# George Stringer Bull

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{{Short description|Church of England clergyman and social reformer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''George Stringer Bull''' (1799–1865) was an English missionary and cleric, a social and industrial reformer in the [Bradford](/source/Bradford) area.<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB|id=46325|first=Stephen|last=Gregory|title=Bull, George Stringer}}</ref>

==Early life==
He was the sixth son of the Rev. John Bull (1767–1834) and his wife Margaret Towndrow, born at [Stanway](/source/Stanway%2C_Essex) in Essex. Having served in the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy), he went for the [Church Missionary Society](/source/Church_Missionary_Society) to [Sierra Leone](/source/Sierra_Leone) in 1818, working there as a teacher. He was principal of the Christian Institution of Sierra Leone of the Society, near [Freetown](/source/Freetown). [Sir Charles MacCarthy](/source/Sir_Charles_MacCarthy) had recently required that it act as a College. Bull had around 20 African students there. The College migrated in 1820, from Leicester Mountain to Regent's Town.<ref name="ODNB"/><ref>{{cite book |first1=Daniel J. |last1= Paracka Jr. |title=The Athens of West Africa: A History of International Education at Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Sierra Leone |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-93599-3 |page=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_1iTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA25 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="GM">{{cite book |title=The Gentleman's Magazine |date=1865 |publisher=R. Newton |page=649 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=00pDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA649 |language=en}}</ref>

Bull returned to England in 1820 for health reasons.<ref name="ODNB"/> As a convalescent, to prepare for the ministry, he first read with his father, a classical scholar. He then studied in 1822 with [Robert Francis Walker](/source/Robert_Francis_Walker) at [Purleigh](/source/Purleigh). After that he was with his uncle, Henry Towndrow Bull, remaining in Essex at [Littlebury](/source/Littlebury).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gill |first1=John Clifford |title=Parson Bull of Byerley |date=1963 |publisher=S. P. C. K. |page=43 |language=en}}</ref> He was ordained deacon in the [Church of England](/source/Church_of_England) in 1823 by [George Henry Law](/source/George_Henry_Law), taking a position at [Hessle](/source/Hessle) in the [East Riding of Yorkshire](/source/East_Riding_of_Yorkshire). The following year he was ordained priest, by [Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt](/source/Edward_Venables-Vernon-Harcourt). In 1825 he became curate at [Hanging Heaton](/source/Hanging_Heaton); and in 1826 he took the position of [perpetual curate](/source/perpetual_curate) at [Bierley Chapel](/source/Bierley_Chapel), then just outside [Bradford](/source/Bradford).<ref>{{CCEd |type=person |id=130806 |name=Bull, George Stringer |year1=1823 |year2=1826 |accessed=2 February 2020 }}</ref>

==At Bradford==
Bull was an [abolitionist](/source/abolitionist) and [temperance](/source/Temperance_movement) campaigner. He also became involved with factory reform movement of the 1830s, as an ally of [John Wood](/source/John_Wood_(Bradford_manufacturer)). He pursued the vigorous and attention-seeking tactics of [Richard Oastler](/source/Richard_Oastler) and the Member of Parliament [Michael Thomas Sadler](/source/Michael_Thomas_Sadler), becoming noted as the "Ten Hours Parson".<ref name="ODNB"/> Sadler lost his seat in parliament in 1832, and Bull wished the legislative campaign to continue.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Furse-Roberts |first1=David |title=The Making of a Tory Evangelical: Lord Shaftesbury and the Evolving Character of Victorian Evangelicalism |date=2019 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-5326-5431-2 |page=189 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xAqSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA189 |language=en}}</ref>

It was Bull that contacted [Lord Ashley](/source/Anthony_Ashley-Cooper%2C_7th_Earl_of_Shaftesbury) in 1833 about parliamentary moves for industrial legislation.<ref name="ODNB"/> That came about after the first Factory Movement conference, in Bradford during January 1833, where Bull was chosen as delegate to go to London. The suggestion of Ashley came from [Sir Andrew Agnew, 7th Baronet](/source/Sir_Andrew_Agnew%2C_7th_Baronet).<ref>J. T. Ward, ''The Factory Reform Movement in Scotland'', The Scottish Historical Review Vol. 41, No. 132, Part 2 (Oct., 1962), pp. 100–123, at p. 107. Published by: Edinburgh University Press {{JSTOR|25526695}}</ref> Meeting Ashley – later the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury – in February, Bull pressed him to propose a ten-hours bill rapidly, since otherwise [Lord Morpeth](/source/Lord_Morpeth) would propose a pre-emptive eleven-hours bill. Ashley's bill failed, and the [Ten Hours Act](/source/Ten_Hours_Act) would take another 14 years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Finlayson |first1=Geoffrey |title=The Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, 1801-1885 |date=2004 |publisher=Regent College Publishing |isbn=978-1-57383-314-1 |page=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=26ILjAwtiSgC&pg=PA73 |language=en}}</ref>

The impatient Oastler suggested [machine-breaking](/source/machine-breaking) to a Bradford meeting, after another reverse, in 1836, with [Charles Hindley](/source/Charles_Hindley_(politician)) unable to revive the bill. Bull strongly disapproved, and Ashley broke off relations with Oastler.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Finlayson |first1=Geoffrey |title=The Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, 1801-1885 |date=2004 |publisher=Regent College Publishing |isbn=978-1-57383-314-1 |page=121 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=26ILjAwtiSgC&pg=PA121 |language=en}}</ref>

Bull was a vociferous opponent of the [Poor Law Amendment Act 1834](/source/Poor_Law_Amendment_Act_1834).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=David |title=Paternalism in Early Victorian England |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-27180-2 |page=154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kj-TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA154 |language=en}}</ref> In testimony to parliament, he stated that [birth control](/source/birth_control) was prevalent in female factory workers; he put it down to the influence of a visit by [Richard Carlile](/source/Richard_Carlile).<ref>David Kent, Norma Townsend and Deborah Oxley, ''Deborah Oxley's 'Female Convicts': an Accurate View of Working-Class Women?'', Labour History No. 65 (Nov., 1993), pp. 179–199, at p. 186. Published by: Liverpool University Press {{JSTOR|27509204}}</ref> As a clerical [social critic](/source/social_critic), he has been classed with [Patrick Brewster](/source/Patrick_Brewster), [William Hill (1806–1867)](/source/William_Hill_(1806%E2%80%931867)) the Swedenborgian editor of the ''[Northern Star](/source/Northern_Star_(Chartist_newspaper))'', and [Rayner Stephens](/source/Rayner_Stephens).<ref>Robert D. Butterworth, ''Thomas Hood, Early Victorian Christian Social Criticism and the Hoodian Hero'', Victorian Literature and Culture Vol. 39, No. 2 (2011), pp. 427–441, at p. 428. Published by: Cambridge University Press {{JSTOR|41307875}}</ref> A Tory reformer, Bull also opposed the [Chartists](/source/Chartists).<ref name="ODNB"/> He was one of a group of local clergy and laymen who attended an [Owenite](/source/Owenite) meeting in Bradford in November 1839, deploring its irreligion.<ref>J. B. Morrell, ''Presidential Address: Wissenschaft in Worstedopolis: Public Science in Bradford, 1800–1850'', The British Journal for the History of Science Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1985), pp. 1–23, at p. 14. Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The British Society for the History of Science {{JSTOR|4026263}}</ref> While Bull and other Factor Movement leaders saw that Robert Owen was on their side of the argument, they regarded his approach as impractical.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cole |first1=G. D. H. |title=Attempts at General Union |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-88515-0 |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uvrFBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT96 |language=en}}</ref>

At Bierley Chapel, Bull persuaded [Frances Currer](/source/Frances_Currer), the patron, to build a house. He set up two local schools, one in Bowling township, and one in Sticken Lane; and he expanded the chapel seating.<ref name="GM"/> Wood, who had financed the Bowling school, brought Bull into his new Bradford church, St James's. But the arrival in 1838 as vicar of Bradford of [William Scoresby](/source/William_Scoresby) led to serious tensions, and Wood in end closed the church.<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=57581|first=Gary|last=Firth|title=Wood, John (1793–1871)}}</ref> The bone of contention between Wood and Scoresby was [surplice fees](/source/surplice_fees). Bull departed in September 1840.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=J. T. |title=The Factory Movement, 1830-1855 |date=2015 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-81759-7 |page=214 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6cCuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA214 |language=en}}</ref> The Bowling school, for Wood's factory, ran from 1832 to c.1846 superintended by [Matthew Balme](/source/Matthew_Balme), and was visited by Lord Ashley in 1844; and the Sticken Lane school was still running in the 1850s.<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=49255|first=John A.|last=Hargreaves|title=Balme, Matthew}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wolffe |first1=John |title=Yorkshire Returns of the 1851 Census of Religious Worship: West Riding (North) |date=2000 |publisher=Borthwick Publications |isbn=978-1-904497-10-3 |page=118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ilNP-o-WOUC&pg=PA118 |language=en}}</ref>

==Later life==
Bull moved to the [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham) area, and was appointed to the new [St Matthew's Church, Duddeston and Nechells](/source/St_Matthew's_Church%2C_Duddeston_and_Nechells) as [perpetual curate](/source/perpetual_curate). In 1847 he became rector of [St Thomas' Church, Birmingham](/source/St_Thomas'_Church%2C_Birmingham), with its populous parish.<ref name="ODNB"/>

In poor health, Bull in 1864 was posted to [Almeley](/source/Almeley) in Herefordshire. He died there on 20 August 1865.<ref name="ODNB"/>

==Works==
*''A Respectful and Faithful Appeal to the Inhabitants of the Parish of Bradford on behalf of the Factory Children'' (1832)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Simeral |first1=Isabel |title=Reform Movements in Behalf of Children in England of the Early Nineteenth Century: And the Agents of Those Reforms |date=1916 |publisher=Columbia university. |page=220 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAhFAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA220 |language=en}}</ref>
*''The Church her Own Enemy'' (1834)<ref name="ODNB"/>
*''"Home," and how to make it happy: a lecture'' (1854)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bull |first1=George Stringer |title="Home," and how to make it happy: a lecture, etc |date=1854 |publisher=M. Billing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDyS5ZzEB5EC |language=en}}</ref>
*''Richard Oastler: A Sermon preached in St. James Church, Bradford'' (1861)<ref>{{cite web |title=Federer, Dickons and Empsall Special Collections |url=https://www.bradford.gov.uk/media/4687/federer.pdf |website=www.bradford.gov.uk}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bull, George Stringer}}
Category:1799 births
Category:1865 deaths
Category:Anglican missionaries in Sierra Leone
Category:English Anglican missionaries
Category:English abolitionists
Category:19th-century English Anglican priests
Category:English temperance activists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [George Stringer Bull](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stringer_Bull) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stringer_Bull?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.