first families 2001

Bullas 'Family Stories'

By Martyn Smith, 5 April, 2016

Details
First Family Member Details
Family Stories
Family Contacts, including related link

First Family Member Details 

Surname: BULLAS
Given Name(s): David
Occupation(s): furnaceman, miner, farmer

Birth Details
Birth Town: Arksey
Birth County,
Region, Province:
Yorkshire
Birth Country: England
Birth Date: 24 Feb 1806

Death Details
Death Town: Ballarat
Death State/Territory: Victoria
Death Country: Australia
Death Date: 10 Aug 1890

Immigration Details
Air/Port Landed: Melbourne
Ship/Plane: Titan
Year Arrived: 1857
Surname: HUTCHINSON
Given Name(s): Ann
Occupation(s): unknown

Birth Details
Birth Town: Hatfield
Birth County,
Region, Province:
Yorkshire
Birth Country: England
Birth Date: 7 Apr 1799

Death Details
Death Town: Sheffield
Death State/Territory: Yorkshire
Death Country: England
Death Date: 24 Jun 1839

Immigration Details
Air/Port Landed: did not migrate
Ship/Plane: n/a
Year Arrived: n/a

Children
   
BULLAS, John 01 BULLAS, Helen 02 BULLAS, William 03
BULLAS, Charles 04 SMITH (NEE BULLAS), Anne 05 MOSS (NEE BULLAS), Mary 06
BULLAS, David * 07 BULLAS, Joseph * 08 BULLAS, Thomas * 09
BULLAS, Moses * 10 BULLAS, James * 11 STRIBLEY (NEE BULLAS), Elizabeth * 12
GREY (NEE BULLAS), Esther * 13 BULLAS, (unknown) * 14

Family Stories

Life in Australia:

First father David BULLAS married twice.  He and his first wife, Ann HUTCHINSON, had been married twelve years when Ann died in England in 1839.

In 1857, David, with his second wife of nearly sixteen years, Elizabeth BLACKWELL, nee HAMMOND, and their family - which included children from David's first marriage - migrated to Victoria aboard the 'Titan'.

(Note:- A separate FF2001 page exists for Elizabeth who, of course, is a 'first mother'.)

Arriving at Port Phillip Heads at about 9.00am on Sunday, 30th August, David and Elizabeth, with children

  • Anne,
  • Mary,
  • Joseph,
  • Thomas,
  • Moses,
  • Elizabeth and
  • Esther,

surely would have shared the following exciting experiences with fellow passenger on the 'Titan', James Letcher.

Writing in his Journal, Letcher recorded:-  ".... when we got inside the Heads the Inspector of health came on board, turned the ship against the wind a small time for him and performed his duty and then we left for the main port, we went with cheered spirits and delightful weather.  It appears the water here is shallow and dangerous, but a most beautiful Bay, This evening about between 8 and 9 o'clock we dropped anchor in Hobson's Bay and slept on board all night which is Sunday night which is 15 Sundays on the water.  We had a most beautiful night and a splendid sight of lights which surround Melbourne and Williamstown, not many slept tonight."

Then, the next day:-  ".... We have had a long and tiresome journey but have had good speed on account of sickness and disorders, we have not had but one death and one double birth.  I shall not give you much description about Melbourne but it is the largest and finest town I was ever in before ....".  And thus, full of hope, they all disembarked.

David described himself as a "Miner" at his daughter Anne's marriage in the family house at Little Bendigo, Ballarat, on 28th April, 1858 and, like many of his contemporaries, goldmining most likely was his first intent.

However, in what may have been a somewhat urgently and hastily prepared last will and testament - it was dated and signed on the day of his death, caused by "Heart disease Fatty degeneration" (cf death registration), at Raglan Street, Ballarat - it is made clear that David ultimately became a farmer in the surrounding district, at Spring Mount and at Daylesford.

Appointing sons Thomas and William as executors of his will, David directed that all his personal property and real estate be liquidated and joined with all his monies "lying in the Post Office Savings Bank Creswick" for distribution according to his wishes.  With Frank Atkinson, a Ballarat Messenger, Thomas BULLAS witnessed David's will and, later that same day, also was the official informant of his father's death.

The monumental inscription on the BULLAS family grave in the Ballarat cemetery, where David was buried on 12th August, follows:-

"In memory of/ David Bullas/ Who died August 10th 1890 aged 84 yrs./ His wife/ Elizabeth Bullas/ Who died 22nd December 1880 aged 67 yrs./ And their children/ Joseph/ Who died 5th April 1879 aged 31 yrs./ John/ Who died 1st August 1887 aged 58 yrs/ And Mary Hannah/ Wife of John/ Who died 15th March 1884 aged 35 yrs./ And their infant daughter aged 8 weeks/ Blessed are the dead who/ Die in the Lord". (This item provided by Len BULLAS.)

David BULLAS' death registration lists sons John and Charles as dead, daughters Anne and Mary and son William in their fifties and oldest daughter Helen in her sixties.  These were all children from his marriage with Ann HUTCHINSON.  Of his and Elizabeth's children, David, Joseph, James, Elizabeth and a child whose name is indecipherable are listed as dead, whilst Thomas and Moses are recorded to be in their forties with Esther thirty-six.

For Elizabeth, the Ballarat monumental inscription appears to be a memorial only.  The Register of 1880 "Deaths in the District of Creswick in the Colony of Victoria" states that she was buried at Creswick on 24th December by Wesleyan Minister Martin Dyson, the official witness being Undertaker A. Pascoe.  Elizabeth had died of "Double Pneumonia & Congestion of Lungs" on 22nd December.  The duration of her illness was "30 days".  Her children are listed as "Joseph deceased", "Thomas 33 years", "Moses 31 years", "Elizabeth 27 years" and "Hester 25 years".  The Register shows that Elizabeth's stepson, John BULLAS, was the official informant.

David's daughter Anne, a child of his marriage (1827-1839) to Ann HUTCHINSON, married William SMITH in 1858 and they are the subject of their own FF2001 webpage, William being a 'first father'.

REVEREND MOSES BULLAS

Of interest is the information on that webpage that Anne SMITH (nee BULLAS)'s half-brother, Moses BULLAS, officiated at the marriage of her son William John to Jane Ann TRESISE, conducted in the Wesleyan Parsonage, Egerton (near Ballarat) on 12th June, 1890.

Just over two years later, great sadness befell Moses BULLAS and his wife Eleanor, whom he had married in 1876.  On 9th September, 1892, the 'Ballan Times' recorded that "Another death occurred at Egerton from diptheria croup, the victim being the infant daughter of Rev. M. Bullas.  The operation of tracheotomy, skillfully performed by Drs Corry and Marr, failed to succour the little sufferer."  And then:- "The Rev. M. Bullas we are sorry to learn has lost another child from diptheria...." ('Ballan Times', November, 1892).  The monumental inscription on the marble headstone of the stone-based, iron-fenced, single grave in the Egerton cemetery reads:-  "Sacred to the Memory of the dearly loved children of Revd M and E.I. Bullas.  Rosa Beatrice, Died Sept. 6th 1892 aged 5 years and 9 days, also, Elsie Marian, Died Novr 6th, 1892, aged 6 years and 9 months, 'Death is not death, Tis the spirit made free from the prison wherein it was bound.  Our darlings are living altho they have died, with the saviour in heaven they're found'".  The 'Ballan Times' (November,1892) wrote thus:-  "....a large and sympathetic procession followed the remains to the cemetery where the burial service was impressively read by the Rev. Mr. Harcourt of the Wesleyan denomination."

Another funeral six years later reveals more about Moses BULLAS.  'The Donald Times', in 1898, reported the funeral of Mr Jos. Peverill thus:-  "The funeral left his residence 'Oaklands', Mt. Jeffcott, on Friday morning at 10 o'clock, and reached Charlton at half-past 2, when a most impressive service was held in the Charlton Wesleyan Church by the Rev. M. Bullas.  The pulpit and railing were appropriately draped, and the coffin, upon which many beautiful wreaths were laid, was placed before the pulpit.  The service opened with a hymn 'When our heads are bowed in woe', and after an impressive lesson read by the officiating minister, the anthem 'Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb' was rendered with much expression by the choir.  A prayer over the mortal remains and the 'Dead March', feelingly rendered by Miss Bullas, brought a touching service to a close.  The cortege then moved off, followed by a very large number of mourners from Donald, Cope Cope and other surrounding districts, the funeral train comprising 70 vehicles.  At the grave in the Charlton cemetery the Rev. M. Bullas again officiated in an impressive manner."  (This item provided by Len BULLAS.)

Moses BULLAS died in 1939, aged ninety-one, at Glen Iris.  He had retired there and been a Supernumary Minister at the Gardiner Methodist Church, which, in 1926, was renamed the Burke Road, East Malvern, Methodist Church.

'The Early Story of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Victoria', a "Jubilee Volume" written by Revs W.L. Blamires and J.B. Smith and published in 1886, records on page 105 that Moses BULLAS probably accepted the call to a life in the Wesleyan ministry in the mid-1860s, a period of energetic revival in Victoria for that Christian denomination.

Writing fifty years later, Rev Sir C. Irving Benson, in his 'A Century of Victorian Methodism' (publ 1935), relates the following delightful anecdote, unfortunately undated, involving Moses:-  "When Miss Job first presented herself at the Conference as a representative, the fathers were rather aghast, and the question was raised as to whether a woman was eligible.  She was asked to take a seat at the back of Wesley Church until the point was settled.  Their verdict being given in her favour, the Rev. Moses Bullas went to the lady and, offering her his arm, led her to the platform and presented her to the President.  One of the Conference wits remarked that 'It was a most impressive sight to see Job walking down the aisle on the arm of Moses.'" (page 380).

During World War One, Moses' wife Eleanor was President of the Gardiner Methodist Church's branch of the 'Australian Comforts Fund'.  The 'Golden Jubilee Record' of the Church (publ. 1963) writes:-  "Meetings were held weekly, and with wool distributed from the Malvern Town Hall, the ladies worked splendidly in making helmets, sox and gloves, and in putting together cut-out shirts and pyjamas."

'HOT TOM' BULLAS & FOUR 'BOYS OF THE BULLAS BREED'

Tom BULLAS was born in Attercliffe, Yorkshire in 1847 and migrated with his family to Victoria in 1857.  In 1878 he married Mary Ann COATES a member of the COATES family of cotton fame.  After Tom married Mary Ann COATES, they continued living in Ballarat where Tom had a hay and corn store.  He suffered badly from asthma.

At some time before they moved from Ballarat, Mary Ann attended tent evangelistic meetings conducted by the Seventh-day Adventist church and was converted to that faith.  Tom was not converted but did not oppose his wife’s new beliefs.  Since she wanted to raise the children in her new-found beliefs, her conversion posed a problem in the training of her children for a trade.  She solved this rather neatly by apprenticing the boys to a Jewish tailor.  Since the Jews observed a Saturday Sabbath she knew that there would be no pressure for the boys to work on Saturdays.  However only the youngest, Stan, became a tailor.

After they had moved to Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne, the family attended the Adventist church at Coburg.

Tom apparently had a hot temper.  Harry (grandson of Tom) remembers a ditty on the BULLAS family that was sung in the streets of Melbourne.

Sons of hot Tom/ all Bullas born/ Sailing all the streets/ selling nuts and corn/ You would know them all by name/ (Forgotten line)/ You can't beat the boys of the Bullas breed/ Who made old Hot Tom's name.

FOUR OF THE 'BREED' - Arthur, Alfred, Ernie and Stan:-

Arthur BULLAS married Martha Louisa GILBERT in 1900, and went to live on Union Street in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick.  He was a shoe maker by trade and was employed at Paddle Brothers.  It was at the house on Union Street that all the children were born between the years 1902 and 1913 - Vernon, May, Ray, Harry, Jack, George and Len.

While still young, Harry and Ray went to live with their maternal grandparents (the GILBERTs).  In 1921 (when Harry was 14) the family was saddened when the eldest son Vernon died of a rheumatic heart condition.  At this time, the family had left Union Street and were living next door to the Gilbert grandparents in Barkley Street, Brunswick.  Harry and Ray moved back home.

In 1925, Arthur married Winifred Mary THOMPSON who also attended the Coburg Seventh-day Adventist Church.  She had come from Mount Dandenong near Melbourne.  One of the chief delights of the boys at this time was to visit Grandpa and Grandma BULLAS who were now living on Edward Street in Brunswick.

Winifred was known as 'Auntie Win' by all the step grandchildren since she did not wish to be known as grandma.

After his retirement from Paddle Brothers, Arthur moved with Win to an apple orchard at Diamond Creek, a small community in the Dandenong ranges near Melbourne.  For several years, Arthur combined his orchard with selling Adventist literature as a door-to-door salesman.  Win raised chickens and sold the eggs.  When the work became too strenuous, they moved from the orchard to a house in the same community.

Arthur died in 1965 and is buried in the old Coburg cemetery.  Win outlived him for many years and eventually moved into the SDA retirement homes at Nunawading.  She is remembered for her wonderful macrame work for which she was awarded several prizes.  She died peacefully in 1986.

As a teenager, Alfred BULLAS was heavily involved in sports of various kinds but especially cricket.  He attended the Methodist church even after his mother was converted to the Seventh-day Adventist church.  Because of his sport involvement, he stopped attending church for a while.  He moved to Sydney for work and while there he became aware of the superficiality of his life.  He attended a Methodist church revival meeting and once again, accepted Christ.  He returned to Melbourne and again became a Seventh-day Adventist.  In 1908, he attended the church's Avondale College near Newcastle and subsequently became a literature evangelist.  After he married Alma GRIFFITHS in 1916, they traveled widely throughout Australia and New Zealand and were responsible for converting many to the Seventh-day Adventist faith and raising up a number of churches.

When he and Alma retired, they lived for a number of years in Ringwood, Victoria.  In later years, they moved to the church's Coronella retirement homes at Nunawading, Victoria.  He was always a very frugal man and delighted in finding ways to save time and effort.

His grand-nephew Len remembers him recycling used razor blades by rubbing then against the inside of a glass drinking tumbler under running water, until they would cut a human hair longitudinally.  He saved on replacing shoe laces as well as being able to omit the task of replacing them by substituting them with rubber 'laces' cut from old car tubes!

Alfred could be quite 'innocent' of the effect of some of his actions.  He played the pump organ with great gusto and was on occasion called upon to play for weddings.  After he retired, he became greatly enamored with Handel's 'Messiah' and would play selections from the work at every opportunity.  He did raise a few eyebrows when at one wedding he played 'We all like sheep have gone astray' followed by 'For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given'.  Five months later, people wondered if he were a prophet when a son indeed was born!

He and Alma loved everybody and in return, they were greatly loved and remembered many years later with great affection by people whose lives they had touched.

Earnest (Ernie) BULLAS did not marry.  Ernie had a glandular problem which caused him to become very fat.  For a time, he was recognized as 'the fattest man in Melbourne'!  He became well known to the community because he sold peanuts at the Melbourne Market and was known as 'the Peanut King'.  He is remembered as a 'very nice and lovable man'.  In the mid 40's he had a hernia operation at the Adventist Sydney Sanitarium, which was performed by the Superintendent of the hospital, Dr. Charles Harrison a citizen of the USA.  Dr. Harrison retired in Loma Linda, California and was the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy.  He delighted in telling Len Bullas, Ernie’s grand-nephew who was then on the faculty of Loma Linda University, how he had to carve through layer after layer of fat to get to the hernia in order to repair it.  He recovered from the hernia operation but a few years later he was run over by his own car which was in gear while he was 'cranking' it.  He broke a leg and died a few months later.

Harold Stanley (Stan) BULLAS lived and worked all his life in Brunswick.  Stan’s tailoring business at 356 Sydney Road, Brunswick was well known in the area.  He retired in 1958.  Stan always enjoyed the movies.  When he was young, a silent film was shown at Royal Park.  The film, 'The Great Train Robbery', was shown every week, and every week Stan went to see it.  In November 1921, he married Eileen Frances MEAGER.

Three years later, their first daughter Joan Josephine, was born followed by another daughter Wilma Mary in 1927 and a son Stanley Thomas in 1933.

Throughout his life, he strove to uphold the strong moral and family values by which he had been raised.  Stan was always interested in sport, playing tennis, and then for many years was a member of the Royal Park Golf Club.  Later, he also played bowls at East Brunswick Bowling Club where he was secretary for a time.  He died of a heart attack while playing golf at Royal Park, aged 74 years.

Life Before Australia:  

David BULLAS' first wife, Ann HUTCHINSON, whom he had married on 4th December, 1827 at Hatfield, Yorkshire, was born at Hatfield on 7th April, 1799, the daughter of John and Anna HUTCHINSON.  Ann died at Moonshine Lane, it is thought, in Sheffield, Yorkshire on 24th June, 1839.

David later married Elizabeth BLACKWELL, nee HAMMOND, at Sheffield, Yorkshire on 22nd November, 1841.

Thereafter, David (51) and Elizabeth (44) BULLAS sailed together for Australia on board the 'Titan' in 1857, departing Liverpool Thursday, 21st May and arriving Hobson's Bay, Melbourne, Sunday, 30th August.  With them, according to the passenger list, were youngsters

  • Anne (20),
  • Mary (18),
  • Joseph (13),
  • Thomas (10),
  • Moses (9),
  • Elizabeth (5) and
  • Esther (3).

Elizabeth BULLAS' 1880 death registration records the latter five as her children.  This, of course, gives Elizabeth 'first mother' status.  All except Joseph were still alive at the time of her death, the official informant of which was her stepson, John BULLAS.

David BULLAS' 1890 death registration records three additional offspring of him and Elizabeth, viz David, James and a name indecipherable.  They are all recorded as being dead at the time of David's death, as are Joseph and Elizabeth jnr.

In the list of 'Children' above, the children of David and Elizabeth are indicated by an asterisk.

The children of David's marriage to Ann HUTCHINSON are recorded on David's death registration as

  • John,
  • Helen,
  • William,
  • Charles,
  • Anne and
  • Mary. 

They are not marked by an asterisk in the list above.

A fellow passenger aboard the 'Titan' was Cornish miner James Letcher (29), also bound for Melbourne.  In his Journal's superb account of the voyage he describes the 'Titan' thus:-  "This noble ship carries between 7 and 800 souls, she is 145 feet long and 45 feet deep, 8 feet between decks, draws 25 feet of water and 20 feet out the water that is from waters edge to the top of her bulwarks and carries when in full sail 11000 yards of canvass and about 5000 tons burthen, she is a fine ship.  This ship brought to Liverpool from New Orleans the largest cargo of cotton that was known to be brought there at one time."  The BULLAS family, of course, would have shared many of Letcher's experiences.

"Elizabeth Bullas - Hammond" is named as young Anne BULLAS' mother on the registration of Anne's marriage to William SMITH in 1858 but on Anne's 1926 death registration her mother is named as "Anne Bullas formerly Hutchinson".

Of further, hypothetical, interest is the likelihood that first father David BULLAS and his entourage followed his oldest sons John, Charles and William to Victoria because, respectively, young men of these names arrived as 25, 21 and 21 year-olds in August, 1852, February, 1854 and September, 1854 on the 'Lady Head', 'Hibernia' and 'Queen of the Seas'.  (These dates and ages correlate, with allowance for minor clerical and calculation errors, almost identically.)

The sole BULLAS child of David's first marriage who appears not to have migrated is Helen BULLAS, born 1831, the second oldest.  Twenty-six years old when the others migrated aboard the 'Titan' in 1857, she probably was well settled with her own husband and children and had little desire to re-locate.

Elizabeth BULLAS, formerly BLACKWELL, nee HAMMOND, was born in Yorkshire, her father being a farm labourer.  Neither Elizabeth's father's nor her mother's Christian names are recorded on her death registration.  This is also the case regarding David's parents on his death registration, although it is recorded, erroneously, that he was born in Manchester, Lancashire.  Son Thomas was the official informant of David's death.

David was born, of course, in Arksey, Yorkshire.  His parents were Joseph and Ann (nee TONNINGLEY) BULLAS, who had married in Arksey on 29th November, 1805.

In 1822, Arksey was described thus:-  "ARKSEY, a parish-town, in the township of Bentley with Arksey, lower division of Strafforth and Tickhill, liberty of Tickhill; 3½ miles N. from Doncaster, 9 from Thorne, 35 from York. Pop. included in Bentley.  The Church is a vicarage dedicated to All-Saints, in the deanry of Doncaster, value, £12. 17s. 6d. p.r. £109.  Patron, Sir George Cooke, Bart.  Here is a Free Grammar School endowed by the Will of Bryan Cooke, Esq. dated January 3rd, 1660, and built by the will Of Sir George Cooke, Bart., in 1683; and an Hospital for twelve of the poorest and oldest people in the parish."  (cf Thomas Langdale's Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire, published 1822).

Len BULLAS reports that "Both Joseph and Ann are buried in the Arksey church yard adjacent to the church entrance. Their gravestone is a large stone slab on which the engraving can still be easily read. 'In memory/ of/ Joseph Bullas/ who died October 15th 1849/ in the 70th year/ of his age/ also Ann relict of the above/ Joseph Bullas/ who departed this life/ Novr 16th 1856/ aged 72 years'."

With regard to the origin of the BULLAS family name, Len BULLAS advises:-  "According to The Historical Research Centre, there are two possible explanations .... The first explanation is that the name was derived from the Middle English word 'bulace' meaning a 'wild plum tree'.  This indeed was the explanation that was passed on orally to the descendants of the David Bullas family.  The second explanation was that the name was derived from the Old English 'bulahus' from 'bula' meaning 'bull' and 'hus' meaning 'house', and would refer to one who worked at or lived near a bull house. .... Although there is a town called 'Bullas' in the southeast of Spain, there is no evidence that the original Bullas family had a Spanish origin."

Expanding on this, Len goes on to say:-  "Near the town of Thurlestone which is close to the city of Huddlesfield in the Penine hills of central Yorkshire, England, there is a manor house which is called Bullhouse Lodge.  Bullhouse in the dialect of the region, is pronounced as we would pronounce Bullas today.  In a transcript of the 1672 South Yorkshire Hearth Tax returns (housed at the Wakefield Metropolitan District Council Library Headquarters, Balne Lane, Wakefield, Yorkshire), the editor refers to this lodge as occupying the site of an earlier farm which was known as the Bullhouse Farm.  The earliest date placed over the main gateway of the lodge is 1688 with dates of 1692 and 1695 found on later additions to the Lodge buildings.  The Bullhouse Farm must therefore have been abandoned prior to 1688.

"In the hearth tax transcripts, the editor states that the 'Bulluses or Bullases can be seen to have come from Bullhouse in Thurlestone township'.  He states that by 1672 when hereditary surnames were now the custom, many families had not traveled far from their place of origin.

"The 1672 hearth tax returns are a record of taxes collected between 1662 and 1698 by the central government.  Taxes were based on the number of hearths or chimneys that a house possessed.  Householders were charged at the rate of two shillings per annum unless they were exempted on the basis of poverty.  However, the tax was unpopular and was abandoned after the 1688 revolution.

"The tax collectors found only fourteen households with the surname Bullas in the whole of South Yorkshire, all in the growing town of Sheffield estimated at the time to contain about 600 households.  The taxes were collected by only four individuals (whose names are given in the preface to the tax transcripts).  Since only few individuals at the lower end of the social scale were literate, these four tax collectors must have agreed that names that sounded like Bullas were all to be recorded as Bullas.  In Parish records of births, deaths and marriages, Bullas-sounding names were recorded by different scribes by many other different spellings such as Bullis, Bullass, Bullus, Bullos, Bullhouse, Bullosse etc.  Thus, for example, the recorded surnames of the children of John Bulloss of 1797 (in our own family tree) have several different spellings.

"The editor of the hearth tax return transcripts asserts that these fourteen households all probably originated from the family that had lived at and later abandoned Bullhouse Farm.  This may be true, but I believe that it is unlikely that the fourteen Bullas families which were descended from the original family at Bullhouse Farm, are the ancestors of ALL present-day Bullas (or Bullis, Bullus etc) families.  This possibility would exist only if we could be certain that the tax collectors had not missed any of the population.  The possibility also exists that if some of the Bullas community were poor enough to go untaxed, their names would not have been recorded.  From Parish records, we know that Joseph Bullas of 1659 was born in the South Yorkshire farming community of Arksey indicating that a Bullas family was resident there.  Early Parish records also record Bullas births prior to 1672 in other communities such as Rawmarsh, Harthill, Wentworth and Rotherham.  Yet the hearth tax returns of 1672 fail to record a Bullas family in Arksey or in any of these other communities.  At Arksey, there still stands a well-built Poor House of the period.  Was Joseph’s family in the Poor House at the time the hearth tax returns were collected?  Or did they perhaps live in a house without a hearth which would also exempt them from the tax.  Certainly, about 150 years later at the time of the Industrial Revolution, David Bullas, a descendant of Joseph of 1659, moved to Sheffield where several of his children were born and it was from Sheffield that the family migrated to Australia in 1857.

"A family that adopted the hereditary surname Bullhouse or its variant spellings such as Bullas, may have originated at the Bullhouse Farm but prior to the farm’s abandonment in the latter half of the 17th century when all or most of the resident families moved to Sheffield, other members of the clan had moved to nearby communities elsewhere in Yorkshire.

"Arksey was historically known as a farming community right into the 20th century.  Residential development of the encroaching city of Doncaster in the 1980s led to the destruction of the old farms.  However, some of the historically important farm buildings are still preserved in the development.

"Bullhouse Lodge may be considered as occupying the site of Bullhouse Farm where a family that appropriated the surname Bullhouse lived in the 15th century, perhaps even earlier.  As the family grew, individual family members moved to other nearby farming communities and started their own families.  At the final abandonment, most migrated to Sheffield.  It is possible therefore, that modern-day Bullas (or variant spelling) families may have a common origin, but since individuals had moved to different parts of Yorkshire prior to the keeping of Parish records which documented births/christenings, marriages and deaths, this would be impossible to document.

"Indeed, at least one Bullas individual or family had emigrated far from Yorkshire to the American colonies in the first half of the 18th century.  William Bullas was one of the appraisers of the estate of Joseph Pope, recorded in Wright County Virginia in 1749; and Adam Bullas was a soldier of the Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War.  The first United States census of 1792 records that Moses, Joseph and Isaac Bullas were all residents of Orange County, North Carolina.  The names of females were not recorded. I have been unable to determine the English origins of these Bullas individuals."

(NOTE: The 'Related URL', in 'Family Contacts' immediately below contains THE SMITH-BULLAS COLLECTION of eleven images arising from the lives of David Bullas' daughter Anne and her husband William Smith (including the Bullas family generally) along with eleven related links to other www sites.)

Family Contacts 
Surname: SMITH
Given Name: Martyn
Email: mgswebaus@yahoo.com
Related Link: Directory of Helen and Martyn Smith's FF2001 Webpages

Surname:   BULLAS
Given Name:: Leonard
Email: bullaslen@earthlink.net

Contributions from Len Bullas

Len BULLAS of Loma Linda, California, has made significant contributions to this page.   Born in Lismore, New South Wales, he has lived in the USA since 1959.  A great great grandson of David and Elizabeth BULLAS, Len has researched BULLAS genealogy comprehensively and some of his work has been included on this webpage with his permission.  All of the text above relating to Thomas BULLAS ('Hot Tom'), his wife and four of their sons has been provided by Len and is quoted directly with no paraphrasing.  Additionally, other of Len's contributions are clearly attributed where they appear in the text.  Len also has passed on some brief biographical information about Ann HUTCHINSON that he received from another family researcher, Renee BULLAS of England.

Last updated by Martyn SMITH on 5 April, 2016.

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