[Notes to Bullock's History of IoM, 1816]

Notes

Author

Hannah Bullock was wife of Stanley Bullock, a 'social refugee' from England, who in 1809 acquired the house and farm known as The Hague in Onchan and lived there until 1815 when, getting into financial troubles, it was seized by the Coroner and sold.

A short history of the house is given by Neil Mathieson in Onchan, Isle of Man The Story of a Village, [1963] pp16-8 in which he describes The Hague farmhouse as a plain but pleasing three storied Georgian building with interesting historical connections. In the 1780's the Collector of Customs at Douglas, a Mr Betham, occupied it, and it was from here that his daughter Elizabeth married Lieutenant William Bligh (later Captain Bligh of the Mutiny on the Bounty fame) in October 1781.

After Betham's death in 1789 the house was acquired by Captain A. Cook, captain of one of the revenue cutters based off Douglas. It became Richard Townley's favoured spot and he has left descriptions of its garden in his two volume diary of his Island stay (published 1791).

The farm, now since swallowed up, was of some 91 acres, the Bullocks seemed to have been keen improvers for they are on record in Appendix I of T Quayles General View of Agriculture [1812] as in 1811 Mr Bullock was awarded the first premium of a Cup, value ten guineas; presented by J.C. Curwen Esq. the President, for the best managed farm of not less than 50 acres.
The report of the Inspectors read:

Mr Bullock's farm consists of one hundred acres having 22½ acres of wheat, 29 acres of oats, 5½ acres of turnips, 2½ acres of carrots, 1½ acres of cabbages, 12 acres of clover and 7 acres of pasture.
The wheat crop may be called a fair average; the oats excellent; the potatoes, turnips and carrots very clean and good; the cabbages were nearly gone when the farm was viewed, and may be said to be the only dirty piece of ground upon it; the clover was a fair crop.

 Wm Harrison (Manx Soc vol XXIV) gives the following description of Mrs and Mr Bullock

"Mr. Wm. Cubbon of Denny, N.B.[North Britain = Scotland], in a letter to Paul Bridson, Esq., January 24th, 1862, says, " She was a lady of no ordinary cleverness. I saw her only once, and I thought at the time that nature had made a mistake at her formation, and made her of the materials designed for a drum-major ! She appeared to me to be quite qualified to hold the scissors of destiny, or stir the cauldron with Macbeth’s witches ! And with her pen she knew not to show mercy to the living or the dead. Stanley Bullock, Esq., her husband, was a man of a much more meek and quiet spirit."