Bull, H. J. (Henric Johan), 1844-

Henrik Johan Bull was born on 13 October 1844 in Stokke, Norway, the son of the ice-captain Cornelius Bull. He was educated at Tonsberg Borgerskole, leaving to enter business in 1859. He worked first in Tonsberg before moving with his wife to Australia, where he became aware of the possibilities of Antarctic whaling. He was working for a shipping company in Melbourne, Australia, when he managed to persuade the Norwegian whaling entrepreneur, Captain Svend Foyn, to finance an expedition to investigate the possibilities for whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Setting out in the whaling ship Antarctic from Tonsberg on 20 September 1893, the Norwegian Sealing and Whaling Exploration, 1893-1895 (Captain Leonard Kristensen), hunted for elephant seals on Iles Kerguelen and for whales off Campbell Island. Heading south from New Zealand, Antarctic was caught up in the pack ice from December 1894 to early January 1895. The ship broke free on 14 January and succeeded in entering the Ross Sea. On 24 January 1895, Bull and a small party landed at Cape Adare, thought at the time to be the first landing on the Antarctic continent, though actually preceded by several others. Antarctic returned to Australia on 12 March 1895 and to Tonsberg five months later.

After the expedition, Bull continued to work in Australia. In 1906, he went to Iles Crozet on board the sealer Catharine and was marooned on the islands for some time after the ship was wrecked. He returned to Norway sometime after 1910, where he published an account of his family history in 1917 and further articles in 1919. He died in June 1930.

Published work The cruise of the Antarctic to the south polar regions by Henrik J. Bull edited by David W.H. Walton, Bluntisham Books and the Paradigm Press Bungay (1984) SPRI Library Shelf (7)91(08)[1894-1895 Kristensen]

From the guide to the Henrik Johan Bull collection, 1896-1901, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)