The Unfortunate Robert Evan Sproule – Returns to his Family Tree

The tale of Robert Evan Sproule is indeed a sad one. It has been much talked about and written about over the years, and therefore I will only give a brief summary here. My interest, as always, is in the family history of Robert Evan Sproule and there is an important job now to be done.

He came from Maine, as we know from that first article that I had seen. I was familiar with the Sproule families in Maine, as I have traced them when I was chasing a family for the Sproule DNA Project. I have a tree on Ancestry of Maine Sproules and I thought it would be easy, therefore, to find the family of Robert Evan Sproule. He wasn’t there. He wasn’t on any tree that I could find.

And yet, when I contacted the right person who sent me extensive files of amazing research, I got a bit of a shock. His family was known all along. Everyone knew who he was, or they should have. There were plenty of clues were there in the newspaper coverage.

 Robert Evan Sproule ought to have been on his family tree. Robert Evan Sproule ought to have been on nearly all of the Maine Sproule family trees.  He is a descendant of the very first Sproule in Maine. He is from one of the chief families. And yet he is not there. We have to get him back where he belongs.

Kootenay Lake, British Colombia

Poor Robert really was an unfortunate man. Hehad found a promising area on the Kootenay Lake, in British Colombia in 1881, and in 1882 he staked a claim, planning to mine there.  He filled in all the right paperwork, so it was an official claim. He was mining for minerals and he called his mine the Blue Bell mine.

At the end of that year Robert Sproule ran into financial problems, it was costing a lot to get the mine going. And there was also competition. An affluent consortium was financing three other miners. One of these miners was Thomas Hamill, the victim in the murder case. Hamill had the area on the other side of the lake from Robert Sproule. Robert left the mine at the end of 1882 taking an official leave-of-absence, and Thomas Hamill stepped in and illegally ‘jumped the claim’.

There followed court cases, with our poor Robert Evan Sproule trying to get his claim back. Thomas Hamill was well financed, and even though the first verdict went to Sproule, Hamill was able to appeal to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

In 1884 Robert Sproule finally got his mine back, but he was far from out of the woods. He had gained partners to invest in the mine and they also helped with the court costs. One of these partners defaulted on his payments, and the Court seized his share in the Blue Bell mine. They auctioned it off to the highest bidder who turned out to be the infamous claim-jumper Thomas Hamill.

Map showing Blue Bell Mine
and Kootenay Lake

During 1885 Robert Evan Sproule found new partners and worked the mine.

On 1 June 1885, Thomas Hamill came to the Blue Bell mine. Whatever happened, we don’t really know, but Robert Sproule allegedly shot Hamill in the abdomen.

Thomas Hammill, the Victim

Robert Sproule was arrested and charged with the murder. The court case and subsequent appeals gave rise to much fuss in both Canada and the US. There even seem to have been protests in the streets. The case against Robert had hinged on his hatred of Hamill, and on two eye witness testimonies. Apparently, these two witnesses withdrew their statements at the appeal stage, and claimed they were paid to give their testimony.

But, as we know, Robert Evan Sproule was hanged on 29 October 1886.

Now, which of the Sproule families of Maine is our Robert Evan Sproule from?

Notes

• Special thanks to Greg Nesteroff and his excellent blog THE KÜTNE READER Adventures in Kootenaiana. Thank you so much for all your superb work on this story.

• Thomas Hammill, the Victim pic from The Blue Bell Grave, by Greg Nesteroff, 28 Sep 2018 
• Map showing Blue Bell Mine and Kootenay Lake is from "Dr. W. A. Hendryx and Robert E. Sproule" by Nancy Foster Renk posted on North Idaho Past/Present, January 26, 2016

• Sproule's Saga Continues the Vancouver Voyager, Karen McGill, 5 July 2013

For more on this story:

The Hanging of Robert Evan Sproule

The Family Tree of Robert Evan Sproule

The Hanging of Robert Evan Sproule

This article was on Trove and I thought it to be a brief, if tragic, story. It had been reprinted in the 'Riverine Grazier' of 27 January 1888 and it came originally from the New York Sun.  I was surprised to find that there is quite a bit more published about the story of Robert Evan Sproule and about his efforts to defend himself. 

Robert Evan Sproule was prosecuted in Victoria, British Colombia, Canada for the murder of Thomas Hammill and he was hanged there on 29 October 1886.

The following is the original article as it appeared in the 'Riverine Grazier' 27 January 1888. (The victim in the case is a man called Thomas Hammill, not Thomas Cannell as was printed here.)

THE FATE OF ROBERT E. SPROUL

When on the Gallows he Heard that A Fortune  Had Fallen To Him

"This story was made public for the first time in the Supreme Court of New Haven lately. Lawyer William L. Bennett went before Judge Andrews and made a motion for the sale of certain personal property belonging to the estate of Robert Sproul, who was hanged about two years ago in British Columbia, for having murdered a miner named Thomas Cannell. Sproule was born and reared on a farm in Kennebec Country, Maine. In 1854 he became tired of the drudgery, of farm life, and in company with several friends, went West to try his fortune in mining. Sproul learnt that a company had been in Connecticut for mining in Kootenay, British Columbia, and he purchased an interest in their claim, and as a representative of the Connecticut corporation went to Kootenai. He built a cabin, which he shared with Thomas Cannell.

On New Year's Day, 1885, Cannell was found dead with his body riddled with bullets. Sproul was arrested on suspicion, and was tried in Victoria. Having no money, he appealed to the corporation in Connecticut which he represented, and procured a loan of 1800 dollars, for which he gave his stock in the mine as security. After a long trial he was convicted. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of Canada, on the ground that additional evidence had been found, and Justice Henney granted a motion for a writ of habeas corpus. The Sheriff who had the keeping of Sproul refused to deliver up his charge, and in August, 1886, the same attorney obtained from Justice Henney a discharge for Sproul.

At this stage of the proceedings Sproul found himself in the singular position of being, a free man in theory, but in fact a prisoner of the Canadian Government. Having been unsuccessful in his own effort to procure Sproul's release, his attorney appealed to the United States Government, and an application for Sproul's release was made.

About that time the Attorney General of Canada, recognising the peculiar position in which Sproul was placed, appeared before a Justice of the Supreme Court and had the decision of Justice Henny reversed and Sproul's imprisonment, made legal. He at the same time had a date set for the hanging.

A large part of the evidence which had  convicted Sproul was given  by Charles Wolfe, who, when he heard that the date for hanging Sproul had been determined upon, came forward and swore that all the evidence which he had given was utterly and absolutely false. In addition to this, a witness was found who made a sworn aftidavit that he was in Sproul'a company at the time the murder was committed, and that they ware fifteen miles from the scene of the tragedy. A motion for a new trial was refused, as was an appeal for a respite.

On the day set for the hanging Sproul was led to the gallows, and from the platform addressed the assembled crowd, affirming his innocence. The noose was adjusted to the neck, and the hangman was about to spring the trap when someone in the crowd caught sight a horseman riding at full speed towards the scene. He waved a paper in his hand, and it was supposed he bora a respite.

On dashing up to the scaffold he handed Sproul a message, which he scanned eagerly, and falling backward, said:

“Too late!  Justice claims the blood of an innocent man.”

A moment later the trap was sprung, and Robert E. Sproul was launched into eternity. The paper which had been handed him bore the information that by the death of a relative in Boston he had become heir to 100,000 dollars.— N.Y.Sun."

Publication Title: Riverine Grazier,  Source: Trove [National Library of Australia]

Country/State of Publication: NSW, Australia

UPDATE:

It appears that it is not only the name of the victim in this case that is wrong - so too is the whole story of the horseman dashing up! 

According to the Victoria Daily Colonist of Wednesday 23 November 1887, the man who wrote this story;

 'must either be a lunatic or a fool. The story of the horseman "dashing up to the scaffold" is only another instance of the wonderful imaginative power of the ordinary American reporter.'

Victoria Daily Colonist is the local paper of the area where Robert Evan Sproule was hanged, and they covered all of the trial and aftermath of this story.

This article was in the information recieved from Greg Nesteroff of the THE KÜTNEREADER, thanks Greg.

For more on this story:

The Unfortunate Robert Evan Sproule

 The Family Tree of Robert Evan Sproule

Robert Auchmuty Sproule and the Jamaican Plate

Many years ago,  I got a phone call  from a gentleman in a big auctioneer company in London. He had emailed me first, getting my contact from my Sproule Genealogy Blog, and asked if he could he call.  When he did, he asked me if I would have any photographs of the plate that Robert Sproule of St Georges, Jamaica had commissioned from his cousin Robert Sproule in Canada?

St George, Grenada Plate from the series

What? What plate? What cousin in Canada? Robert Sproule of Jamaica I knew well, and he didn’t have a cousin Robert Sproule in Canada. What was this about?

The auctioneer explained that there was a series of decorative dinner plates from the early 1800s from the West Indes.  He had only one plate in the series and it was of Grenada, I think – nothing to do with either of these Robert Sproules. It seems that another one of this same series of plates was of Robert Sproule’s plantation in St Georges, Jamaica. He believed it was commissioned by Robert of Jamaica himself. Another plate in the series was a rather 'out-of-place' scene from Canada, and apparently it had been copied from an engraving by a Robert Sproule in Canada. So the auctioneer had put two and two together and he had guessed that these two Roberts were cousins.

I never found a picture of this plate of Robert Sproule’s plantation, and judging from my internet search today, neither has anyone else – though there are people still looking for this series!

Robert Sproule of Jamaica and Mulvin is an interesting character and I will write about him shortly, but before I get to his story, a little on that Canadian ‘cousin’ Robert Sproule.

He wasn’t hard to find, as he is quite famous. He is Robert Auchmuty Sproule and he is an Athlone Sproule. His father wasThomas Ernst Sproule born about 1765ish, who was a great grandson of Captain John Sproule of Athlone. His mother was Marianne Plummer Ardesoif.  Her uncle was the Rt Hon Sir Samuel Auchmutty, who left Thomas Ernst and Marianne a legacy – hence the middle name of our Robert Auchmutty Sproule.

Robert Aughmuty Sproule

Thomas Ernst Sproule was in the Navy and retired as a Commander, and it was shortly after this that they received the legacy from Sir Samuel Auchmutty. Using this, the family headed to Canada.

Robert Auchmuty Sproule was the second son born in 1799, and he was educated in Trinity College Dublin. When he arrived in Canada, he took an advertisement in the Montreal Herald announcing himself as a miniaturist who had studied with ‘the best masters in London and Dublin’.

In November 1829 he brought out six views of Montreal which were later made into engravings on copperplate.

Montreal from St. Helen's Island.
Robert Auchmuty Sproule 1830,

Quebec from Point Levi Robert Aughmuty Sproule 1832

Although he was a proflific painter,  Robert Sproule seemed to have difficulty making a living, as most artists do, and he moved around from place to place. He married Jane Hopper in Montreal, and they had two sons and four daughters. He died 1845 in March Township, Upper Canada.

• Family history of Robert Auchmutty - Eight Centuries of the Spreul & Sproule Families, James Richard Sproule

• Biography of Robert Auchmuty Sproule from Dictionary of Canadian Biography

• Information on the plates - CARIBBEANVIEWS SERIES (MAKER UNKNOWN) 

1849 The Sproules are Rioting!

 This is another riot, but this time it is the Sproules who are doing the rioting! It appeared in the Tyrone Constitution of Friday 4 May 1849. 

Riot and Assault at Dromore

At the petty sessions held in this town, on Wednesday last, James Sproule, Anne Sproule, William Graham, William Smith, James McAleer, Francis Anthony, Archibald Alexander, George Coulter, Cormack Scallon, John Sproule and Hugh Sproule were called to answer the complaint of Hugh Bradley and Phil McCaghery for a riot and assault at Dromore on 26th April last by  presenting a gun and bayonet at complainants and obstructing them as bailiffs in the discharge of their duty. The three first mentioned parties James Sproule, Anne Sproule, and William Graham were also called on the complaint of Mr John Martin for assault at the same time and place while superintending the execution of a judge’s fiat on the part of Mr John Donnelly merchant of this town.

It appeared from the evidence of several witnesses that Mr Donnelly had some time previously obtained a judge’s fiat for the some of £10 against Mr James Sproule of Dromore and that Mr Martin on the part of Mr Donnelly went to have the fiat executed accompanied by the bailiffs mentioned. Mr Sproule on hearing that the fiat was about to be executed got into a hay loft, the ladder approaching to which was then taken away, and armed himself with several weapons, guns, bayonets, blunderbusses etc to resist any attempt that might be made for his arrest. William Graham, Francis Anthony, Archibald Alexander and some other parties also got into the loft with Sproule to protect him from arrest. Mr Martin and the bailiffs got into the yard through the house but finding the parties so well prepared to resist the seizure and being unwilling to risk the consequences of a conflict with such a number of armed men did not persist in executing the order.

They were given bail to appear for trial in the next session.

British Newspaper Archive, Tyrone Constitution - Friday 04 May 1849

Note:

The Sproule family here are the Grennan family that Jack Elder called 'Another Grennan' Family. The John Sproule mentioned is John (1785- 1858) who married Elizabeth Wallace (1784-1868) He is the father of this family and James and Hugh are his children. 

 Ann Sproule could be either the daughter or daughter-in-law of John. John Sproule had a daughter Ann. In addition, his son James Sproule, mentioned in the riot, was married to Ann Irwin of Magheracross, Fermanagh at this time. James Sproule went to New Zealand after Ann's death in 1852, and he died there in 1884.

The son Hugh Sproule was unmarried at this time. He married Mary Crozier in 1854 and they went to live in Jamberoo, New South Wales, Australia. Hugh died there in 1904.

The Burning of the House of Charles Sproule of Grennan 1827

In late 1827, early 1828, an advertisement was placed in the local papers all over the northern part of Ireland, appearing in most of them, and it was repeated at quite some expense. Charles Sproule of Grennan was obviously very upset that the new house that he was having built in Tully for his son, Charles Jun. was burnt down. The people who did this seemed to be a political group, called the Rockites, and we learn that they had also fired shots at Charles Jun when he appeared.  

View over Tully today from the Mid Ulster Mail

Charles of Grennan placed a reward for information, and obviously many of his friends and neighbours contributed to this. The early advertisements contained a list of folks who contributed to that reward.

We know from ‘following the land’ that this gentleman is Charles Sproule of the Holme, and the son is Charles Sproule of Daisy Hill. When Charles of the Holme handed over his lands to his sons in 1836, the Tully property was one of those mentioned in the deed – see below.

 

The NewryCommercial Telegraph

January 1, 1828

                                                             REWARD

  WHEREAS, on Sunday the 12th day of August last, about the hour of Two o'Clock in the afternoon, a Mob of at least Fifty Persons, well supplied with fire-arms, and provided with crow-bars, and such instruments, came to the Townland of TULLY, in the Parish of LANGFIELD, and in the County of TYRONE, and levelled to the ground a Dwelling House thereon, the property of CHAS. SPROULE, sen., of GRANNAN, in the said County, the mason work of which had just been completed, and destroyed all the timber, &c. used in building the same ; and when CHARLES SPROULE, jun. son of the above, for whom the House was intended, appeared, several Shots were fired at him, by individuals of this party, and with difficulty, he succeeded in escaping. Now We, the undersigned, holding in abhorrence such atrocious villainy, and perfectly convinced that if the Perpetrators shall (in this case) be suffered to escape with impunity, there will neither be safety for the Persons or the Property of any Individuals, residing in the exposed situations in this part of the Country, who may happen to become obnoxious to any of the Party (we mean Rockites), of which these ruffians are supposed to be members, do hereby offer a reward of Three Hundred Pounds Sterling, Payable in proportion to the Sums respectively annexed to our Names, to any Person or Persons who shall, within Twelve Calendar Months from the date hereof, give Information against, and afterwards prosecute in Conviction, any considerable number of the Principals or Accessories engaged in this nefarious transaction ; And we also, in like manner, off the Sum of Fifty Pounds Sterling, for such private Information, within the same time, and with strictest secrecy observed, as shall lead to the Conviction of any considerable number as aforesaid.

  Application to be made to JAMES GALBRAITH, of JAMES WILSON, Esqrs. ; or to Chief Constable DUFF, all of Omagh; or to ANDREW SPROULE, of Grannan.

--Dated this 21st day of December, 1827.

  [Here follows the List of Subscribers, with the Sums opposite their respective names, amounting in all to the Sum of £785.]

   Dublin Castle, 21st Dec. 1827.

   The LORD LIEUTENANT for the better apprehending and bringing to Justice, the Persons concerned in the Outrage Committed on CHAS. SPROULE, jun. is pleased hereby to promise His Majesty's most gracious Pardon to any of them (except the Person who fired the Shots), who shall, within Six Months from the date hereof, discover his Accomplices, so as they, or any of them, be convicted.

  Given at His Majesty's Castle of Dublin, the 21st day of December, 1827.

   By His Excellency's Command,

   WM. LAMB.

 

Charles Sproule of Grennan handing over his estate to James and Charles 7 Dec 1836

1837 12 198 Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org, transcribed by Kate Tammemagi

A memorial of an indednted deed baring the date 7 Dec 1836 and made between Charles Sproule Sen. of Grennan in the Parish of Dromore and the County of Tyrone Gent. of the first part, James Sproule of Grennan Gent. his son to the said Charles Sproule in the second part, and Charles Sproule of Daisy Hill, in the parish of  Kilskeery Gent. also son of Charles Sproule of Grennan. Whereby the said Charles Sproule Sen for the consideration therein mentioned did grant etc. to the said James Sproule and Charles Sproule Jun in their actual possession ... share and share alike and to their respective heirs and assigns all that and those the one half of the townland of Glennan heretofore in the tenure and occupation of John McCloskey, James Sherry ,William McCraner and Thomas Loughran their indented and assigns excepting thereout that part formerly held by James Sherry and now in the possession of Thomas Graham and his undertennants situated and lying in the parish of Fintona, Barony of Omagh, Co Tyrone.

Also and those that quarter or fourth part of the town of Letteree held by James Owey and his undertennants, containing 70 acres or thereabouts, in Dromore, also the townlands of Skreen bounded in the east by the townland of Dunnamona, on the west by the townland of Glennan, on the north by Tallykeel, and on the south by the townland of Alla, all in Donnacavey (that’s not what is written) except Crawfords Hill containing 40 acres or thereabouts, to hold by James & Charles share & share alike.

The said Charles Sproule did sell etc. unto the said James Sproule in his actual possession etc. all that and those that part of Grennan formerly in the occupation of the said Charles Sproule sen in the parish of Dromore, and also the lands of Tully containing 700 acres situated in the parish of Lower Langfield. To hold the lands of Grennan for and during the natural lives of Andrew, son of said Charles, Archibald Osbourne and John Osbourne, first and second sons of Archibald Osbourne late of Derrynasseer deceased. To hold the lands of Tully for all the residue of the term and years unexpired of the lease. And which said deed further witnessed that the said Charles Sproule for the consideration therein mentioned did grant etc. onto the said James Sproule in his actual possession etc. all that and those an equal and undivided moity of all the estate right and interest in and to the lands of Skreen with the rents issues and profits thereof situated in the parish of Fintona, to hold etc. forever, to hold to the said James Sproule forever heirs etc.  and the deed also witnessed that the said James Sproule for the consideration therein did sell etc. unto Charles Sproule sen the and equal and undivided moity of the half of three fourths of the lands of Ardvarnok and Noughty situated in the Parish of Raphoe.

Witness Alexander Osbourne of the Royal Navy esq,  Archibald Osbourne of Dernaser, farmer, and John Osbourne of Mossfield, farmer, and Oliver Sproule of Curraghamulkin, farmer

 

Who is Robert Sproule of Innisfil? The Lennox Connection 2

 I had made a link between the family of John Lennox in Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario and Noble Sproule. Both had lived near the small town of Kilrea in Londonderry, and both families had gone to Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario at about the same time. But there the similarity ended.

When I looked at the children of Noble Sproule that we know of, the name 'Noble' appears everywhere – in the families of the children of Noble Sproule and it continues in the families of the grandchildren. The name Noble is nowhere in the family of Robert Sproule of Innisfil who married Jane Lenox, nor is it anywhere in the family of Margaret Sproule who married John Lennox.

Equally, the death certificate of Robert Sproule is very definite, his mother’s name was Rebecca Scott. The wife of Noble Sproule was a lady called Isabella McIlroy and she was there with him in Canada.  Robert and Margaret Sproule are not the children of Noble Sproule.

Back to the drawing board, what other clues do we have? Well, Robert called his first son John – that could well be a clue. Robert married Jane Lennox, daughter of John Lennox and Margaret Humphries Galloway. We know that there were other members of this Lennox family who married Sproules, so I went looking for them to see if we could find more clues.  

One that appears in the family trees is a William from Tecumseth. Tecumseth is in Simcoe, but it’s quite a way from Innisfil. William married a lady called Margaret Ann Lennox, and she is also the daughter of John Lennox and Margaret Humphries Galloway. William Sproule had only one child, for William died the year after the child’s birth. The child was called John Calvin Sproule. Another John as a first son– that’s 2 now, we have the eldest sons of Robert Sproule and William Sproule.

I looked in the 1861 census for any other Sproules of the right age. Noble Sproule himself is there in Innisfil, and he is 80 years old. Other Sproules there are a William in Innisfil who is an Innkeeper, but he is not married to a Lennox. The only other male Sproule in Innisfil is Thomas Sproule. Thomas married Mary Ann Lennox – we have the 4^th Lennox/Sproule marriage.

Thomas Sproule’s eldest son is called John William Sproule! Three John Sproules as eldest children of Robert, William and Thomas Sproule.

Three Sproule boys, all married to Lennoxs, all with their eldest child called John. You might say, could the eldest child not be called after the mother’s father, who was called John Lennox? That might happen once, for a special reason. It would not happen 3 times! These 3 Sproule boys are almost certainly the sons of a man named John Sproule.

If Robert’s death cert is correct, the wife of this John Sproule is Rebecca Scott.

I was still focussed on the Kilrea connection. To me it was too much of a coincidence. Kilrea is such a small place, and somehow it seemed logical that folks from the same small town would stick together when in Canada, so far from home. I decided to look again at Kilrea. Could there be Scott families there who would fit the bill for Rebecca Scott, mother of our Robert Sproule?

Well, that didn’t really help. Scott is a very common name, and there are loads of them all over the county of Londonderry in the 1831 census, and plenty near to Kilrea – they are all over Tyrone too. But there was something else there in that Londonderry census of 1831 that I had missed the first time, something I had overlooked in my excitement over Noble Sproule. There was another Sproule in Kilrea! 

There was a Jonathon Sproule, in Claragh, Kilrea. Claragh is on the edge of the town of Kilrea. Jonathon is there in 1831, but Jonathon Sproule is not there in Griffiths Valuation. There are 7 people in his family in 1831.

Townland of Claragh on the edge of the town of Kilrea

Now we have 3 Sproule males in Innisfil all married to children of John Lennox and Margaret Humphries Galloway who came from ‘near the little town of Kilrea’, Londonderry. All  of these three males, William, Robert and Thomas Sproule, called their first son John. A John Sproule is almost certainly the father of all three of these Sproule boys. A Jonathon Sproule lived in Claragh, on the edge of the little town of Kilrea, Londonderry. Jonathon Sproule is gone from Kilrea by the mid 1850s.Is he in Innisfil with his sons Robert, William and Thomas Sproule? He might be.

Is this definitive proof – definitely not. But it is very firm ground for further research. Over to you, Canadian Sproules.

 Our Family History by Donald Dean Parker, Sr, published by the author, the Lennox information.

1831 Census of Londonderry, Bill Macafee site

Who is Robert Sproule of Innisfil? The Lennox Connection.

Who is Robert Sproule of Innisfil? The Lennox Connection

 I recently became engrossed in the Sproule families of Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario and this began when Larry McKay brought up the subject in a recent Sproule Genealogy Group post. I always knew that Robert Sproule of Innisfil  who married Jane Lennox, definitely did not belong on the tree of James Sproule of the Holm and Rebecca Scott, but I had no idea where they did belong. Larry’s post led me to a very important clue, one that has been just sitting there, one that everyone knew about and yet no one had picked it up!

Robert Sproule was born on 11 June 1821 in Ireland. He had married Jane Lennox in Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario, in about 1851. Larry McKay had looked up this family and he pointed out that Jane Lennox seemed to be related to another Lennox, John, who was also in Innisfil.

The two families are almost together on the same page in the 1861 census. It seemed that John Lennox had married a Margaret Sproule, and they were now living very close to Robert Sproule's family. Larry also said that the the Lennoxs came from Londonderry. This got my attention immediately.

The Sproule families in Ireland are located in only a few areas in the early 1800s. In Londonderry, they are in just one area, and therefore this was now a clue as to where our Innisfil Sproules might also have come from. If the Lennoxs came from Clondermot, Londonderry, then possibly so did the Simcoe Sproules.

So I looked up these Lennoxs of Innisfil, and this led to a lovely little book on the Lennox family called "Our Family History". In this we learn that between 1790 and 1802 near the little town of Kilrea, Londonderry, lived a John Lennox. His son, also called John Lennox, left Kilrea in 1828 and went to Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario.The book also told me that four of the children of John Lennox had married Sproules. So not just two, but four Sproule / Lennox marriages in Innisfil.

The placename Kilrea rang a bell, but not, I thought, for Sproules. It’s not near Donegal/ Tyrone, and it’s not near Clondermot. Where was it? Kilrea is right on the eastern edge of Londonderry, well away from the usual Sproule country. Could this be an Antrim Sproule family, I thought?

I chased down some information on Kilrea. The Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, published in 1837, tells us that the population of the whole parish of Kilrea is 4262, and the town is small, with  just 973 people. But the real bombshell came when I found the 1831 census of Londonderry on the site of Bill Macafee. It had a census of Londonderry in 1831 and Kilrea was on this census. It had rang a bell, and it was for a Sproule!  It was Noble Sproule.

Now Noble Sproule I knew well. Many years ago Clare Lawler Kilgallen, from the County Tyrone Ireland Genealogy Facebook page, and I worked together on chasing down Noble Sproule. Clare gathered some information that he had been born in Kilrea, Londonderry  but other information suggested Castlederg. And here he was. Here was Noble Sproule definitely living in Kilrea, Londonderry, in 1831.

And guess where Noble Sproule and his large family ended up? Yes, you’ve got it, they also, like the Lennoxs, went from the small town of Kilrea in Londonderry, to Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario.

So great excitement! There are 4 people in this John Lennox family who are are married to Sproules. Surely some, if not all, of these Sproules must come from their former neighbours in Kilrea, now also living in Innisfil, the Noble Sproule family!

But sadly... no. 

 Our Family History by Donald Dean Parker, Sr, published by the author, the Lennox information.

1831 Census of Londonderry, Bill Macafee site

The Family of James Sproule of the Holm and Rebecca Scott of Ballyare

The Simco Sproules - Not Grennan Sproules

The Simcoe Sproules - Not Grennan Sproules

 My aim in clarifying the family of James Sproule of the Holm and Rebecca Scott of Ballyare, is to help others to find their correct family tree. As outlined in my last post, there are people who are placed in this family who don’t belong there, and because of this, no one is working at getting these ancestors on the correct tree.

Simcoe Ontario

In this post I will look at four people in Canada who are placed in the family tree of James Sproule and Rebecca Scott. They are in Simcoe, Ontario, and they occur in many family trees. They are always, as far as I can see, placed as older children than the Grennan children we definitely know about. (see post)

One of these I am going to dismiss straight away. She is a Margaret Sproule who is born in 1813, or sometimes 1821. Now this Margaret in Simcoe may become relevant when we are looking for the right tree or trees for these folk, but we can immediately eliminate her from the Grennan family.

James Sproule and Rebecca Scott did indeed a daughter Margaret, born on 1 September 1842, a twin of Marianne Sproule. They were baptised in Dromore Church on 4 September. Margaret Sproule of the Holm married John Clare Crockett in Ballyshannon on 31 Dec 1872. (Dromore Church Record)

She did not go to Canada.

So we have 3 others who are placed on this Holm Sproule tree:

1.       Letitia Sproule, usually placed as the eldest born born 1821. Letitia is on 57 family trees on Ancestry

2.       Robert Sproule of Simcoe, who has a confirmed date of birth 11 Jun 1821, is on 105 family trees on Ancestry. Robert of Simcoe’s death certificate says his mother was Rebecca Scott. The father is not known on the cert.

3.       William Sproule is placed next, born either 1813 or 1821, and he is on 88 family trees on Ancestry

Now if you go to look at these trees, you may notice that quite a few of those family trees have all three of these Sproules, and they are all born in 1821. Since Robert was born in June, we can assume that people are suggesting that Rebecca Scott of Ballyare had triplets in 1821.

Rebecca Scott’s Birth Year

Now let us look at Rebecca Scott, wife of James Sproule of the Holme. What age was she in 1813? What age was she in 1821?

Rebecca’s Gravestone inscription in St. Anne’s Church of Ireland, Ballyshannon reads;

 181 In Loving Memory of Rebecca Sproule, wife of the late James Sproule, The Holme, Co. Tyrone. Died January 27th 1890, at Ballyshannon, aged 83. Amy Myles, wife of Sproule Myles, died 1st December, 1942.

http://donegalgenealogy.com/stanne.htm

The Gravestone of Rebecca Scott

Rebecca Scott, wife of James Sproule of the Holme, was born in 1807. So it can be clearly seen that she definitely did not have any children in 1813, when she was only 6 years old.

Equally, she did not have any children in 1821, when she was 14 years old – that did not happen.

This gravestone is, by the way, all over the internet. If you search the text you will see that it has been online for a long time.

But even if it weren’t, even if someone thought that Rebecca Scott was born in 1785, putting these folk on the tree of James Sproule of Grennan made no sense.

Let us take Robert Sproule of Simcoe as our example. He is said to be the eldest son of James Sproule and Rebecca Scott, why could he not be?

If Robert were the eldest son, he would be heir of the Grennan Holme farm, and all the other lands that this family owned. This family were fairly affluent, with the Grennan land was owned freehold by 1853, unlike most land in Ireland at that time, and it was rich land. 

Now occasionally an eldest son in a Sproule family like this does not take over the farm, and that is because he is not a farmer. He prefers to go off to university and to become a professional - a doctor or a lawyer. Robert Sproule of Simcoe was not a professional. He was a farmer. 

In the 1861Agricultural Census, he farmed 34 acres of land. His neighbours had 100 acres or more, so Robert Sproule of Simcoe was a small farmer. 

Why would Robert Sproule be farming 34 acres in Simcoe, if he could be farming 283 acres in the Holme farm in Ireland? And that's just their Grennan land.  It never made any sense!

The same is true for the other supposed son, William who is also on these trees.

None of them belong there. Charles Sproule of the Holme was  definitely the oldest son of James Sproule and Rebecca Scott. He died on 4 Aug1852.

I have laboured this because we need to get descendants researching these families. They are not Grennan Sproules. Who are they? There are loads of clues!

Robert of Simcoe’s death certificate says his mother was Rebecca Scott. The father is not known. Robert of Simcoe did not name any of his children James. The likelihood of the father being James is low. Who, then, was his father? Is the Lennox connection the key to all this? Or is there another Sproule family in this story?

Presbyterian Dromore Records Baptisms 1835-1925, marriages 1835-1914
PRONI Film # MIC.1P/247 (PRONI = Public Records Office of Northern Ireland)

Edward Johnston Sproule of Urbalreagh - NOT a Grennan Sproule

Edward Johnston Sproule of Urbalreagh is not the son of James Sproule of the Holm and his wife Rebecca Scott of Ballyare. But who is he?

When people are put incorrectly onto a family tree, it is a major problem. What it means is that the descendants then stop looking for the right family tree for these folk, and they therefore remain homeless. My aim is to head descendants off searching for their real ancestors – to bring these homeless ancestors back their rightful tree.

There are a few that recur on the family tree of James Sproule of the Holm and Rebecca Scott of Ballyare that absolutely don’t belong there. I am hoping to help to begin the search for their real family. One of these is Edward Johnston Sproule of Urbalreagh.

Edward Johnston Sproule of Urbalreagh – not a Grennan Sproule

I don’t have any idea why people are putting Edward of Urbalreagh in the Grennan Sproules. Urbalreagh land has never been in this family, and the names of his children are very definitely not Grennan Sproule names. None of the children were named in Grennan or Spamount wills. There is nothing at all to link him to the Grennan Sproule family. However, Edward Johnston Sproule is indeed a mystery man, very intriguing! 

We have one clue in his name. The fact that this Edward is Edward Johnston Sproule, a name confirmed on the death certificate of his child James A. Sproule, would suggest that Edward’s mother was, in fact, a Johnston lady.

Edward Sproule farmed 32 acres in Urbalreagh in Griffiths Valuation and there are no Sproules mentioned there in the Tithe Applotment. So Edward arrived on this land between the 1830s and 1850s.

Edward Sproule of Urbalreagh in Griffiths Valuation

At his wedding in 1861 to Margaret Caldwell, daughter of William Caldwell, Edward’s father is given as James Sproule. My own thinking was that Urbalreagh is close to Liscreevaghan, or Clady Sproul, a townland where James Sproule is the family name. Could Edward be a son of James Sproule of Liscreevaghan? There are more clues, some that head us away from Liscreevaghan.

Edward is no longer on the Urbalreagh land in 1870 in the PRONI Valuation book. (VAL/12/B/42/1B) Edward and Matilda Caldwell have only three children recorded that we know of, and they are all born between the years 1863 and 1866 – no children as yet found after this.  So  Edward Johnston Sproule disappears in the late 1860s, he is off the land and he has no more children. Edward Sproule of Urbalreagh has likely either died or he has emigrated. However, we get more clues from his children.

When the children grow up and are adults they are spread very far apart - one is in the US, one is in New Zealand and one is in Australia. James, the oldest, arrived in the US in 1884 when he was just 21 years old.

This would suggest that Edward has not emigrated somewhere. It looks to me as if Edward must have died in the late 1860s when these three children were very young.  They were looked after either by one family, or they were split between several different families.

But the names of these children in the Urbalreagh family are very distinctive, and they must be clues to where this family belong. There is no hint of either Grennan or Liscreevaghan in these names, far from it!

Edward Johnston Sproule and Matilda Caldwell’s first child was James, born on 29 Jul 1866, but there is actually no name on this birth record. In later records he is called James A. Sproule, but on Ancestry he is named as James Ashbury Sproule. There are lots of documents for James A. Sproule including a death certificate that gives his father’s name as Edward Johnston Sproule. We know that he arrived in the US at the age of 21. He lived in Pierce, Washington, and that he travelled to Australia in 1915 to visit his sister, Sara Jane, who was living there. She is named, with her address, on his travel documents, so we know for certain that we have the right people. We know that he also later travelled to Ireland, so he was not a poor man.

James Asbury Sproule was the eldest child. It is usual for a name like Ashbury to be the mother’s maiden name. But we know that it was not – she was a Caldwell. Now the thing is that there are NO people with the name Ashbury in the northern part of Ireland.* There are a few in the southern part of Ireland, but very few.

 So where did the Ashbury come from? Was James adopted by a family named Ashbury somewhere other than the north of Ireland at some stage? Or was it that one of his parents had this family name, and they came from somewhere other than the northern part of Ireland? Was Ashbury a place name, perhaps?

The middle child is Sara Jane, born 29 Dec 1864. She married Hugh Henry White in Sydney Australia in March 1891. So she was living in Australia when she was 27. They  lived in North Botany, Waterloo, New South Wales.

Jasper Caldwell Sproule was the 3^rd child, born 29 Jul 1866 in Urbalreagh. He is in Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand in 1894,  at the age of 24. Jasper is a name that occurs very rarely in the Sproule families of Tyrone/Donegal, and when it does, it is mostly in Termonamongan.

So it looks to me as if Edward Johnston Sproule might have come from somewhere other than the north of Ireland. Where, I have no idea, but hopefully, someone will find out.

*    NOTE - there is one birth of a Charlotte Mary Ashbury, in Belfast, father Thomas Henry Ashbury, mother Annie Atkinson, on 24 Apr 1869. The father is a Reporter, and there are no further Ashbury records in Belfast so I believe he may have been there working.  The poor baby Charlotte died later that year.

 

The Family of James Sproule of Grennan and Rebecca Scott of Ballyare

The Family of James Sproule of the Holme and Rebecca Scott JAMES SPROULE OF THE HOLME was born about 1795 in Grennan, Dromore, County Tyrone,  Ireland. He was the son of Charles Sproule of the Holme and Jane Sproule of Spamount, His father Charles of the Holme died on 7 April 1844. James Sproule of the Holme  died on 26 Jan 1860 in Grennan, Dromore, County Tyrone, Ireland. He married his first cousin, Rebecca Scott of Ballyare, Ramelton, Donegal. Rebecca Scott was daughter of James Scott of Ballyare and Rebecca Sproule of Spamount. Rebecca Scott was born in 1807 in Ballyare, Ramelton, Donegal. She died on 27 Jan 1890 in Ballyshannon where she was living with her daughter Isabella. (Aged 83). James Sproule of the Holme and Rebecca Scott of Ballyare had the following children: 1.       CHARLES SPROULE OF THE HOLME was born in about 1829 in Grennan, Dromore, County Tyrone,  Ireland. He died on 04 Aug 1852 in Grennan, Dromore, County Tyrone Northern Ireland. “SPROULE: [TYC, 6 Aug 1852] On Wednesday the 4th instant, Charles, eldest son of James Sproule Esq, Grennan, Dromore.”  We also know that Charles was the first son from the will of his uncle, Edward Sproule of Spamount, who died 18 Dec 1851 and he names Charles as the eldest son of his nephew and niece James and Rebecca Sproule. PRONI D2035/3/17 (Will of Edward Sproule of Spamount is dated 28 Sept 1849) 2.       JOSEPH SPROULE OF THE HOLME was born in about 1834 in Grennan. We know that he was the 2nd son of the family from the will of Edward Sproule of Spamount will D2035/3/17. He died in 1897 in Kew, Melbourne, Australia. 3.       EDWARD SPROULE OF THE HOLME was born about 1836 in Grennan, Dromore. The only record we have of Edward is that he is named as the 3rd Son of James and Rebecca Sproule of the Holme in Edward of Spamount’s will D2035/3/17. Edward of the Holme must have died before the first will of his mother Rebecca in May 1877. (None of the living sons are named in James the father’s will of Jan 1860) 4.       ISABELLA SPROULE OF THE HOLME was born on 12 Jul 1838 in Grennan, Dromore, County Tyrone, Ireland (Dromore Church Record PRONI). Isabella died on 04 Jan 1922 in Shankill, Dublin, Ireland. Isabella married John Myles, son of Robert Myles and Jane Myles, on 19 Mar 1866 in the Presbyterian Church, Ballyshannon. John Myles was born in 1828 in Ballyshannon, Donegal, Ireland and was a Bank Manager. He died on 20 Nov 1896 in Milltown House, Ballyshannon, Donegal, Ireland (Aged 68 St Annes Church Ballyshannon). 5.       JAMES SPROULE OF THE HOLME was born on 04 Apr 1840 in Grennan, Dromore, County Tyrone Northern Ireland (Dromore Church Record). He died before May 1877. He is named as the 4th son in the will of Edward Sproule of Spamount. Rebecca, his mother, tells us in a Codicil to her will dated 31 May 1877 that James in now deceased without issue. PRONI. 6.       MARGARET SPROULE OF THE HOLME was born on 01 Sep 1842 in Grennan. (Twin of Mary Ann). She married John Clare Crockett, son of Rev. John Crockett of Clare and Rebecca Jane Sproule of Bridgehill, on 31 Dec 1872 in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland. John Clare Crocket was born on 13 Nov 1843 in Rushfield, Castlederg, Ireland. He died on 30 Mar 1911 (Age 67 Derg Churchyard). Margaret his wife died on 23 Mar 1916 in and is buried in Derg Churchyard (Aged 73). 7.       MARIANNE SPROULE OF THE HOLME was born on 01 Sep 1842 in Grennan. (Twin of Margaret). She died on 09 Jul 1920 in Vicarage, Whitechurch, Rathfarnham, County Dublin. She married William Blue, son of William Blue and Ellen Welsh, on 10 Dec 1862 in Dromore Church. William Blue was born on 25 May 1840 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (Baptism Date 25 May 1840). He died on 07 Feb 1873 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.