Frank Thomas Bullen

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Frank Thomas Bullen (1857-1915), British novelist, was born in London, April 5 1857, and was educated for a few years at a dame school and Westbourne school, Paddington. At the age of 9 he left school and took up work as an errand boy. In 1869 he went to sea and travelled to all parts of the world in various capacities including that of chief mate. In 1883 he became a clerk in the Meteorological Office until 1889. His reputation was made over the publication of The Cruise of the " Cachelot" (1906); and he also wrote, amongst other books, Idylls of the Sea (1899); Sea Wrack (1903); The Call of the Deep (1907) and A Compleat Sea Cook (1912), besides many articles and essays. He died at Madeira March 1 1915.

Bibliography

The Cruise of the "Cachalot": Round the World After Sperm Whales, 1897
Idylls of the Sea, 1899
Sea Wrack, 1903
The Call of the Deep, 1907
Beyond, 1909
A Compleat Sea Cook, 1912
Deep Sea Plunderings, 1901
A Sack of Shakings, 1901
A Whaleman's wife, 1902
A Bounty Boy: Being Some Adventures of a Christian Barbarian on an unpremeditated Trip Round the World, 1907
The Log of a Sea-Waif, 1915

Obituary

Royal Geographic Society, February 22, 1915

The well-known lecturer, and writer of stirring sea stories, Mr. Frank T. Bullen, who died towards the end of February, was a Fellow of this Society from 1898 until a couple of years ago. A son of Mr. F. R. Bullen, of Crewkerne, Dorset, he led a roving and adventurous life from quite an early age, and many of the most thrilling episodes in his books were records of his own experiences. After various adventures on shore he went to sea in 1869, and for some years roughed it in various capacities in the merchant service, suffering great hardships, as vividly described in 'The Log of a Sea Waif' and other books. He was keenly interested in the bettering the condition and raising the moral tone of our merchant seamen, and many of his books were of a semi-religious character. In his latter years he was knows as a successful lecturer and a writer of miscellaneous stories and articles in addition to his books. He had lived for some years at Melbourne, near Cambridge.