John Bulley’s turbulent career at sea began at the age of 15, when he joined the Royal Navy as a Midshipman aboard HMS Swaggerer, a former French raiding vessel captured in 1809.
He then served aboard several Royal Navy ships during the War of 1812, participating in raids near New Orleans and anti-piracy operations off the Cuban coast and the Gulf of Mexico.
By then a seasoned seafarer, Bulley passed his officer’s exam in 1819 aged 22 and was commissioned a Lieutenant aboard HMS Ferret in 1826. He married Sarah Louisa Pearce of Haslar, Isle of Wight, in 1828.
Though he’d seen action across the British Empire, it was the Isle of Wight’s rugged, unforgiving Southwestern coast, known locally as the ‘sailor’s graveyard’, that proved the officer’s most formidable post.
In 1830, Bulley became Chief Officer of Atherfield Coastguard. There, the former naval officer traded combat and cannon fire for cliff rescues and nights pursuing smugglers through the coastal fog.
Bulley’s stretch of responsibility, grimly known as the ‘Back of the Wight’, was infamous for shipwrecks due to low visibility and poor conditions due to fierce tides, storms and treacherous sandbanks. The area’s remote landscape and limited infrastructure also made it a haven for criminal activity.
According to the Hampshire Telegraph in 1836, Bulley was attacked with stones by 30 to 40 men. Armed with his pistol, the resolute Coastguard halted the mob and seized 150 tubs of spirits, 15 flagons, and two bales of tea.
Bulley’s bravery and dedication did not go unnoticed within the service, where he was twice commended by the Comptroller-General, a senior official overseeing both coastguard and customs operations.
While enforcement was central to his role, it was Bulley’s skill in life-saving rescue work that would become his defining contribution. In 1838 and 1841, he was awarded Silver Medals by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (now the RNLI), for rescuing eight crew members from the Norwegian brig Enigheden, and three from the Russian ship Castor.
Bulley’s ‘praiseworthy and gallant conduct’ was clearly demonstrated during a dramatic rescue in 1843. During a strong gale, the George, a brig travelling from South Shields to Grenada, was wrecked at Atherfield.
Bulley and a fellow Coastguard, Lieutenant William Vicary, fired rocket lines towards the vessel. Through their efforts, the pair managed to recover a single crewman by the rocket line, who reported 10 men still aboard.
The lieutenants quickly mustered two local fishing boats and with a crew of coastguards and fishermen, they headed out into the poor conditions to retrieve the casualties, who were rescued moments before the vessel was destroyed.
Vicary and Bulley were awarded gold medals for their part in the rescue, with money and silver medals awarded to the nine other boatmen involved.
In 1848, Bulley was again awarded, this time a ceremonial gold boat for saving 15 men from the ship Llanrumney, one of the Coastguard’s highest honours at the time. Three years later, Bulley was promoted to Commander for his good service, before reaching his final rank of Captain on 1 August 1860.
The celebrated station chief spent his later years as Superintendent of the Royal Sailor’s Home in Portsmouth and died aged 68 at Carrisbrooke on the Isle of Wight. Captain Bulley’s medals are currently retained at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
