Will Pullen

William John Samuel Pullen was a nineteenth‑century Royal Navy officer whose career spanned both maritime exploration and colonial surveying. Born on 4 December 1813 in Devonport, Devon, England, he entered the navy at the age of fifteen after studying at the Greenwich School. His early service took him to the far reaches of the British Empire, and in 1836 he left the fleet to join Colonel William Light’s survey team in the newly established colony of South Australia. There he helped chart the mouth of the Murray River, is credited with the first European sighting of what would become Port Adelaide, and lent his name to several local landmarks, including Pullen Point and Pullen’s Island. During the tumultuous years of the late 1830s and early 1840s he also participated in the controversial punitive expedition following the Maria shipwreck, an episode that cast a long shadow over his reputation in the colony.*

Returning to naval duty in 1842, Pullen quickly proved his mettle as a surveyor on HMS Columbia, rising to lieutenant by 1846. He married Abigail Louisa Berton in Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1845. The following years saw him embroiled in the great Arctic hunt for Sir John Franklin. In 1849 he commanded a party from HMS Plover that became the first European crew to sail the entire north coast of Alaska, navigating from the Bering Strait to the Mackenzie River mouth. His meticulous journals recorded the naming of Pullen Island and Hooper Island in the Beaufort Sea, and his leadership earned him promotion to commander. Later, as captain of HMS North Star, he played a pivotal role in Edward Belcher’s Franklin search, keeping the ship the sole survivor of a disastrous polar venture. Subsequent commands included HMS Falcon during the Crimean War and several surveying assignments in the Red Sea, Ceylon, and Bermuda. Retired in 1870, he rose to vice‑admiral on the retired list and died in Torquay in 1887, leaving behind a legacy of daring exploration and naval service.