Bullen - Ann Boleyn

[USABullen]

I was googling Norfolk and Stow Bedon yesterday when I accidentally found this site and this strand, so I signed up.  Enjoyed reading all the messages re: Ann Boleyn/Bullen and especially about Uncle Dan.  I am the lady from North Carolina who has been working on the Bullen line, via ancestry.com, where we have about a dozen living members contributing.  The "Great Uncle Dan" was my great-uncle; his brother Benjamin Simon Bullen was my grandfather.  My dad was the only one from the Simon Bullen-Mary Faux line that I know of so far who came to "Americer" (as he would say) and stayed to raise a family.    Regarding the comments about our relation to the Anne Boleyn: this was a family story that I grew up hearing as well.  The story goes that 1) we were too poor to afford the "e", so most Ann Bullens are just Ann and 2) that the Anns should never date-much less marry- any Henrys or Harrys. 
On the serious side, I've become stuck with too many John Bullens born around 1740-something to figure out exactly where the line goes, so I've started working forward from Sir Geoffrey Bullen, Anne's grandfather, Lord Mayor of London and one of the patrons of Salle Church, which is near the Bullen neck of the woods.

[USABullen]

Reading through the Anne Boleyn discussion, there seems to be some discussion about the famous Dan Bullen, who, as I mentioned before, was my great-Uncle.   I live, as they say, on the other side of the pond, so my research is limited to what I can find out from corresponding with my living cousins, none of whom currently live in the Norfolk area.  So perhaps one of you readers can help.  When we visited the current descendants of Great-Uncle Dan, they called their place "Home Farm".  There is a reference to "Home Farm" in a historical novel I read that primarily features Anne Bullen/Boleyn's sister Mary, but, of course, covers the whole family.  So is there a place called Home Farm in the Attleborough/Stow Bedon area of Norfolk or is that just a common term used that is equivalent to the family homeplace? 
I have a picture sent to me by a local historian that is a road sign saying "Bullen's Farm" .  So, my second question is:  Is Bullen's Farm and Home Farm the same place?

[USABullen]

This information comes to me by word of mouth, but I'll throw it in the discussion to see if anyone else has heard it as well.  There have always been discussions about  Anne Boleyn vs. Anne Bullen.  The former being the French spelling, which was the language of the royal court in her day, the latter being, of course the English spelling.  My unofficial source tells me that the Boleyn name was originally "de Boleyn", a French or Belgian name, and they came over with William of Orange when he invaded England.  I'm curious if anyone else has every heard, read, or otherwise come across the same information; and if so, what was the source?  If any of you have access to ancestry.com, many of the Bullens listed in the seventeeth century and before have hyphenated names; for example, John Bullen-Boleyn, with the English spelling usually listed first.

[Patricia jackson]

  I too have heard ages ago - probably when still at school that Anne Boleyn was called Nan Bullen until she went to France . The Ancestors did apparently originate from there

[USABullen]

I have heard/read about them using Nan also.  However, even though our family uses the name Ann, we have no Nans for many generations that I have found.

[Blue-Spirit]

As mentioned in my email. Home Farm,Chapel Farm and Mere Farm were all small holdings within a short distance of each other at Stow Bedon.
Home Farm house was demolished in the 1960s.

You can see an idea of the layout of the village here  http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html

[Mofamily]

I was googling Norfolk and Stow Bedon yesterday when I accidentally found this site and this strand, so I signed up.  Enjoyed reading all the messages re: Ann Boleyn/Bullen and especially about Uncle Dan.  I am the lady from North Carolina who has been working on the Bullen line, via ancestry.com, where we have about a dozen living members contributing.  The "Great Uncle Dan" was my great-uncle; his brother Benjamin Simon Bullen was my grandfather.  My dad was the only one from the Simon Bullen-Mary Faux line that I know of so far who came to "Americer" (as he would say) and stayed to raise a family.    Regarding the comments about our relation to the Anne Boleyn: this was a family story that I grew up hearing as well.  The story goes that 1) we were too poor to afford the "e", so most Ann Bullens are just Ann and 2) that the Anns should never date-much less marry- any Henrys or Harrys. 
On the serious side, I've become stuck with too many John Bullens born around 1740-something to figure out exactly where the line goes, so I've started working forward from Sir Geoffrey Bullen, Anne's grandfather, Lord Mayor of London and one of the patrons of Salle Church, which is near the Bullen neck of the woods.

Hi

George Bullen was my great great grandfather, i.e. Dan and Benjamin's brother.  If you have any questions just ask.

Mo

[barbclut]

Hi, have just discovered this web site and looked up Daniel Bullen. He is my great great grandfather, and  I have started to research his family. I know that when he returned from Durham he married  Anna Webster and they had one daughter called Polly (real name Alice Mary Anne,)  She married a John Bird and had 4 children, Wilfred, Bertram Dorothy and Lilian. Dorothy was my grandmother. Daniel was born in Stow Bedon in 1847 and died in 1951.
Barb.

[USABullen]

Hi, Barb.  We are second cousins, twice removed, I believe that's how you say it.  In other words, according to ancestry.com, your grandmother and I are second cousins.  I've been working on gathering family history on ancestry.com, along with a dozen descendants of Henry James Bullen and Sarah Peck who are scattered around the world.  We haven't entered anyone born since your grandmother's generation because we are concerned about the accuracy of the information without talking (electronically, of course) to someone in "Uncle Dan's" direct line.  When my Dad, Charles Bullen (1894-1971), and I and my younger brother first visited Stow Bedon in 1962, we met your grandmother and her family as well as your great great Aunt Lily and her family.   We stayed at Home Farm then and in subsequent visits.
We American, English, Scottish, Canadian, South African, and most recently New Zealanders would love to correspond directly with you and share the latest edition of the Bullen family tree that has been drafted by one of the Scottish contributors.  You can ask Blue Spirit for my direct email and home contact information.   
Looking forward to hearing from you.