He was born at Liverpool to wheelwright William James Bull (1819-1900) and Catherine Ann Rowley (824-1901).
A solicitor from 1873, he married Mary Susannah Morris (1848-1880) on 2 December 1871 at St Peters Church of England, Campbelltown; they had four sons with one dying in infancy.
His second marriage, also at St Peters Church of England, Campbelltown and held on 9 July 1881, was to Frances (Fanny) Australia Chippendall (1856-1921), with whom he had eleven children, two of whom died in infancy.
He was appointed Queen's Counsel about 1890 with chambers at Barrister's Court, Elizabeth St, Sydney.
In 1895 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the Free Trade member for Camden, but he was defeated after a single term in 1898.