John Bull is a national personification of Great Britain in general and England in particular, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country dwelling, jolly, matter-of-fact man.

Origin

John Bull originated in the creation of Dr. John Arbuthnot, a friend of Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver's Travels) and satirist Alexander Pope in 1712, and was popularised first by British print makers. Arbuthnot created Bull in his pamphlet Law is a Bottomless Pit (1712). The same year Arbuthnott published a four-part political narrative The History of John Bull. In this satirical treatment of the War of the Spanish Succession a bold, honest and forthright clothier John Bull brings a lawsuit against various figures intended to represent the kings of France and Spain as well as institutions both foreign and domestic.

Originally derided, William Hogarth and other British writers made Bull "a heroic archetype of the freeborn Englishman." Later, the figure of Bull was disseminated overseas by illustrators and writers such as American cartoonist Thomas Nast and Irish writer George Bernard Shaw, author of John Bull's Other Island.

John Bull (1789–1812) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from April 1792 to April 1793 he ran three times and won two races. In 1792 he won the Great Produce Stakes on his racecourse debut and then took the Epsom Derby on his only other start of the year. He finished unplaced in his only subsequent race.

Background

John Bull was "a very large, strong" chestnut horse bred by his owner Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor. He was the second of seven foals bred by Lord Grosvenor from his mare Xantippe, a daughter of Eclipse.

Racing career

1792: three-year-old season

John Bull made his first appearance at the Newmarket Craven meeting early in 1792. The Great Produce Stakes was run over ten furlongs "Across the Flat" and attracted 35 entries, each paying 200 guineas, of which nine appeared to run in the race on 9 April. John Bull started the 5/4 favourite as part of a two-horse entry by Lord Grosvenor, and won beating Ormond and Hotspur, claiming a first prize of 4,200 guineas.

John Bull (1836 – 1929) was a little-known yet nonetheless deadly gunman of the American Old West. He is featured in the book "Deadly Dozen", written by author Robert K. DeArment as one of the twelve most underrated gunmen of the 19th century west.

Early life

Born John Edwin Bull, in England, little more is known of his early life. It also is not certain as to when he ventured to the United States, but is believed to have been some time during the 1850s. He first appeared, in historical texts, in 1861, as a professional gambler that made his way around mining boomtowns.

On August 25, 1862, he was involved in a gunfight while in the mining camp of Gold Creek, located in Montana Territory. He entered the town stating his name was John Bull, and that he and his companion, a man named Fox, were on the trail of horse thieves who had stolen six valuable horses in Elk City, Idaho. The thieves, C.W. Spillman, Bill Arnett, and B.F. Jermagin had preceded Bull and Fox in entering the camp by about three days.