Pullum

Pullum One-Name Study

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Study details

Study: Pullum

Category: 3 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is well under way on a global basis.

Guild hosted website: pullum.one-name.net

Contact: Dr Nicola Brown

About the study

The decision to carry out the Pullum One-Name study arose while talking to some people on the Guild of One-Name Studies stand at the 2014 Who Do You Think You Are? live! show. They supplied me with the information that there were only 57 Pullums on the UK 1881 census (I have since found 70 Pullums) , thereby making this a small study, with the possibility that the individuals were a single family.

Although new to one-name studies, like many, I had been researching my family tree for many years. Pullum is my paternal grandmother's maiden name (My surname, Brown, would be a very different prospect for a one-name study!). I started my family tree research with the help of my first cousin twice removed Maisie, an experienced family historian and whose mother's maiden name was Pullum. I have since reviewed the sources and added to the tree.

My family tree already had over 400 Pullums and so I was fairly sure that I had information for the 57 on the 1881 UK Census that I was told about, so I registered the name with The Guild of One-Name Studies a few days after the show (Feb 2014).

The study has progressed significantly since then. There is a website for the study, now part of the members website project. Attached to it is a site with a selection of family trees. The basic work on the UK is complete but of course will be updated constantly as new information is discovered. The main tree is one family (1,670 people) and there is another UK tree for those that do not fit, usually because of changes and varaiations in recording of their name.
Apart from in the USA, there are few Pullum outside of the UK and most of these are emigrants from the UK. The work is currently focusing on building USA trees, using the 1900 Federal Census as a starting point.

Variant names

I initially registered the variant Pullen but have now found out that this is probably not a variant. However Pullum may be a variant of Pulham. The origins for these names seem to be different, Pullum being in London, Middlesex and Surrey (some places are the same but boundaries moved) and Pulham in Dorset & Norfolk. There are a large number in Gloucestershire, who have some records as Pullum but their name varies from record to record, however, Pulliam seems to have been focused here. Other possible variants are Pullam and Pullom.

My grandmother was particular about the spelling of her name and said that her father taught the children a rhyme about it 'Two Ls, two Us, a P and an M'.

I have concentrated on Pullum but all variations in the recording of their name is noted on the trees.

Name origin

As is normally the way, I have found no proof to support the family legend, that the name is of French origin. The only link I have is that a Joseph Pullum (recorded as Pullam in the marriage record) married a Huguenot.

So far, the evidence suggests that the UK Pullums originated from the Shoreditch area. This could mean it is a variant of the locative surnames Fulham/Fullum. The other variants considered are also locative, Pulham in Norfolk and Dorset, and Pelham in Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, and Hampshire, so the distance from Shoreditch suggests that they are not connected. The earliest Pullum I have found so far is Richard Pullum who was born in Shoreditch in 1635. I have recently found that these 'early' Pullums may have sometimes been Pulham or Pullam. One theory I am considering is that, they are one family of Pulhams/Pullams that moved to Shoreditch and then altered their name to Pullum.

I have found a significant number of Pullums in the USA (more than in the UK). Initially I felt sure that the UK Pullums emigrated to the USA as I found two immigration records for Virginia U.S. A. For Edward Pullum and Edmund Pullum (possibly one person) in 1636. The sponsor was the same for both, William Clark, and it is likely that they/he travelled for the purpose of indentured servitude.

However, early US records include Pullums born in the US as early 1870, of various races e.g.native american Sioux and African American, although it is probable that Pullum was not their original name.

Historical occurrences of the name

Possibly the most successful Pullum historically is William Arthur Pullum. (8 Apr 1887 - 29 Aug 1960). Despite being a sickly child, suffering 'brain fever' (meningitis) and tuberculosis of the jaw bone aged12, right lung tuberculosis aged 15 and then peritonitis, he became a weightlifting champion aged 17, although he weighed less than 9 stone. Two years later he founded The Lothian Club, Camberwell, the first school of physical culture. He coached for the 1924 and 1948 Olympic games and published several books including 'How to use a Barbell' and 'Weightlifting Made Easy'. In 1948, his nephew Walter Pullum (1931 - ) joined him at the first Pullum Sports shop. Wally branched out into equipment manufacture and Pullum Sports is still a successful business today.

Another sportsman of sufficient note to have his obituary in The Sporting Life was pugilist William Banner Pullum (27 May 1844 - 07 Dec 1889). He was a butcher before becoming 'Professor Hundreds' and seems to have had reasonable success until he succumbed to tuberculosis and died at The Consumption Hospital, Bonner Road, Victoria Park, London aged 45.

Although not historically notable in the same way, Edmund Pullum is interesting from a social history viewpoint. He died aged 25, when he was involved in 'The Catastrophe in The Regents Park' on the 15th of January 1867. About 200 skaters fell trough the ice of the lake and approximately 40 died. He had been married 5 months and his widow, Jane, gave birth to their daughter, Edith, the following May. She later married his brother Charles, who also died young, 3 years after marrying Jane.

Reviewing U.S. newspapers, I came across another interesting Pullum, who had been attacked on Christmas Eve 1959. D. Ulysses Pullum was not only a prosperous landowner, but was president of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in "Terrible" Terrell County, Dawson, Georgia, so called because it had one of the worst records of race repression and violence in the South. Despite economic reprisals and other harassment, he continued to campaign against the denial of registration and voting rights for black people.

Other examples can be found on my website under Pullums of Interest

Name frequency

The number of Pullums on the UK 1881 Census varies between sources, combining the results and reviewing the results gives a total of 70 individuals. Hence the frequency = 0.00025% or 1 in 393,547.

I have analysed all the Engalnd and Wales censuses and the increase in numbers between 1841 and 1921 is 38 to 190 individuals.

The number of births found for 1837 - 2006 was 609. I have analysed how birth rates have changed over time.

According to the Office of National Statistics database, in England, Wales and the Isle of Mann in September 2002 there were 179 Pullums. Giving a frequency = 0.00033% or 1 in 304,434.

Although not examined yet in detail, There are 492 Pullums on the 1880 United States Federal Census Which would be a frequency = 0.00098% or 1 in 102,209.

Distribution of the name

For the distribution in England & Wales, I have and found that it appears that there was a common ancestor, Joseph Pullum (1757 - 1846) who marrried Marie Le Franc (1760 - 1843). Looking across the censuses 1841 - 1921 inc. 80 - 100% were in areas that are now London, the majority in Shoreditch.

From records other than the censuses, I have found a handful of Pullums in Norfolk in the 17th & 18th century

and a group in Somerset in the 16th and 17th century and also several in Gloucestershire, Dorset and Kent. These are represented as branches on my UK & Ireland Outliers tree.

As I have not found any in these areas later on, the families probably changed the spelling of their names to Pullam, Pullom, Pulham or similar. Alternatively, they may have moved or emigrated but I have found no evidence of this.

I have found 2 births in Scotland (one because his father was staioned there while in the RAF) and one birth in Ireland.

Any Pullums that I found in Australia and New Zealand were realted to the same family in England.

As mentioned above I have recently found a significant number of Pullums in the USA, which I have yet to look at.

I had found no Pullums in countries other than the UK & USA until the 20th century, so clearly emigrants. One exception is Germany, where I have discovered some records from the 17th/18th century. The records I have seen are indexes only and there are other records that are similar with a variety of alternative spellings. The number of individuals, their dates of birth and names would suggest that they were a single family (2 generations).

Accoding to the website Forebears, the Global incidence of the surname Pullum was 2,344 in 2014 and as well as 2,096 in the USA and 198 in England, records 20 in Australia; 9 in New Zealand; 5 in Wales; 3 in Germany; 2 in Canada; 2 in China; 2 in the Phillipines and 1 in Jamaica.

Data

Initially most of the data was related to my family tree.
Now for England and Wales, I have reviewed most of the data i.e. BMD (since 1837); 1841 - 1921 Census (E&W); 1939 Register; Parish baptism, marriage and burial records, Cemetery record, probate records, electoral registers, military records, travel records, newspapers etc. I also have some photographs and other miscellanea and purchased a number of BMD certificates.

The England and Wales Censuses have been analysed for gender, age, residence (with maps), place of birth and occupation.

All the documents reviewed are noted as sources on the trees for the individuals concerned.

I have collected all the documents I can find relating to Australia and have published this on my website

The USA data is under way, starting with the 1900 census and I am updating my progress on the website.

Links

I have a website at pullum.one-name.net which I add to as I analyse data or find items of interest.
The trees (UK main; UK & Ireland Outliers; USA Main and USA records) are at https://pullum.one-name.net/tng/index.php
Information for individuals on my own tree can also be found on my tree (Brown_Luck_Pullum_Broomfield) on Ancestry.com

updated 05.06.22

Contact Details

Dr Nicola Brown

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Pullum in the Guild Indexes

(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)

Global Marriages (public) 257
Global Marriages (members)* 262
Datastores 1

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