Alexander Buller

Early life

Alexander Buller was born on 30 June 1834, the second son of Rev. Richard Buller, rector of

The rectory had previously been occupied by his cousin, another Richard Buller, who had died in 1826[3] and, having graduated from Oriel College, Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1826 (proceeding to Master of Arts in 1829), Richard Buller succeeded his cousin in 1829.^[3] He married his wife the following year and he appears to have brought his children up in the rectory, employing a nurse and later a governess to assist in their upbringing and tutoring.^[4][5]

Naval career

Buller joined the

Admiral Buller married, in 1870, Emily Mary Tritton, a daughter of Henry Tritton of Beddington, Surrey, and had the following issue:^[12]

• Jane Elizabeth Buller (born 1871), who married, in 1892, Major Charles Turner of the 49th Royal Berkshire Regiment.^[13]
• Admiral Sir
  CB (1873 - 1960).^[12]
• Richard Edward Buller (1875 - 1921). Educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge.^[14]
• RN (born 1879) who married, in 1916, Mary Caroline, daughter of Stephen Hammick.^[15]
• Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Cecil Buller (1882 - 1916) who was commissioned into Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and died at Hooge, Belgium, on active service in the First World War.^[16]
• Edward Maxwell Buller (1883 - 1931). Having fought in France during the First World War, he was discharged from the Army in 1917 due to him being "no longer physically fit for war service", and died at the nursing home at Minehead, Somerset.[17]

Through his daughter, he became grandfather to two Victoria Cross recipients, Alexander Buller Turner and Victor Buller Turner.^[18]

He inherited the estate of his uncle, Charles Reginald Buller, which included the family seat of Erle Hall,^[1] and died at Exford, Somerset, in 1903, aged 69, having been taken ill while hunting.^[19][1] King George V telegraphed the Admiralty to express his "deep regret" upon hearing of the news of Buller's death.^[20]

References