“B” is for Bull, William (1683-1755)

“B” is for Bull, William (1683-1755). Planter, lieutenant governor. A native South Carolinian, Bull had a long political career that began in the proprietary era and continued for thirty-five years after South Carolina became a royal colony. He represented Berkeley and Craven Counties in the Eighth, Tenth, and Fifteenth Assemblies and was appointed by the Lords Proprietors to the Grand Council. During the 1720s Bull was a valuable member of the government. He served continuously on the Grand Council from 1719 to 1755 and as its president, and he was lieutenant governor from 1738 until his death in 1755. As a long-serving, native-born Council member, Bull’s attachment to colonial prerogative increased the power of the Commons House of Assembly. From 1737 until the arrival of Governor James Glen in 1743, William Bull was acting governor of South Carolina.