William Bull (politician, 1683)

William Bull (* 1683 in Charleston , in the later US state of South Carolina , † March 21, 1755 in Beaufort County , South Carolina) was a colonial governor of the Province of South Carolina .

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William Bull was the son of Stephen Bull, one of the earliest settlers in what would later become the Province of South Carolina. The father was a successful planter. In addition, he was active in the Indian trade. William, who also worked as a planter, began a political career in South Carolina that lasted about 35 years. He held local offices for a long time and was now a member of the colonial parliament. From 1719 until his death he was a member of the government council (Grand Council) of the colony, of which he was temporarily president. He also took part in some Indian campaigns as an officer in the militia. In 1733 he assisted James Oglethorpe when he founded the Province of Georgia . Bull was also involved in founding the city of Savannah there .

After the death of acting governor Thomas Broughton on November 22, 1737 William Bull took over this office. He was only supposed to bridge the time until the arrival of the newly appointed governor Samuel Horsey. This did not take office. The next governor of the Province of South Carolina, James Glen , appointed by London in 1738, took his time with his trip to the colony because of unanswered financial questions about his salary. He didn't get there until December 1743. William Bull thus exercised his office as acting governor between November 22, 1737 and December 17, 1743. During this time, a slave revolt, known as the Stono Uprising , occurred , which Bull brutally suppressed in 1739. A year later he supported James Oglethorpe as part of the War of Jenkins' Ear in its unsuccessful advance into the Spanish colony of Florida . Inside the colony, the colonial parliament gained more influence over politics during these years. As a result of the slave revolt of 1739, the Negro Act of 1740 was passed. This law, which lasted until 1865, ensured slavery in South Carolina for the next 125 years. Christian Gottlieb Prieber's work among the native Indians also fell during Bull's tenure as governor . Prieber sought an Indian alliance directed against the colonial powers. In Bull's last year in office, 1743, Prieber was therefore arrested. After the end of his time as governor, he remained politically active. Among other things, he held the post of lieutenant governor of his colony until his death.

Privately he managed several plantations. These included the Ashley Hall Plantation he inherited and the Sheldon Plantation , which was his main source of income. William Bull was married to Mary Quintyne with whom he had three daughters and two sons. Among them was the son William , who was colonial governor of the Province of South Carolina five times between 1760 and 1775.

Web links

• William Bull in the South Carolina Encyclopedia

• William Bull in the database of Find a Grave (English)