The Very Revd George Arthur Pullen was Dean of Kimberley and Rector of St Cyprian’s Cathedral

St Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley

The Cathedral Church of St Cyprian the Martyr, Kimberley, is the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It became a Cathedral when the Synod of Bishops gave a mandate for the formation of the new Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman in...

, Kimberley

Kimberley, Northern Cape

Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

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Previous appointments

In 1944 Pullen joined the staff of the cathedral as a deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

, being ordained priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 at St Cyprian’s later that year.

At St Alban’s

Fr Pullen was priest-in-charge at St Alban’s Church in De Beers, Kimberley, from 1952 to 1963. During this period he was made a Canon and also made Manager of the diocesan Perseverance School

Perseverance School

The Perseverance School, Kimberley, was founded as such in 1883 but might be seen as having arisen from the St Cyprian's Mission School dating back to the early 1870s...

 in Kimberley, taking charge of St Margaret’s Hostel there in 1956. He also served at Floors in the nascent parish of St Barnabas, which had been brought into existence owing to the forced removal of people from the Malay Camp

Malay Camp, Kimberley

The Malay Camp in Kimberley, South Africa, with a history similar to Cape Town's District Six, Johannesburg's Sophiatown and Port Elizabeth's South End, was a cosmopolitan suburb originating in the early days of Kimberley's existence but subject to forced 'slums clearance' after the owner of the...

 in terms of the apartheid Group Areas Act

Group Areas Act

The Group Areas Act of 1950 was an act of parliament created under the apartheid government of South Africa on 27th April 1950. The act assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of urban apartheid...

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Archdeacon of Bechuanaland

In 1960 Canon Pullen was appointed Archdeacon of Bechuanaland, an area then including the southern half of modern Botswana

Botswana

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

, and served in parishes in Vryburg and Mafikeng

Mafikeng

Mahikeng – formerly legally, but still commonly known as Mafikeng – is the capital city of the North-West Province of South Africa. It is best known internationally for the Siege of Mafeking, the most famous engagement of the Second Boer War.Located on South Africa's border with Botswana, it is ...

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Dean of Kimberley

In 1965 Pullen was invited by Bishop Clarence Edward Crowther

Clarence Edward Crowther

Clarence Edward Crowther was the sixth Anglican Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman who on appointment was its youngest bishop....

, who was Dean here in 1964-1965, to become the Dean of Kimberley, and he was installed at St Cyprian’s Cathedral on 8 March 1966.

This was a tumultuous time in the history of the church in relation to the tightening grip of apartheid legislation, leading to Bishop Crowther’s deportation on 30 June 1967. Pullen acted as Vicar General until Bishop Philip William Wheeldon

Philip William Wheeldon

Philip William Wheeldon OBE was the fourth Bishop of Whitby, and subsequently twice Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman.-Life:...

, re-elected, was re-enthroned in 1968.

Honouring Sister Henrietta

A significant project during Pullen’s deanship was the commissioning and eventual erection and dedication, by Bishop Wheeldon on 15 January 1970, of a statue honouring Sister Henrietta Stockdale

Henrietta Stockdale

Henrietta Stockdale was a nursing pioneer. Through her influence and pressure the first state registration of nurses and midwives in the world was brought about when the Cape of Good Hope Medical and Pharmacy Act of 1891 passed into law...

. This was situated in the gardens of the cathedral. It was unveiled by three student nurses, one African, one Coloured, and one White. The Mother Superior and members of Community of St Michael and All Angels were in attendance.

In retirement

After serving the Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman for 32 years, and as an Honorary Canon of St Cyprian’s from 1975 until his death, Pullen retired to Cape Town where he was appointed Rector of All Saints, Sonnebloem (formerly a part of District Six). He died in Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

on 18 May 1987.