We looked at the northern part of Altamullan on the map, but we left out two areas. There was was 1 & 2, occupied by Robert Sproule and there was Sturrin, number 7, which in the Tithe Applotment was occupied by ‘the heirs of John Sproule’. I assumed at first that the 'John' in Sturrin was John Sproule of Altamullan, father of William Beatty Sproule, but it couldn't have been.
We know when this Sturrin land was leased. We
know from a deed in PRONI that Sturrin was leased in 1804. Well John and Robert, sons of Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill, were far too young to lease any land 1804. Robert was exactly 10 years old, he is
named as a ‘life’ on another deed. His younger brother John Sproule, later John of
Altamullan, would be only about 8 years old at the time.
We have John who lived in Sturrin and died before the Tithe - hence 'heirs of'. Robert
Sproule was living at the top in 1 &2, and he occupies both regions but he owns the smaller of the
two. Logic tells us that this could well be the other half of the pair who
leased Sturrin.
A few years ago John
Andrew Moody and I were trying to find his Sproule ancestors, and John, who is
like a real terrier chasing every lead, had some details of a family in
Altamullan. Unfortunately, they turned out not to be related to John, but they
were, in fact, this northern family of a Robert Sproule. This top area is called Meenbogue, and Robert Sproule who lived in Meenbogue in the first half of the 1800s was married to Rebecca Beatty and they were
quite an affluent family.
So now we have the whole picture.
Which brings us to the
two pieces of information that made all of these pieces of the jigsaw fit together.
The 1806 deed was the
last one with the all the Joseph Sproules of Clare. It was the one where Joseph Sproule
Sen. of Altamullan was selling this northern part to Joseph Sproule Jun of
Clare Hall. I have a habit of writing notes in red under each deed, and this is
my last note on this deed:
Round about the same time that I found this last deed for Altamullan, I found something else quite by chance. I was looking at a letter of Jack Elder's to find a quote for a different story altogether, and here it was - the lovely little gem that revealed the whole story. Elder was talking about John Inch, and what he had read in his papers;
Of his granduncle Joseph Sproule of Alta-moo-land (as
he spells it), brother of Martha (who married James Mathewson) he says:
"This man had a son - if not other children - whom he disinherited for
marrying the servant girl, and in his old age sold his farm at
(Altamullan)"
Joseph Sproule of Alta-moo-land was the grand uncle of John Inch. He had
disinherited his son or sons and sold his land in his old age.
This was our Joseph
Sproule of Altamullan. He was the man in the 1806 deed that was called Joseph Sproule Sen of Altamullan, and the man he was selling to, who was called Joseph Sproule Jun of Clare, was therefore definitely not his son. We know that he had disinherited his son or sons. The deed is just using the terms ‘sen’ and ‘jun’ to differentiate them – an annoying habit that is guaranteed to send us all
astray!
Joseph Sproule Jun of
Clare Hall therefore has to be the man we were looking for all along. He has to be Joseph Sproule
of Clover Hill.
And now, click, click, click… the pieces fell into place;
Joseph Sproule of Clare Hall who bought the north part of
Altamullan in 1806 was Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill, father of John Sproule of
Altamullan, and grandfather of William Beatty Sproule. It was then that he
acquired the land that was passed down to William Beatty Sproule
The John and Robert Sproule who bought the lease for Sturrin
in 1804 are the children of Joseph Sproule of Altamullan, aka, Joseph Sproule
the Younger of Clare. These are the sons who were disinherited by Joseph
Sproule of Altamullan.
Poor John Sproule, one of these
two, obviously lived on the Sturrin land and he was John of the ‘heirs of John Sproule’
in the Tithe. So we know that he died in 1818. Poor John was almost certainly
the disinherited son of Joseph Sproule of Altamullan who had married the
servant girl. At those times, she was certainly a Catholic girl.
The brother Robert in the north either bought or was given the tiny portion in the north known as Meenbogue. He passed this on to his son, also Robert, who was the Robert Sproule of Meenbogue who married Rebecca Beatty.
And Joseph Sproule of
Altamullan who disinherited his sons and sold his land to Joseph Sproule of
Clover Hill, who was he?
Well according to John Inch, he was the brother of Martha who married James Mathewson of Clare and therefore he is the brother of John 'Jack Roe' Sproule of Curraghamulkin. So Joseph Sproule of Altamullan, who had been called Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare when he first bought the Altamullan land, was indeed a son of Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin, 5th son of Cornet Andrew Spreull.
This brings us right back to where we started. It means that Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare who first bought this northern part of Altamullan was a son of Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin that we didn't know about. His father, Joseph of Curraghamulkin was, for some obscure reason, called Joseph Sproule of Clare the Elder when the Altamullan land was purchased.
Was the whole 10 years worth it, do you think?
References:
- Sturrin Lease 1804 - Lease to John and Robert Sproule of Altamullan Sturrin, Public Record Office for Northern Ireland, PRONI Reference : D2433/A/1/339/2
- Deed with Robert Sproule, son of Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill, named as a life, 'aged about 12 years - 18 September 1806 lease for Kirlish lands by Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill, Public Record Office for Northern Ireland, PRONI Reference; D580/482
- Quotation from Jack Elder's Letter, date Sunday, April 1, 1928, Extract of Letter from Jack Elder, Ont., Canada to J.F. Caldwell, Belfast.; PRONI T1264/3
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