By James Reid, a descendant of this Grennan family
Introduction
Ever since I first saw Jack Elder’s tree of my Sproule
family, with my great-grandmother, Lulu Isabel Sproule (1893-1980)[i]
at the very bottom of the tree, I’ve been wondering how this branch fits into all
the others. Elder named this, “Another Grennan Branch,” to distinguish it from
some of the other more prominent, and wealthier, Sproule families who lived in
Grennan.
At the very top, the patriarch of this family is shown clearly as Hugh Sproule, a man who would have been born in perhaps the late 1740s through late 1750s. However, no contemporary surviving records – parish records, gravestones, will index entries, deeds, newspaper notices – have yet been found that mention this Hugh Sproule of Grennan. Some of the later generations on this tree are a little mixed up, so could that be the case with the name of the patriarch too? Was Jack Elder correct, and could I find any evidence indicating that Hugh Sproule actually existed?
We find Hugh’s family in the Tithe Applotment Books from the 1830s, but it is likely that Hugh had died by that time. Tracing family landholdings for periods before the Tithe Applotment Books is quite difficult and subject to the surviving records in a particular locality. In the absence of surviving parish records for the period, as is the case for our corner of county Tyrone, the main surviving records are either the Registry of Deeds (for all of Ireland) or the estate records of the local gentry (for a particular place), which may not survive. Estate records may contain deeds, lease records, tenant rolls and payment ledgers.
Grennan was one of many townlands in the estate of the Edwards of Castlegore family at the time the original leases were granted to the Sproules prior to the 1740s, but later that century the estate passed to the Lowry-Corry family of Castle Coole (who later became the Earls of Belmore), so that the Sproule rental payments were now being received by them. Luckily, the Belmore estate records survive, held at PRONI in Belfast. What information was there on Grennan?
The earliest relevant record in the Belmore Estate Papers, a tenant roll of all Belmore townlands for the half-year to November 1777, shows a single tenant (or head-tenant) in Grennan, Chas Sproule, paying £17/-/6 (or £34/1 per year). The next record, for the full-year to September 1787, also shows a single tenant, Chas Sproule, paying the same amount. We know from the Encumbered Estates Records (1853), in connection with the bankruptcy of the estate of Juliana, Countess of Belmore, that these Grennan leases originally granted by the Edwards of Castlegore family reset in 1796. That would seem to indicate that the lives on the original leases had expired, although it is possible that the Lowry-Corry family had instigated this, since it appears that they granted many leases starting that year. In any case, this reset is evident here in the next record, for 1808, which is quite different from the prior two records for 1777 and 1787.
Grennan Details in Belmore
Rentals for this third period, the full year to May 1808, show a new level of detail. We have Chas Sproule Sr. paying £55 per year Irish currency (this would be Charles Sproule of the Holme), on the land simply known as “Grennan”. All the other holdings were on land called “Grennan Aughnabracken” (or “Aughnabrakan”)[ii] as follows:
- Chas Sproule Jr. paying £45/10 (this would be Charles Sproule of Upper Grennan)
- Joseph Sproule paying £25/10/10 (this would be Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill and Castletown [iii], and
- Hugh Sproule paying £29/13/4.[iv]
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Figure 1: The 1808 tenant roll of the Belmore Estate, showing five Grennan tennants. Source: Belmore Estate Papers, PRONI (Belfast), reference D3007/B/3/4/1 |
We see references to Hugh Sproule again in the 1816 to
1825 period, in the 1825 to 1829 period, and in the 1829 to 1834 period. He and
his holding is always listed fourth among the Sproules, and is always paying
about 16% more rent than Joseph is paying.[v]
Perhaps the order is indicative of moving westwards from the Holme farm in the
east, ending at Hugh’s land in the west which abutted the townland of
Dullaghan, sloping upwards from Grennan’s main road.
In the 1816 to 1825 entries, a small piece of paper is pinned to the ledger by John Spiller, the estate’s factor: “John Sproulle, Oliver Sproulle & James Sproulle”. This seems to be a clear indication that the successors to Hugh’s holding were these three presumed brothers, entirely consistent with the information we have from later records[vi]. Finally, we see only one payment from Hugh himself in the ledger, which was dated February 1824. But in the next ledger account, for 1825 to 1829, it seems apparent that he was not making any payments and the ledger title indicates, “Hugh Sproule’s Reps”, perhaps giving us an indication of the timing of his death.
The ledger accounts that accompany these entries show some interesting further detail. On the pages devoted to the bi-annual rental charges for the plot of land allocated to Hugh Sproule, we also have records of the myriad payments that satisfied those bi-annual charges. In the early entries, we see clearly that payments are varyingly made by Hugh, and by John, James and Oliver (without mention of surname), with some consistency of amount indicative of established sub-plots within Hugh’s holding. Some payments are also made by “Elkin” which we have determined is Hugh Elkin, known to have married Jane Sproule, believed to be Hugh’s daughter.
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| Figure 2: the 1816 to 1825 Grennan ledger (left side) for Hugh Sproule in Belmore papers |
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| Figure 3: The 1816 to 1825 Grennan Ledger (right side)for Hugh Sproule in Belmore papers |
Conclusion
The Belmore Estate Papers are an important source of
information on tenancies for this part of Tyrone, with information that may not
be preserved anywhere else. We learn some important detail on the Grennan
Sproules, and can finally firmly put the elusive Hugh Sproule of Grennan on the
map!
References:
[i] Born in Oshawa, and later Mrs. Frederick William Evans of Walkerville, Ontario and Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.
[ii] This sub-townland name may be a compound Irish and English name meaning, “field of the bracken”.
[iii] See Who is Joseph Sproule of Castletown?, by Kate Tammemagi, on Sproule Genealogy Blog
[iv] The fifth plot was always held by members of the Grugan family, presumably Catholic.
[v] By the time of Tithe Applotment Books (1834), the land formerly held by Joseph appears to be occupied by the Brine or Breen family, presumably Catholic as well.
[vi] See the Tithe Applotment Books (1834) and the Encumbered Estates Records (1853) for the townland of Grennan, parish of Dromore, county of Tyrone.
