The Diamond Point Hall of Fame Legends Dinner was held at the Metung Country Club recently, with 70 members and guests
in attendance.
Guests were entertained with a Powerpoint presentation by John, Peter and Steve Bull, fourth generation members of the Bull family.
They traced the Bull family history at Metung dating back to 1879, 146 years ago.
The story begins with James Bull (1848-1939), who was from a ”battling” background living in Shalford, Surrey.
At the age of 16 he went to sea from Southampton soon after seeing the ocean on a school excursion, his first trip was on the Commissary, a fully rigged ship to the West Indies, he then sailed the world for the next 10 years with trips to every continent.
In 1874, at the age of 26 and qualified for a second mate position, when overlooked for such a role, he decided to head to the colonies.
He joined a gold expedition to New Guinea in 1878 on a small 50-foot schooner
named Dove.
They were struck with illness, 11 of the 16 survived, and James spent six weeks in hospital in Yokohama.
He then went back to sea to get his Master’s Certificate and he attained Master’s Certificate for Foreign Going Vessels.
He married in 1882 and settled in Nicholson Street, Bairnsdale.
In 1886 he jointly purchased the PS Burrabogie from Echuca and established the Gippsland Lakes’ first ‘floating hotel’ doing weekly tours around the Lakes from Bairnsdale.
Later he ran the Tanjil until he retired to Metung in 1913.
He had five children Elizabeth, Robert (killed in action, World War one), Edward, Harold and Joseph.
Joseph Bull (1893-1981) mother died when he was three years old and he went to school in Melbourne from the age of eight, returning home to become an apprentice shipwright in Paynesville at 15.
In WW1 he went to Egypt with Lighthorse reinforcements and was stationed in Palestine with the AIF.
He was a rigger for Bristol fighter 1229, piloted by Ross Smith, on occasion this plane was used to transport Lawrence of Arabia who was involved in Beersheba campaign.
He served with Hudson Fysh and Paul McGuiness, who returned to start Qantas.
His WWI diaries were published in 1993 by RAAF historian titled One Airman’s War.
Joseph moved to Metung with his first three sons in 1926 and commenced building boats.
He started with row boats, then small powered fishing boats and in 1940, he enlarged works to build shark fishing vessels.
In 1957, Joseph formed a family partnership with his three surviving sons, about this time, a boat hull was inherited as a bad debt, they decided to finish it off and hire it out and Tanjil became the first hire cruiser.
Joseph’s community service was unmatched in the district, including 22 years on the shire council with three terms as mayor of Tambo Shire, as well as being a foundation member and ex-president of East Gippsland Legacy.
He was a Life Member and 12 years the commodore of Metung Yacht Club, president of the Metung Regatta Club, whilst being active on the Metung Foreshore Committee, Metung Progress Association, Victorian Coastguard and a Justice of Peace for 32 years.
With the formation of the family business in 1957, the family consolidated in Metung, each of the sons Bobby, Dave and Jimmy, brought their own set of skills, with Joseph still hovering in the background.
As mentioned, it all started with Tanjil and two other 4-berths were soon added, with the classic six-berth cruiser developed with Naval architect Owen Cropp.
They later moved into construction of eight and 10-berth cruisers, with a total of 27 in the fleet and all except number two, Koolyn built at the shipyard.The shipyard J C Bull and Staff/ Bull Marine Industries operated over 60 years with 293 boats built, 276 in timber and 17 in aluminium.
Over 30 shipwright apprenticeship were completed and the last boats constructed were the Thunderbird ferry from Lakes Entrance and the workboat Victory.
The sixth generation of the family is now in and around the Metung District.
The evening concluded with the announcement of the Diamond Point organising committees Legend for 2025.
This award recognises a Metung Resident and member of the Diamond Point Golf Classic Hall of Fame who has made a major contribution to the Metung Community over many years and this year’s Legend for 2025 was awarded to the popular and highly regarded Jane Arrell.
