commenced his Parliamentary career in 1754 as Member for Steyning in Sussex which returned two members until the Reform Bill of 1832. Steyning began returning two Members of Parliament from 1278 and as a rotten borough made up of a depopulated port became similar to Dunwich until the Reform Act 1832.[1]
In 1768, he was returned for the Borough of Maldon, polling 443 votes against the 455 of John Huske and the 328 of Jon Hennker.[1]
In 1784, he shared the representation of the County of Essex with Thomas Bramston of Screens and sat as Whig Member for the County continuously and without contest for 26 years. 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.[1]
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 described him as “a good-natured fox-hunting boy”.[2]
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.[1][2]
He was a Colonel in the East Essex Militia and appointed High Sheriff in 1802.
Faulkbourne
He took a keen interest in Faulkbourne Hall and undertook many improvements to the house and grounds in the C18th. 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.[1][2]
A patron of the arts, he founded a wide-ranging collection of pictures. In 1803, the house contained many good paintings by van Dyck, Van de Velde,[disambiguation needed
] Michelangelo, Sir William Beechey, Sartorius and other masters.Family
Whilst his wife Elizabeth, the only daughter of Robert Lant of Putney, was a considerable heiress, he exhausted a large part of her fortune on Parliamentary life. She died in 1793 and they had no children.[1]
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 Mulsham founded the Essex Branch of the family.
He left his estates on his death, in 1809, to 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 Royal Sign Manual.[1]
Gainsborough Portrait
A fine portrait was painted by Gainsborough 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.
References
Categories:- 1731 births
- 1809 deaths
- People from Essex
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