John Wrathall Bull was an early settler, inventor and colonial author of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

.

Born in St. Paul's Cray, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, he was a dairy farmer in Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

 and Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....

, before applying as a farmer and shepherd for free passage to the new colony of South Australia. In May 1838, he arrived in Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

 on the Canton with his wife and two infant sons. He acted as an agent for absentee landholders in South Australia, as well as taking up farming in the Mount Barker

Mount Barker, South Australia

Mount Barker is an expanding city, home to 10 258 residents that is 33 kilometres up the South Eastern Freeway, east of Adelaide, in South Australia. It is the seat of the District Council of Mount Barker, is the largest town in the Adelaide Hills, and is one of the fastest growing areas in the...

 and Rapid Bay

Rapid Bay, South Australia

Rapid Bay is a small seaside town in the southwest of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia. It is approximately 100 km south of the state capital, Adelaide...

 districts. In 1852, he visited the Victorian

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 goldfields

Victorian gold rush

The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...

, but returned to South Australia the following year.
Bull was known for his creation of an agricultural stripping machine which he developed but was controversially beaten to the title of inventor by John Ridley

John Ridley (inventor)

John Ridley was an English-born miller, inventor, landowner, investor, farming machinery manufacturer, farmer and preacher who lived in Australia between 1839 and 1853. He is best known for the development, manufacture and invention of "Ridley's Stripper", a machine that both reaped and threshed...

. The controversy was again revived in 1875, when the University of Adelaide

University of Adelaide

The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...

 proposed to establish a 'Ridley' chair of agriculture. Bull successful petitioned parliament in 1880 for a grant of recogniton of his invention and after a long inquiry, was given £250 in 1882 'for services in improving agricultural machinery'.

Also involved in South Australia's colonial militia, he was made lieutenant in command of the companies at Mitcham

Mitcham, South Australia

Mitcham is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Mitcham.Created as a village separate from Adelaide , it was ancillary to a sheep station at Brown Hill Creek belonging to the South Australia Company. Prior to European settlement the area was inhabited by the Kaurna aboriginal people...

 and Glen Osmond

Glen Osmond, South Australia

Glen Osmond is a small suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Burnside located in the foothills of the Adelaide Hills.-References:...

. Bull's other major contribution to South Australian colonial life was the publication of his Early Experiences of Colonial Life in South Australia (Adelaide, 1878) which first appeared as critical but rambling reminiscences in the South Australian Chronicle. Revised and enlarged by the addition of some imprecise colonial history, the work was republished in Adelaide and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1884.

Bull died at College Park

College Park, South Australia

College Park is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Norwood Payneham St Peters. It has been ranked the most expensive suburb in South Australia, followed by Medindie.-References:...

in 1886 and was survived by only two of his ten children.