Part 3 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, the Record of his Death

 I have to explain before going any further that the name John Sproule of Curraghamulkin is not in the deeds. Well actually, it is in one deed that I found in PRONI, only there it is mis-transcribed as ‘Cornamulkin’.

As we know, people long ago here in Donegal and Tyrone were named for the place that they lived. This could be a townland, or an area within a townland or a house name. So John Sproule lived in Curraghamulkin at one time, and he was then called John Sproule of Curraghamulkin. Then he moved to Glenvale, where Edward Sproule his son later lived, this is also in Curraghamulkin. So he was known at some point as John Sproule of Glenvale.

 Then he moved to a place called Cornear, or Corrynear or Coranear. It was in this place that John Sproule died. So John Sproule of Curraghamulkin ended his life with the name John Sproule of Cornear. This is the name he goes by in the deeds.

So in a deed dated 25 Aug 1812 concerning the land of Ardnvarny in Fermanagh, we find him named as John Sproule of Cornear. The Ardvarny land gave rise to many deeds, and I will go in to these later. For now we know that John Sproule of Cornear is the man we know as John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin. The witness on this deed is, by the way, Henry Sproule of Cornear, who had the Cornear land after his father, John, died.  Henry is listed as a freeholder in Cornear.

Cornear, I have discovered, is an area in the townland of Cornavarrow, deep in Curraghamulkin Sproule country. We now know that John Sproule lived there, and  and this also gives us his date of death. There is a record of a will for  John Sproule of Cornear who died in 1814. This is our John Sproule of Curraghamulkin and Cornear. 

There is a listing for this will but the will itself does not exist.

 

Deed with John Sproule of ‘Cornamulkin’ is - Repository :  Public Record Office for Northern Ireland PRONI Reference :     D674/19. This deed concerns the Ardvarny land in Fermanagh.

Deed with John Sproule of Cornear - 654 131 449901 Nehmiah Edwards, Edward Sproule of Glenvale and John Sproule of Cornear, Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org. This deed also concerns Ardvarny.

Death of John Sproule of Cornear 1814 - Ireland, Diocesan and Prerogative Wills & Administrations Indexes, 1595-1858 https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/3460908

Cornavarrow townland - https://www.townlands.ie/tyrone/west-omagh/longfield-east/drumquin/cornavarrow/

Part 1 John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin - The Context

Part 2 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, Pieces of the Jigsaw.

Part 4 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin – and the Second Wife

John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, Part 1 - The Context

 John ‘Jack Roe’ Sprouleof Curraghamulkin is the name that Jack Elder put on his tree for this man. He was the son of Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin, who was the 5^th son of Cornet Andrew Spreull.

How do we know this?

Well, we have a deed dated March 10 1719 in which Cornet Andrew Spreull acquires large pieces of land in Dromore, County Tyrone, and also in Curraghamulkin. This deed also tells us that Cornet Andrew has 6 sons, and that the 5^th son is Joseph.

On Nov 10 1731, a deed confirms that the Curraghamulkin land is now owned by son Joseph Sproule. We do not know if Cornet Andrew is now dead, and that is why his sons are acquiring the land at this time. In those days it was the custom for a land owner to retire, and to hand the land over to his heirs. So Cornet Andrew might be dead in 1731, or he might not.

We do know at this point that Joseph has the Curraghamulkin land, over 700 acres, and that his son John Sproule went on to inherit this.

The name of this man is interesting – John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, as Elder tells us. That is not the name that I found in the deeds.

More on this later.

Part 2 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, Pieces of the Jigsaw

Elder's Tree - Sproules of Magheracriggan and Carrickamulkin

Jack Elder's first page of the County Tyrone Sproule family tree produced in 1890 contains Sproules from Carrickamulkin, Clover Hill, Crillen, Burrelsfolly, Magheracriggan, Aughee, Dromore and Castlederg.

Part 1 of this Page

Part 2 of this page - appears to the right of the one above

Caution for researchers:

Jack Elder collected a lot of information, however he was not always accurate. For example, Jack Elder had the original settler as Robert Spreul of Castlederg. We now know that Robert was not the original settler. See:Three Scottish Brothers Moving East

For more information:

• For information on the Source of this Family Tree see: John Inch and Jack Elder - Early Sproule Family Historians
• For more of Elder's family trees see the posts immediately before and after this post