The Amazing Journeys of The Adventuring Sproules

There were five of them! There were five Sproule brothers, five sons of Tullymoan, born between 1765 and 1780 on the farm near Clady, County Tyrone. From there, they made great journeys - the mileage covered by some of the brothers and their children was astounding!

The stories of their travels were largely lost to us over time, and it is great to be able to bring them back to life.

The Family in Samuel's Will

It was the will of Samuel Sproule that confirmed that the adventuring Sproules were, in fact, brothers. Samuel was a meticulous man, bless him! In his will of 1828, Samuel made sure that his fortune would always have a home – if this person dies, then the money should go to that person;  if that person dies then the money should go to the other person ; and so on. In doing so, he bequeathed us an invaluable list of his immediate family members!

He names his four brothers and some of their children.  I have added some details which will give you an idea of some of the journeys undertaken by this family.

1. “Brother Robert of Strabane”

Robert is the first brother mentioned in Samuel’s will. He died in 1834 in Strabane, County Tyrone. Samuel names two of Robert of Strabane’s children:

·     Matilda Sproule - Matilda married William Gwynne in March 1828 in Strabane. She is also mentioned in the will of James of Mellmount.

·   “My Nephew Robert Sproule of Jamaica”  This is the Young Robert that I had found on the plantation in the parish of St George in Jamaica.  

Young Robert lived in Jamaica for most of his life, however he made an amazing journey in 1855. He went from Jamaica to Australia to attend the wedding of his daughter. He then returned to Jamaica and on to Ireland! Robert of Jamaica died in Mulvin, County Tyrone in 1862. 
This is the line of Sproules where the eldest son is called Robert to this day.

2. “My late brother William” 

Brother William had died prior to 1828, the date of Samuel's will. Samuel leaves money to the widow and to her son:

·  “My Nephew Samuel Sproule” This is Young Samuel who I had found working as a Doctor in Bombay. Samuel Senior was fond of his nephew and he left £200 for his education and advancement in the first draft of his will.

Later Samuel added a codicil to his will specifically about Young Samuel:

“I have a particular wish to have my young nephew Samuel Sproule, only son of my late Brother William, to be provided for,  whom I entertain a favourable opinion of”

He requests that Young Samuel is moved from his school in Strabane to a school in London for a year or two.  He asks “my esteemed and proven friend Major Carnac” (James Rivett-Carnac) to get Young Samuel an appointment in the East India Company, and he provides money for this purpose.

No wonder the second Doctor Samuel Sproule did so well in Bombay!

3. “Brother James of Jamaica”

Samuel mentions Brother James of Mellmount and Jamaica only briefly, but it is enough to confirm that James was indeed one of the five brothers!

Here is just a taste of the mileage sailed by these folk.
James of Mellmount's eldest daughter was called Margaret Madden Sproule. Margaret was born in Jamaica in 1814 and she traveled to Ireland where she was married in 1836. Her spouse was her first cousin, Young Samuel Sproule, son of the late brother William. Young Samuel had gone to Glasgow to University, then to Bombay to work, but he traveled back to Ireland for the wedding. They then both sailed to Bombay, where he was stationed. Young Samuel died in a shipwreck in Marseilles, France in 1848, and Margaret died in Tyrone. Their son, William Knox Sproule was born in Calcutta, lived in Ireland, and became a big banker in Indianapolis. I got dizzy just writing that!

4. “Brother Andrew of Tullymoan” - my great, great grandfather

Samuel names two sons of Andrew of Tullymoan:

·         “My nephew William John Sproule of Tullymoan (son of my brother Andrew)”.

This was the first I had heard of a William John, a completely new find! 

·         James Sproule of Tullymoan -  my great grandfather

5. Samuel Sproule – Samuel, the author of this will,  was of course the fifth brother.

Samuel had gone to Bombay in 1797, travelled to England to marry Eliza Walker in 1818 and returned to Bombay to work as Head of the Medical Board there. In 1827 Eliza and Samuel travelled from Bombay to live in Cheltenham in England, where they both died.

Problem Solved – But Wait!

I was thrilled to have this confirmation! They were indeed all brothers from the home farm in Tullymoan, County Tyrone. For two whole days I basked in the rosy glow of a job completed. But wait! There were a couple of loose ends. Who was the Uncle Andrew Sproule who had been in Jamaica and had left the money? There was no mention of him. He had died in 1801. Was he from an earlier generation of travelling Sproules?

And who was the Robert Sproule in the entry from the Strabane Journal?

DIED July 22, 1828
On Friday last, at Castletown, Mrs Sproull, relict of the late Robert Sproull, Esq. of Bombay, at the advanced age of 80 years.

Who was this Robert Sproule? He must have been in Bombay in the mid 1700s! There had to have been an earlier generation of them, and they had to be related!

On the third day I cranked up my trusty laptop and got stuck in again!


For more information:

• Part 1 of this story
• Samuel Sproule, President of the Medical Board of Bombay

Next Chapter:

• The Beginning of the BIG Story

Tyrone, Bombay and Jamaica - Family Connections

At this point, I knew that my great, great grandfather was Andrew Sproule of Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone, and that he had married Rebecca Mackey in the mid-1790s. I had discovered the whole story of Samuel Sproule who had gone from the same County Tyrone farm all the way to Bombay in 1797. But I was also following other strands of Sproule travellers, more clues and evidence, and I was slowly coming to an even more amazing conclusion!

Who was Young Samuel?

I was chasing down Samuel Sproule, who had been Head of the Medical Board in Bombay, when things got very confusing!  In the early 1800s there was plenty of evidence of Samuel Sproule in Bombay, and there was more of him in the 1820s, 1830s and 1840s. This was very strange indeed since Samuel Sproule had died in 1829! There had to be two Samuel Sproules!  It was tricky to sort them out because the information was almost identical. Both Samuels were in the East India Company, both were doctors and both were working in Bombay! Two Doctor Samuel Sproules, it  was too much of a coincidence!1

They overlapped slightly. Young Samuel seemed to have arrived just as the first Samuel was leaving. Who was Young Samuel? Samuel Sproule Senior had only one legitimate child, a daughter named Ann Jane. Young Samuel could not be a son of Samuel Senior. Was it possible, then, that he had come from Ireland, and that was he was a nephew or some other relative?  I went back to hunt for Young Samuel Sproule in my trusty list of Sproule births, marriages and deaths of that time. I not only found him, I found his parents!

DIED Anne Sproule 19 June 1847

On the 12th inst., at Glentimon, Anne, relict of the late Mr. William Sproule, and mother to Samuel Sproule, Esq., M.D., Surgeon of the Civil Service, Ahmeibad, Bombay 2

Young Samuel Sproule had definitely come from County Tyrone, and his parents were William and Anne Sproule. Now this was exciting! Could it be that Young Samuel was a nephew of Samuel Sproule of Tullymoan and Bombay? In that case, Young Samuel’s father, William Sproule, would be another Tullymoan brother! This would be three brothers, Andrew, William and Samuel.

The Jamaica Connection

At the other side of the world was a different strand of Sproules with a more tenuous connection to my family. One of the first pages that I had looked at in the County Tyrone Genealogy Website concerned a James Sproule of Mellmount. The page contained a full transcription of his will written in 1840. It made fascinating reading! Mellmount is near Strabane in County Tyrone, but the will of James Sproule was full of ‘reputed children’ and plantations in Jamaica!

This rang a bell for me, as we had a story in our family lore about Jamaica.  It was said that an Andrew Sproule, an uncle of ours, had gone to Jamaica and that he had made his fortune there. I thought the Jamaica connection might be worth investigating!

I began to research in Jamaica. James Sproule was recorded as a landowner from 1817, in a parish called St Thomas in the East. His property was Rose Mount, and he is recorded there right up until his death in 1840.

But James was not the only Sproule landowner in Jamaica, there were two of them.  The story almost mirrors the Bombay situation with the two overlapping Sproules. The second Sproule here was a Robert Sproule, and he seemed to be younger than James. Robert was in a different parish of Jamaica, one called St George, and he had his own plantation there from 1838. Since he was in a different plantation, I thought it unlikely that this Robert was a son of James of Mellmount. Could Robert be yet another County Tyrone Sproule, again possibly a nephew or another relative? 3

Are They the Same Family?

At this point, I began to believe that all of these adventuring Sproules were from the same family! It looked to me as if James, William, Samuel and Andrew of Tullymoan could well be brothers, and that Robert and Young Samuel could be the children of these brothers. It was an amazing conclusion to reach! Simple farmers in County Tyrone in the late 1700s, senior medical personnel in Bombay and affluent plantation owners in Jamaica – all of the same family! 

I had no firm proof as yet, but there was one piece of evidence that had led me to this ‘definite maybe’!

It came when I had learnt the identities of my great, great grandparents, and I cross checked these with the will of James of Mellmount. In his will, James names his brother Andrew, Brother Andrew’s wife Rebecca, and their son, James. The first box was ticked! My great, great grandfather was Andrew, his wife was Rebecca and their son, my great grandfather, was James!

The second box was only half ticked! In his will, James of Mellmount tells us that he did indeed have a brother named William.  Could this be the same William Sproule who was the father of Young Samuel? But disappointment here!  In James Sproule’s will, Brother William’s wife was called Mary, and I knew that Young Samuel’s mother was definitely Anne.  On the other hand, James of Mellmount was in Jamaica, a long way from Ireland. Could he simply have got his sister-in-law’s name wrong? Or was this a completely different family? 4

Brothers or not brothers? That was the question,  and it was driving me crazy!

And then I got the will of Samuel Sproule, Head of the Medical Board of Bombay. All was revealed!

References:

1   FIBIS, Families in British India Society, Database

²   The Londonderry Sentinel 1829 – 1869

³   Jamaica Family Search, Genealogy Research Library, collection of Almanacs

⁴   County Tyrone Genealogy Website The Will of James Sproule of Mellmount


For more information:

• Samuel Sproule, Head of the Medical Board of Bombay

Next Chapter

• The Amazing Journeys of The Adventuring Sproules

The Family History of Eliza Walker, Wife of Samuel Sproule (1776-1829)

1. ALEXANDER WALKER was born in 1667 in Fife, Scotland. He died in 1723 in Fife, Scotland. He married Jean Jeone Fleeman Fleming in 1696 in St Fort, Fife, Scotland,. She was born on 6 Mar 1659 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Alexander Walker and Jean Jeone Fleeman Fleming's son was Alexander Walker.

2. ALEXANDER WALKER was born on 02 Oct 1697 in Forgan, Fifeshire, Scotland. He died on 01 Mar 1744. He married Isabel Miller in 1723 in Edinburgh Canongate, Midlothian, Scotland. She was born in 1699 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. She died in Warrington, Lancashire, England. Their son was Alexander William Walker.

3. ALEXANDER WILLIAM WALKER was born in 1724 in Forgan, Fifeshire, Scotland. He died on 14 Nov 1771 in Collessie, Fife, Scotland. This Alexander was a Church of Scotland Minister He married Margaret MANDERSTON on 31 Oct 1762 in Scotland. She was born in 1736 in Forgan, Fifeshire, Scotland. She died on 02 Dec 1810 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Alexander William Walker and Margaret had 5 children, two of whom were Alexander and William.

4.1. ALEXANDER WALKER OF BOWLAND was born on 12 May 1764 in Collessie, Fife, Scotland. He was the eldest of five children, and the father died when Alexander was just seven years old. He was in the military of the East India Company in America, Bombay and St Helena. Alexander married Barbara Montgomery on 12 Jul 1811.  They had two children. He had retired in 1812 to Bowland, near Edinburgh, but was coaxed back in 1822 to become Governor of St Helena, still owned by the East India Company. This was 2 years after Napoleon’s death there. Brigadier General Alexander Walker  died on 05 Mar 1831 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

4.2.WILLIAM WALKER was born on 15 Jan 1768. He died in 1799.  William Walker died when his child ELIZA WALKER was just a baby.

        

5. ELIZA WALKER was born in 1796. Eliza was a baby when her father William Walker died. She was in the care of her uncle Alexander Walker when she married Samuel Sproule MD, son of Andrew Sproule of Tullymoan and Matilda Sproule on 10 Nov 1818 in Bowland, near Edinburgh, Scotland. They lived in Bombay, where Dr Samuel Sproule was Head of the Medical Board. He died on 30 May 1829 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,  England. Eliza Walker died on 6 Nov 1827 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England (Aged 31). Samuel Sproule and Eliza Walker had the one surviving child Ann Jane Sproule.

      

6. ANN JANE SPROULE was born on 29 Sep 1819 in Bombay, India. She died on 02 Sep 1876 in Elham, Kent, United Kingdom (Age at Death: 56). She married SIR JOHN RIVETT-CARNAC, son of James Rivett-Carnac (1st Baronet) and Anna Maria Richardes on 19 Dec 1840 in Bombay, India. John Rivett-Carnac was born in 1818 in Baroda, Madhya Pradesh, India. He died on 11 Aug 1883 in Farleigh House, Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent, England. Sir John and Ann Jane had four children, one of whom was James Henry Sproule.

           

7. JAMES HENRY SPROULE RIVETT-CARNAC, the 3rd Baronet, was born in Sep 1846 in Lymington, Hampshire, United Kingdom. He died in 1909 in Kensington, London, United Kingdom (Age at Death: 62). He married MARY JEANNIE HENDERSON. She was born about 1856 in Bodmin, Cornwall, England. She died on 05 Apr 1927 in 24 Chester Terrace, Eaton Square, Westminster. James Henry Sproule Rivett-Carnac and Mary Jeannie Henderson's son was Claud James. 

8. CLAUD JAMES RIVETT-CARNAC, 4th Baronet, was born in March 1878 in Kensington, London, United Kingdom. Claud disappeared in 1909 when he should have inherited his father’s title. There was much searching and there were newspaper advertisements asking him to come forward. He was officially declared dead in 1924.

The Reputed Son of Samuel Sproule

This is the sad tale of my cousin Harry Robertson Sproule, a story that I still find thought provoking.

My great, great uncle Samuel Sproule, former First Member of the Medical Board of Bombay, had spent some thirty years working in India.  When he left India in 1827 he settled in Cheltenham, England, home of so many retired East India Company folk that it became known as the city of Colonels and Curries!

Samuel brought with him from India his wife Eliza, their only child Ann Jane and his ‘reputed son’ Harry Robertson Sproule. Harry was his illegitimate son and Samuel had taken him into his family.

Eurasian Children in the East India Company Culture

Samuel Sproule was from Ireland where, in the 1800s, having a child out of wedlock was condemned.  However, in the East India Company culture of that time, it seems that having a ‘reputed child’ with a local Indian lady was quite acceptable. In its early days, the East India Company actively encouraged Anglo-Indian liaisons and marriages. Surprisingly, inter-racial marriages were socially acceptable to the British, and the offspring, official or otherwise, were favoured by them. I wonder if the same could be said of the Indian culture? How did they view these relationships?

This was the situation when Samuel arrived in Bombay, India, in 1797. So it is likely, but of course not certain, that Harry’s mother was an Indian lady.

Harry Robertson Sproule

Harry Robertson Sproule was born on 25^th September 1809, nine years before Samuel married his wife Eliza. Harry was baptised in Bombay five years later, on 30^th December 1814 and Samuel Sproule is the only parent named on the baptism certificate.  

Bhema, the Indian Lady in the Will

Samuel wrote the first draft of his will on 30^th of January 1828 when Harry was 18 years old.  He tells us that Harry is now living with him in Cheltenham in England. There is no mention of Harry’s mother in the will. However, Samuel does leave a bequest to an Indian lady:

“The sum of twenty five rupees a month to be paid during her life to a Native Woman of India by name Bhema now residing at Surat”

Samuel does not give an address for Bhema, a way to contact her regarding her inheritance. We can assume, therefore, that either the Executors knew this lady or that Bhema was indeed Harry’s mother, and he would know how to find her. Bhema was living in Surat near Bombay, and Samuel was stationed there for some time. Was Bhema Harry's mother, or could she have been simply his long-term housekeeper?

Harry’s Inheritance

In his will, Samuel leaves a trust fund of £2000 to his 'reputed son' Harry Robertson Sproule. This is a large sum of money, and Harry is to receive the interest on this annually during his lifetime. Samuel leaves the bulk of the estate to his only legitimate child, Ann Jane, who was only nine years old at the time of the will. However, he states that should Ann Jane die before the age of 21 or without issue, his estate is to go to the eldest son of Harry Robertson Sproule.

Samuel obviously sees Harry as his second heir. However, why leave the money to Harry’s son and not to Harry himself? Harry was just 18 years old at this time. It could well be that Samuel was already having doubts about his reputed son Harry.

The Codicils to the Will

During the period between the first writing of the will in 1828 and his death in 1829, Samuel added two codicils to his will that concerned Harry. In the first of these, there are indications that poor Harry is not excelling in the English education system:

“I intended my reputed son Harry Robertson Sproule to be brought up to Law or Medicine, but this plan for several reasons I have relinquished. Therefore I think some retail kind of business such as a grocer or being a clerk in an office would be best suited for him.”

He requests that his son should go to a Commercial School for a year, and he provides money so that Harry can then set up his own business. Samuel cautions his Executors that they must approve the said business, otherwise Harry is not to be given the money. He adds a brief insight into his view of his son:

“The youth I believe possesses upright moral principles but is at present free from any serious habit.”

The End of the Story

Sadly, we know the end of this story, for it is in the last codicil to Samuel's will. Here Samuel tells us that his reputed son Harry Robertson Sproule has died, and that his legacy should go to Ann Jane.

Harry died on the 22^nd July 1828 in Brighton, England. He was still just 19 years old and he had died a long way from his home in India.

Those were strange times indeed. Did Samuel do the right thing by Harry? Would he have been better off at home in India? I am sure that Samuel himself pondered on these questions. But what was definitely important to Samuel was to recognise that Harry was a member of his family, a member of our family. Harry Robertson Sproule was my first cousin three times removed, and he belongs in our family tree.

Thanks to FIBIS, Families in British India Society,  for their super database which helped in tracing this story.

The story of Samuel is in Samuel Sproule, President of the Medical Board of Bombay

Little Richard and the Reason for it All!

Like most people who become obsessed with researching their family history, I sometimes stop and ask myself, “Why am I doing this? What is it all for?”  I know that I get great personal enjoyment from the chase, from the detective work and the wealth of knowledge that I am building up.  But does it have a real purpose, or is it just satisfying a personal addiction?  

Last week, something very special happened, and I was reminded of the real reason why I do this.

The Precious Photograph

A Sproule cousin, who I have never met, contacted me. His grandfather and my grandfather were brothers and they both lived on the Sproule farm in Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone. My Sproule cousin was kind enough to send me a photograph taken in 1938 at the wedding of his grandfather, Thomas Sproule.

This was the first picture I had ever seen of my Uncle Tommy and my father was right, he was a very tall man! My Grandfather is also in the picture. I have only two other photographs of him and I was delighted to add this one to my meagre collection. My father was best man at the wedding, and he is there standing beside Thomas Sproule. His brother and sister are also there. It is a very precious photograph indeed, and I am so grateful.

Standing, Grandfather Robert 2nd from left, Uncle Thomas 4th from right

The Family Story

More importantly, my Sproule cousin told me a family story. He said that his grandfather, Thomas, had talked often about a young child in the family, a little brother called Richard. I know this family very well, from family stories and from researching the documents. There was no Richard Sproule! But my Sproule cousin was adamant. His grandfather had talked a lot of his little brother and he had said that Richard had died very young.

And then I searched. Richard is an unusual Sproule name, and it took me only a few minutes to find him. 

Richard Sproule

Richard Sproule was born in 1881 and he died in 1882. Little Richard was the youngest child of Mary and James Sproule of Tullymoan. He was remembered fondly by his loving brother Thomas Sproule and this memory was passed on to Thomas’s children and to his grandchildren. Richard Sproule will now be recorded in his family tree with the other members of his Tullymoan family. He is back where he belongs.

And that is why I do this.

P.S. Rest easy, Uncle Tommy. We have him.

The Family of James Sproule of Tullymoan

The Family of James Sproule of Tullymoan (1816-1897)

James Sproule was born about 1816 in Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone, Ireland. James was son of Andrew Sproule of Tullymoan and Rebecca Mackey of Lismontigley, Raphoe, County Donegal. James Sproule married MARY MCGLINCHY in 1869 when he was 53 years old. Mary was from Laghtmorris, Termonamongan, County Tyrone  and was born in 1838.

James died on 10th March 1897 in Tullymoan, County Tyrone, aged 81. 

Mary  died in 1923 in Tullymoan, Tyrone.

Mary and James Sproule had nine children:

1.    ANDREW WILLIAM SPROULE was born on 15th  Nov 1870 in Tullymoan. He died in 1909 in Strabane aged 38.

2.    SAMUEL SPROULE was born on 17th Feb 1872. Samuel Sproule became the owner of Tullymoan when his mother died in 1923 and his family are there to this day.

3.     REBECCA JANE SPROULE (BECKY) was born on 7 Jul 1873

4.    CATHERINE SPROULE (CASSIE) was born on 20 Jan 1875.  Cassie married PHILIP MCNULTY

5.    MARGARET MATILDA SPROULE (TILLY) was born on 15 Apr 1876.  Tilly married James Loughlin on 8 Sep 1913.

6.    THOMAS SPROULE was born on 24 Aug 1877. Thomas worked as policeman in Dublin from approximately 1897 to 1922. He was offered a position with the Garda but he took early retirement and went back to Doneyloop in Donegal to farm. He married Catherine Gallagher from Castlederg in August 1938 when he was 61 years old and they had two boys. Thomas died on 8th of September 1970 aged 93.

7.    HENRY SPROULE was born on 31 May 1879. He married SARA ANN MCCLOSKEY in Sep 1916.

8.    ROBERT SPROULE was my grandfather. He was born on 31st May 1879 with his twin Henry  in Tullymoan, County Tyrone. He died in 1966 in Derry. He married Sara Dreenan, daughter of Owen Dreenan of Ardmalin, Malin Head, County Donegal and Annie McLaughlin, in Dec 1908 in St Eugenes Cathedral, Derry. Sara Dreenan was born about 1892 and she died on 10th  Mar 1938. 

Robert was a policeman in the Royal Irish Constabulary and, at the time of his wedding, he was stationed in Athenry.

Robert retired from the RIC at the time of independence in 1922. 

In the 1911 Census, Robert and Sara are living in 43, Argyle Street, with their baby Veronica. They lived there till they moved to Westland Avenue.

9.       Richard Sproule was born in 1881 and he died in 1882

For more information:

• Little Richard and the Reason for it All!
• The Story of Big Henry Sproule
• Mary McGlinchy Matriarch of Tullymoan
• Tales of Tullymoan in the 1920s
• The Dreenans, the end of the Line

The Family History - Sproule / Rivett-Carnacs

1. THOMAS RIVETT was son of Thomas Rivett of Derby, England. He died in 1763. He married Anna Maria Sibley who was born in 1730 and died in 1807. Their son was James Rivett.

2. JAMES RIVETT was born in 1759. He died on 16 Jul 1802 in Bombay, India. He married Henrietta Fisher on 4th February 1783 in Bombay, India. She was born in 1765 and she died on 23 Dec 1837 in London, England.

James Rivett took the name Carnac by royal charter on 8th May 1801. His sister Elizabeth had married John Carnac, a General in the East India Company, and he had died without issue. James Rivett was his heir and took the name Carnac. Their son was James Rivett-Carnac

3. JAMES RIVETT-CARNAC (Baronet) was born in 1784 in Bombay, India. He married Anna Maria Richardes, who was born in 1790, and died in 1860. James Rivett-Carnac died on 4 Feb 1846 in Milford, Hampshire, England. His son was John Rivett-Carnac.

4. SIR JOHN RIVETT-CARNAC BART was born in 1818 in Baroda, Madhya Pradesh, India. He died on 11 Aug 1883 in Farleigh House, Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent, England. He married ANN JANE SPROULE, daughter of Samuel Sproule MD and Eliza Walker on 19 Dec 1840 in Bombay, India. Ann Jane Sproule was born on 29 Sep 1819 in Bombay, India. She died on 02 Sep 1876 in Elham, Kent, United Kingdom (Age at Death: 56).

SAMUEL SPROULE’S parents were both Sproules. His father was Andrew Sproule of Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone Ireland. His mother was Matilda Sproule, granddaughter of Thomas Sproule of Golan, County Tyrone, and daughter of Thomas Sproule. 

Ann Jane and John Rivett-Carnac's son was James Henry Sproule

5. JAMES HENRY SPROULE RIVETT-CARNAC, the 3rd Baronet, was born in Sep 1846 in Lymington, Hampshire, United Kingdom. He died in 1909 in Kensington, London, United Kingdom (Age at Death: 62). He married Mary Jeannie Henderson who was born about 1856 in Bodmin, Cornwall, England. She died on 05 Apr 1927 in 24 Chester Terrace, Eaton Square, Westminster. Their son was Claud James Rivett-Carnac.

6. CLAUD JAMES RIVETT-CARNAC, 4th Baronet, was born in March 1878 in Kensington, London, United Kingdom. Claud disappeared in 1908 prior to his father’s death.  There was much searching and there were newspaper advertisements asking him to come forward. He was officially declared dead in 1924, and his death date was designated as 31st December 1909.

For the Sproule / Rivett-Carnac story see Sir James Henry Sproule Rivett-Carnac

 and Samuel Sproule, President of the Medical Board of Bombay