Rector of Odell, County Bedford, and Prebendary of Lichfield; one of the commissioners appointed by the Bishop of Lincoln for the "Levye of Armour in Bedfordshire" among the clergy 1608 (Colonial families of the United States of America, Baltimore : Genealogical Pub. Co., 196, vol. 7, pg. 125)
Ancestor of John Hancock, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Great-great-grandson of Thomas Grosvenor and Isabella Pershale Grosvenor. Son of Thomas Bulkeley, steward of Drayton manor, by his wife Elizabeth Grosvenor, and grandson of William Bulkeley, esquire, of Oakley (in Mucklestone), Staffordshire, by his wife Beatrice Hill. Beatrice was the daughter and heiress of William Hill of Bunsingstall.
Matriculated pensioner from St John's College, Cambridge at Michaelmas 1555, admitted Scholar 1555, B.A. 1559/60, admitted Fellow 1560, M.A. 1563, B.D. 1569, and D.D. 1578. Obtained the rectorship of Odell by 1571, was prebend of Chester 1574, prebend of Westminster 1583, prebend of Lichfield 1594, and vicar of St Mary, Shrewsbury 1578-82. Described as a professor of theology, he was admitted in 1580 as a burgess of Shrewsbury. Edward was a moderate Puritan, and resigned his pastorate in 1609, probably due to his age or infirmity. The entry of his burial in the Odell register on Jan. 5, 1620/21 was made by his son Peter, who had succeeded him as rector.
By his wife Olive Irby he was the father of (i) Mary, (ii) Frances, wife of Richard Welby of Moulton, (iii) Judith, (iv) Martha, wife of Abraham Mellowes of Charlestown, Massachusetts, (v) Nathaniel (c.1574-1602), (vi) Deborah, (vii) Dorcas (c.1577-1616), wife of Anthony Ingoldsby, rector of Fishtoft, (viii) Elizabeth (c.1579-1643) of Boston, Massachusetts, wife of Richard Whittingham and Atherton Haugh, (ix) Sarah, wife of Oliver St. John, (x) Paul (c.1581-1610), and (xi) Peter (1583-1659) of Concord, Massachusetts.
Dr. Edward Bulkeley was the maternal grandfather of Chief Justice Oliver St John and his sister Elizabeth St John Whiting. Elizabeth St John was married on August 6, 1629 to the Reverend Samuel Whiting, as his second wife. Other grandchildren by Dr. Bulkeley's daughter Sarah were Dorothy St John (married June 13, 1625 to Richard Westland), Edward St John (baptized July 20, 1606), Judith St John (burial July 18, 1607), and Judith St John (married September 25, 1633 to John Percival).