Benjamin Pulleyne

Benjamin Pulleyne, sometimes spelt Pullan (30 September 1785 – 20 October 1861), was a mathematician, Church of England clergyman, fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and headmaster of Gresham's School, then usually known as Holt Grammar School.

Born at Scarborough, North Yorkshire, the son of Benjamin Pullan, a merchant, and his wife Elizabeth,[1][2] the young Pulleyne (the spelling of the name he used for himself) was educated at Wakefield Grammar School and was admitted to Clare College, Cambridge, on 2 February 1804.[3] He was elected a Cave Scholar on 19 January 1805 and was Senior Optime in 1808.[4]

Clare College, Cambridge
Holt Grammar School in 1838

He graduated BA in 1808, promoted by seniority to MA in 1811, and was a Fellow of his college from 1808 to 1809. Becoming a deacon of the Church of England in 1808, he was ordained as a priest in 1810 by Henry Bathurst, Bishop of Norwich.[3]

Pulleyne was Master of Holt Grammar School from 1809 to 1857,[3] the salary for which was £200 a year.[5] Having held the post for 48 years, he remains the school's longest-serving head since its foundation in 1555.[6] He was also Vicar of Sheringham from 1825 until his death, and of Weybourne from 1845.[3]

Personal life

At the census of March 1851, Pulleyne was living at 38, Market Place, Holt, with his wife Rebecca, who was blind, his son Walter M. Pulleyne, aged 34, an apothecary, his daughter in law, his seven-year-old granddaughter Anne, and two servants.[7] His wife, Rebecca Pulleyne, died at Holt on 13 March 1853.[8] On 12 July of the same year, at Buckenham, Norfolk, Pulleyne married Mary Dinah Partridge, a farmer’s daughter.[2][9]

Having retired from his school, Pulleyne then lived at Sheringham, where he died in October 1861. He left a widow, Mary Dinah.[10]

Notes
  1. "Benjamin Pullan" in England & Wales, Christening Index, 1530–1980, ancestry.com, accessed 3 December 2020: "Benjamin Pullan / Gender: Male / Christening Age: 0 / Birth Date: 30 Sep 1785 / Christening Date: 30 Oct 1785 / Christening Place: Scarborough, Yorkshire, England / Father: Benjamin Pullan / Mother: Elizabeth Pullan" (subscription required)
  2. Marriages Solemnized at the Parish Church of Buckenham in the County of Norfolk, 1853, No. 9, July 12, 1853, ancestry.co.uk, accessed 3 December 2020 (subscription required)
  3. "PULLAN (or PULLEYNE), Benjamin", in John Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses Part II. 1752–1900, Vol. V Pace – Spyers (1953), p. 214
  4. Matthew Peacock, The History of Wakefield Grammar School (Milnes, 1892), p. 182: this calls him "Master of Holt Grammar School, Norfolk".
  5. City of London Livery Companies' Commission: Report and Appendix, Volume 4, p. 237
  6. S. G. G. Benson, Martin Crossley Evans, I Will Plant Me a Tree: an Illustrated History of Gresham's School (James & James, London, 2002)
  7. 1851 United Kingdom census, Market Place, Holt, ancestry.co.uk, accessed 2 December 2020
  8. The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 193 (1853), p. 561: "March 13... At Holt, Norfolk, Rebecca, wife of the Rev. Benjamin Pulleyne."
  9. "Partridge, Mary Dinah / Blofield / 4b 345"; "Pulleyne, Benjamin / Blofield / 4b 345" in General Index to Marriages in England and Wales (September quarter, 1853)
  10. "Pulleyne, the Reverend Benjamin", in Wills 1861 (England and Wales Probate Office, 1862)
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