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.
[1][2] The first heraldic record in Berkshire,[3] 1532, gives the arms of Thomas Bullock of Aborfield as: In Harvey's Visitation to Berkshire of 1565–1566, the crest had been changed to: The confirmation of arms of Sir Edward Bullock in 1602 changed the chevron from argent to ermine, and the crest became: The motto reads: nil conscire sibi – to have nothing on one's conscience.
Thomas's uncle, Hugh "with ye Brazen Hand", left Aberfield to found the family branch in Siddenhall (Sidnall), (Shropshire).
[1] Thomas died in 1595, William, with the support of tenants, entered into possession in serious contempt of court, resulting in him being thrown into Fleet Prison.
William continued actions to recover the estate in the Queen's Bench, then the Court of Common Pleas, and later petitioned the Elizabeth I, the Privy Council and the Lord Keeper, but in vain.
[1][2] William, released from prison and now of Stratfield Mortimer, married well, his third wife being Elizabeth Bellet of Morton in Essex, restoring the family fortunes.
Sir Josiah thoroughly opposed the marriage and left his daughter a mere £5 in his will "and no more because she hath married not only without my consent but expressly against my command and contrary to her own repeated promises and lette others learne by her example".
Edward and Mary's son, Josiah Bullock (1697-1752), attempted to follow his maternal grandfather's example and make his fortune in trade.
Educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge, at the age of 23 he embarked on a parliamentary career that lasted 56 years and culminated in him becoming Father of the House.
[2] His eldest son, also Jonathan (1773-1860), served in the 1st Dragoon Guards and as a Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant and, in 1837, High Sheriff of Essex.
After Jonathan's death in 1860, the pressure of social and economic change in the 19th century brought the beginnings of the family's decline at Faulkbourne.
Walter Trevelyan Bullock (1818-1878) inherited the estates, his three elder brothers having predeceased him, leaving only Faulkbourne and Radwinter in the family.
Debrett's records that Walter Trevelyan's daughter, Edith Anne Bullock (died 1929), was the granddaughter-in-law of George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852-1855.
[1][2] Faulkbourne Hall and the surrounding estate were purchased in 1897 by Andrew Motion, who shortly thereafter sold them to Christopher William Oxley Parker.
It was reported in 2016 that "Olive Middleton volunteered as a nurse with her relative Lady Bullock" - a social science graduate - during World War I.
