Celebrating Hampshire's Historians

Bullar, John

27 Janury 1778 – 13 May 1864

Born in the Southampton Parish of Holy Rood, Bullar lived his whole life in the town. A schoolmaster for nearly four decades, he taught many of those who were to become the town’s civic leaders. As it was put in an obituary published in the Southampton Times "The life of Mr Bullar is in fact the life of Southampton during the past fifty years".

Alongside his academic interests, Bullar was a prominent deacon and preacher at the prestigious Above Bar Independent (later Congregational) Church. Friendship with the publisher, Thomas Baker, provided Bullar with an incentive and a means of getting his historical and other publications into the public domain. His final resting place is in the churchyard of St Nicholas’ Church, North Stoneham.

Read more about John Bullar in the University of Southampton's Special Collections blog, which was written by the contributor to this profile, Roger Ottewill.

Sources

• http://sotonopedia.wikidot.com/page-browse:bullar-family

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004, Volume 8

Portrait

Available with his ODNB entry

Contribution to county’s history

With respect to the history of Southampton and its environs, Bullar can be said to have laid foundations on which later historians were able to build and to provide them with the stimuli for doing so.

Relevant published works

• A Companion in a Tour Round Southampton, (1799)
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• Historical Particulars Relating To Southampton (Thomas Baker, Southampton printed, 1820)


• A Historical and Picturesque Guide to the Isle of Wight ... Second edition, corrected and improved (Thomas Baker, 1824)


• A Companion on a Visit to Netley Abbey (1837)

Critical Comments

Bullar was, in many respects, a pioneer and consequently there are limitations with respect to his historical works. It might be argued that they are lacking in academic rigour and the absence of referencing makes it difficult to identify his sources. Nonetheless his works make interesting reading and highlight aspects of local history that are worthy of further investigation.

Other Comments

The reputation of Bullar was such that he is the subject of an entry in the ODNB. In this Spender makes the point that his Christian ‘faith underpinned his diverse writings which ranged from a series of locally based historical and geographical tourist guides, to a collection of edifying poetry with which he sought to counter the anti-religious tide of popular culture epitomized by the poetry of Lord Byron.’

Contributor

Roger Ottewill

Key Words

Southampton, tourist guides

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