Cullum, Sir John

, an accomplished antiquary, descended from a family seated in Suffolk early in the fifteenth | century, and at Hawsted in that county in 1656, of which latter place he has himself been the historian, was born in 1733; educated at Catherine-hall, Cambridge, of which society he was afterwards fellow; and obtained the first senior bachelor’s dissertation prize in 1758. In April 1762 he was presented to the rectory of Hawsted, in Suffolk, by his father, who died in 1774; as did his mother in 1784. In March 1774, he became F. S. A.; in December that year he was instituted to the vicarage of Great Thurlow, in the same county, on the presentation of his brother-in-law, the late Henry Vernon, esq.; and in March 1775 was elected F. R. S. His admirable History of the Parish of Hawsted (of which he was lord and patron), and Hardwick House, a perfect model for every work of the same nature, was originally published as the twenty-third number of the “Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica,” and has in the present year (1813) been again offered to the public in a superior style of typography, with the addition of seven new plates.

What collections sir John Cullutn possessed of his own and Mr. Thomas Martin’s, for the county of Suffolk, may be seen in Mr. Cough’s “Anecdotes of British Topography,” vol. II. pp. 242, 247. Besides a variety of notes taken in his tours about England, he communicated to the Gentleman’s Magazine: Observations on Cedars, vol. XLIX. p. 138, and on Yew-trees in Church-yards, ib. 578; to the Phil. Trans, vol. LXXIV. an Account of an Extraordinary Frost; and to the Antiquarian Repertory, No. 32, an Account of St. Mary’s church at Bury. He also revised the second edition, 1771, of the description of that ancient town.

That sir John Cullum was a profound antiquary, a good natural historian, and an elegant scholar, the “History of Hawsted” sufficiently evinces. That he most punctually and conscientiously discharged the proper duties of his profession as a divine, has been testified by the grateful recollection of his parishioners. His discourses in the pulpit were plain, unaffected, and rarely in any degree controversial; adapted to the village congregation which he gladdened by residing very near them. His attention to their truest interest was unremitted, and his example their best guide. His friendships in private life were amiable; and in his general commerce with the world, the uniform placidity of his manners, and his extensive literary | acquirements, secured to him universal esteem. He was among the most valued correspondents of Mr. Gough, who sincerely lamented his loss. A specimen of his familiar letters will be found in the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1797, vol. LXVII. p. 995.

Sir John Cullum died Oct. 9, 1785, in the fifty-second year of his age; and was hurled (according to the express direction of his will, dated Dec. 1, 1784), in the churchyard at Hawsted, under the great stone that lies at the north door of the church. His relict, dame Peggy Cullum, the daughter of Daniel Bisson, esq. of West Ham, died Aug. 2, 1810, aged seventy-eight. Dying without issue, the title devolved on his brother, now sir ThomasGery Cullum, bart. ¹