The son of George Tully of Carlisle, Cumbria, he was born in St Mary's parish there on 22 July 1620.
He was educated in the parish free school under John Winter, and afterwards at Barton Kirk in Westmorland.
When Oxford was occupied by the parliamentarians he retired and then obtained the mastership of the grammar school of Tetbury in Oxfordshire.
on 23 July 1657, and in the year following was appointed principal of St. Edmund Hall and rector of Grittleton in Wiltshire.
According to Nicholas Tyacke, he was an important conforming Calvinist voice in the post-Restoration Church of England,[1] even if his strictness, in the view of Anthony Wood, hindered his advancement.