The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Pullen, Admiral William John
Pullen, Admiral William John, when a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, went to South Australia as one of Colonel Light's Survey Staff, arriving in the colony in August 1836. He was employed in exploring and surveying the mouth of the Murray river, and may be regarded as the discoverer of Port Adelaide, into which he sailed on Sept. 28th, 1836, three months before the arrival of the first Governor. He also surveyed Port Elliot, and did much to elucidate the geography of the South Australian coast. Returning to England, he sailed, In June 1849, with one of the Franklin search expeditions, and remained two years and a half with the fur traders of the Hudson's Bay Company, returning home via Northern America in Oct. 1851. The next year he explored Davis Straits, Lancaster Sound and Beachy Isle, and was icebound for two years. Goolwa was originally called Port Pullen, but the former name was, for some reason, substituted. He died on Jan. 22nd, 1887.