Wednesday 30 June 2021

The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan – Fitting the Final Pieces

 There were two crucial pieces of information that made all of the maize of the north part of Altamullan fit together, including all the other complications that I haven’t even explained yet!

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.

So these two brothers who leased Sturrin in 1804 are definitely not the the sons of Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill.

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

Monday 28 June 2021

The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan – the Really Tricky One

We are now at the northern part of Altamullan and this was the really tricky one – 10 years of tricky! It was actually over 10 years ago when this all began for me in the big room in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin, with me bent over one of those gigantic books. It was then that I first saw the name that would haunt me for a long time to come, the name that is still pinned to my wall to this day, it was Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare.

The name was on a deed from 1770. By now, Thomas of Golan’s sons James and Samuel had divided the Altamullan land between them. The northern part of the Altamullan land went to son James, who was known as James Sproule of Newtonstewart. James was an Innkeeper and merchant, and again an affluent man. But he was not a farmer, so in this deed of August 1770 he was selling his Altamullan land.

He sold it to another Sproule, the one and only Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare, and in this same deed we find Joseph Sproule the Elder of Clare, who witnessed the signing of the Deed. So I had Joseph the Younger and Joseph Sproule the Elder of Clare buying the northern part of Altamullan in 1770.

My first problem with all of this was that I couldn’t find any Sproule families in Clare at all at this time capable of buying this land, except the Bridgehills, and they don’t have any Josephs. So where are these Josephs of Clare coming from?

And more importantly, where did they go?

If we look at this same Altamulan land in the first half of the 1800s we immediately see the next problem. There should be the children of  some Joseph of Clare owning the northern part of Altamullan, but there isn’t.

We can certainly see that there are a lot of Sproules there. If you look on the map you will see them, and I am using the same numbers as Griffiths Valuation on the map to show the areas.

Northern part of Altamullan prior to 1850
So we have the numbers 3, 4 and 5 - that whole area is owned by William Beatty Sproule. He lives in the area numbered 5. The area number 2, to the north of this, is also owned by William Beatty Sproule. So he owns most of the north end. This was most of the land bought by Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare in 1770.

William Beatty Sproule we know well. His father is John Sproule of Altamullan, and his grandfather is Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill – a Curraghamulkin Sproule. So my thinking was, could Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill be our Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare? But if he were, we would expect his father to be also a Joseph Sproule, as in Joseph Sproule the Elder of Clare – but he wasn’t. His father was John ‘Jack Roe’ of Curraghamulkin. So this doesn’t fit.

What if Joseph Sproule the Elder is not the father, but is the grandfather? The grandfather of Joseph of Clover Hill was indeed a Joseph, Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin.  Now at this point I thought I had solved the whole riddle, for I even the had evidence to support this from John Inch himself.

John Inch had written;

“Joseph Sproule (called “Neblaugh”) was also a Grannan man and uncle to the bleacher, he came to live in Clare (near Bridgehill) and supplied buttermilk to his nephew at Spamount for bleaching purposes and charged him the highest price for it, to the astonishments of his neighbours who gave buttermilk gratis, so they nicknamed these ‘Buttermilk Sproules’. He is the ancestor of the Burrels folly and Kirlish Sproules, when he left Clare and settled in Curraghamulkin.”

So Joseph Sproule the Elder of Clare was none other than Joseph of Curraghamulkin, 5th son of Cornet Andrew Spreull who must have lived first in Clare and then he moved to Curraghamulkin. So Joseph must have had a son that we didn’t know anything about, and this son was called Joseph Sproule of Clare the Younger, who stayed in Clare, and then bought the Altamullan land.

It all fit. I was terribly clever.  But of course, it didn’t! None of it fit, but it took me a good while to realise that.

First of all, Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin was never called Joseph of Clare, never ever. He was living in Curraghamulkin in 1731, in the deed that formalised his tenancy of the land, and he was called Joseph of Curraghamulkin in that 1731 deed, and indeed in every other deed.  Our Joseph Sproule the Elder of Clare had his name in 1770. They are definitely not the same man.

And now move forward in time and we come to this year, and I am again working on the Registry of Deeds, but this time transcribing them from Familsearch, and what did I find? Yes, it was yet another Joseph Sproule of Clare and he was taking over this very same piece of Altamullan land!

In 1806, Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare is now called Joseph Sproule Senior of Altamullan, so he must have been living there on his Altamullan land. In this 1806  deed he passing on his Altamullan land to one Joseph Sproule Junior of Clare Hall. 

So now we have another one, 3 of them up to 1806, all owning the north part of Altamullan. And none of this is fitting with William Beatty Sproule!

So I was back to asking the same three questions,

  1. Who the **** is Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare?
  2. Where on earth did all the Joseph Sproules of Clare come from, and where did they all disappear to?
  3. How did William Beatty Sproule and his Curraghamulkin father end up with the northern half of Altamullan?

And yes, ten years later, I do have the answer.


References:

The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan –Thomas Sproule of Altamullan

The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan – Fitting the Final Pieces


Friday 25 June 2021

The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan – Thomas Sproule of Altamullan

 Thomas Sproule of Altamullan was a very affluent man. When he died on 9 Jun 1893 in his large house with its Sproule crest over the door, he left lots of money and also properties in:

  • Knockroe, Ardstraw -  516 acres
  • Altamullan – 443 acres
  • Mullyfabeg, Termonamongan  – 35 acres of bog
  • Douglasbridge
  • Strabane
  • Aghyarin
  • Killen


Thomas of Altamullan had moved into his purpose built house in 1855. Unfortunately, it is no longer there.

The Altamullan house was not quite as grand as the one that his older brother Robert had built in Kildevin, Westmeath in the 1830s, but both had the same Sproule crest over the door. Kildevin House is still looking well to this day.

Kildevin House, restored in recent years

Brother Robert was even more affluent, having inherited from his father, his uncle, who was the very rich Robert Sproule the Nabob, and his grandfather, Samuel Sproule of Coolnacrunaigh. However, Robert’s tale was not a good one, and he ended up, quite literally, in a ditch in Australia.

While Robert was off on his adventure in Westmeath, his brother Thomas was was back home running the farm in Bridgehill, where both of them had been born. Thomas farmed the roughly 450 acres in Altamullan as part of the Bridgehill farm.

Thomas Sproule then bought the Altamullan land from his brother Robert Sproule of Kildevin in a deed dated 1 Nov 1840 and the cost was £2000. It was at this point that Thomas Sproule planned to build his new home in Altamullan.

His brother had been known as Robert Sproule of Bridgehill, eldest son of Samuel Sproule of Bridgehill, when he had inherited this Altamullan land. It came down to him from his uncle, Robert Sproule the Nabob who died in 1807 in Exeter in England. In these earlier leases the Altamullan land is 511 acres.

Robert the Nabob had been left the Altamullan land by his father, Samuel Sproule of Coolnacrunaigh, in a will dated 4 June 1779.

Samuel Sproule was the son of Thomas Spreull of Golan. When Thomas of Golan died in about 1761, he left three parcels of land in his will to be shared equally between his three sons, James, Samuel and John Sproull the Apocethecary.

In 1763 the three sons divided up the land between them. John the Apothecary had the Meenakeeran and Pollygeravane land.

The other parcel of land was the half of the townland of Altamullan that Thomas of Golan  had acquired from Hugh Edwards of Castlegore in 1733.

The two sons, James and Samuel,  split this half of Altamullan between them. James got what was known as the Northside, and Samuel got the portion of the Altamullan known as the Southside.



It is this southside portion that was passed down through the generations to Thomas Sproule of Altamullan.

Thomas married as an old man, but he had no children. He had no brothers who had children, so in his  will left the bulk of his estate to the children of his sister Rebecca Jane. She had married the Rev. John Crockett of Clare, and it was her two sons, John Clare Crockett and Thomas Crockett who inherited the riches of Thomas Sproule of Altamullan.


The Family of Samuel Sproule of Bridgehill, births from his Family's Bible

Samuel Sproule of Bridgehill 10 Nov 1758 - 03 Nov 1845 married Francis Leitch

Their children:

  1. Robert Sproule of Kildevin 5 Dec 1789 - 1859
  2. Sarah Sproule 29 Jan 1801
  3. Thomas Sproule of Altamullan 06 Dec 1802 -9 Jun 1893
  4. Rebecca Jane Sproule 17 Sep 1807 - 3 Jul 1870
  5. Elizabeth Sproule 17 Jul 1809 - 22 Aug 1878
  6. Samuel Sproule MD of ship Sappo 14 Jul 1811 - 1 Mar 1846
  7. Isabella Sproule 23 Jun 1813
  8. Matilda Sproule 29 May 1815
  9. Ann Sproule 2 Sep 1816 - 26 Mar 1817


References:


Part 1 - The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan – Altamullan Gortin















Thursday 24 June 2021

Will of Thomas Spreull of Golan 1761

 This is the abstract of his will in Registry Of Deeds Abstracts Of Wills

1761 Will of Thomas Spreull of Golan

WILL - 274 SPROULE Thomas Strabane Co Tyrone

2 April 1759 Precis 1/2 p. 14 April 1761

His wife Mary SPROULE. His 3 sons James SPROULE, Samuel SPROULE and John SPROULE. His freehold lands of Altamullan, Minacheeran and Pollygerrybane, Co Tyrone. Witnesses: Thomas SHORT, merchant, Patrick WILSON gent. and John McCOLLAGH, merchant all of Strabane. Memorial witnessed by: Thomas SHORT, John McCOLLAGH.

210, 262, 138802 Jas. Sproule (seal )

Sam Sproule (seal)

John Sproule (seal            

Registry Of Deeds Abstracts Of Wills Vol II 1746-85.pdf 



Altamullan Deed - Thomas Spreull of Golan 1733

 5 Nov 1733 made between Hugh Edwards of Castlegore esq on the one part  and Thomas Spreull of Golan, for Altamullan

71  481  52279 Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org, transcribed by Kate Tammemagi

A deed baring the date 5 Nov 1733 made between Hugh Edwards of Castlegore esq on the one part  and Thomas Spreull of Golan, farmer in the other part. Witnessed that the said  Hugh Edwards of Castlegore for the consideration therein mentioned did grant to Thomas Spreull the one full moiety or ½ of the townland of Altamulan containing 511 acres, to have and to hold these premises unto the said Thomas Spreull his heirs execs & admins for and during the natural lives of Arthur and James Johnston, sons of William Johnston of Coolnacrunaught in the said County  and of Thomas Spreull son of Samuel Spreull of Golan aforesaid  and the longest liver of them commencing from All Saints last past yielding an paying onto the aforesaid Hugh Edwards his heirs & execs the yearly rent of £21 in two equal half yearly payments 1st May and All Saints with two old barrels of good oates & the straw thereof or twelve shillings in lieu of said oates & straw. Two spangles of linen yarn at a spangle to the pound or four shillings in lieu of said yarn all at the Election of the said Hugh Edwards his heirs and assigns. There is a clause renewable for life on the death of any life for twenty shillings.

 Witnessed by John Ferguson of Strabane Apothecary  and George Murray of Castlegore.

This memorial is witnessed by John Fergusson and Thomas Edwards of Castlegore and above all in which deed there is a clause for renewal forever on the death of any life upon the payment of 20 shillings.


Wednesday 23 June 2021

The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan – Altamullan Gortin

Altamullan is in the parish of Termonamongan, and it is like a big bowl of Sproule spaghetti – pull any string in Altamullan and there is a Sproule at the end of it!  But it is really tricky to unravel who belongs to who!

Altamullan is a hilly region, but for some reason the Sproules lived there from at least the end of the 1600s and probably before.

The first record we have in Altamullan is of a will of an Isabella Spreull, formerly Boyd, who died there in 1725. (Prerogative Wills) Fred Sproule tells us that there was another will that same year in Altamullan, of a Samuel Spreull, and I am sure this is correct although I have not been able to verify this. So there is a family of affluent Sproules living in Altamullan at that time, but can we tell where in Altamullan this family lived? Yes, we can actually.

In 1733, Thomas Spreull of Golan leased half of the townland of Altamullan. (More on this land in follow-up posts) From this 1733 deed and subsequent revisions of this deed, we know that this was the first Sproule deed, the original perpetual lease, for this half of Altamullan. It is not a revision of an older deed. Therefore, we know that this was definitely not the land that Samuel Spreull and Isabella Boyd lived on. They lived on the other half of Altamullan.

A later Sproule who moved to Altamullan from Bridgehill in 1855,  Thomas Sproule (1802-1893), gave us some insight into these earlier Sproules of Altamullan. He recounted a version of the story of the early Sproules in Ireland in which he says that the first Sproule was Robert, and this of course was what they all believed in those days. He also said that Robert  had four sons. Thomas of Altamullan lists these sons as - a son in Spamount, a son in Grannan, another in Brockagh in County Donegal and a son who settled in the townland of Altamullan, in a place called ‘Gortin’. 

Most of these are the obvious big Sproule families of the day – but not so the Sproules of Gortin in Altamullan. This information is different – the Altamullan Gortin Sproules are not mentioned in other Sproule traditions. This knowledge was passed down through the family of Thomas Sproule of Altamulan, and Thomas was a Golan Sproule He was the great, great grandson of Thomas Spreull of Golan. This is Golan Sproule family information.

So in summary,  Thomas Spreull of Golan took a perpetual lease on one half of Altamullan, and in the other half, part of which is Gortin,  was the family of another Sproule, Samuel Spruell and Isabella Boyd. The Golan Sproule lore, handed to us from Thomas of Altmullan, tells us that these Gortin Sproules are an old original Sproule family. It would seem logical that they are the same line as Thomas Spreull of Golan – they are his family, they are all children and grandchildren of Robert Sproule of Lisleen.

And these Sproules are still there today in Altamullan Gortin.

If we look for Gortin, or Gortine, in Altamullan, we have no difficulty in finding it. It is there on the map, a little hamlet, arround which are gathered Sproule families.

In the Tithe Applotment Book for Termonamongan 1828, it actually gives a separate section called Altamullan Gortin, and here we find four Sproule families:

'Alitimulan' Gortin Tithe Applotment 1828

  1. John McCourt            24 acres
  2. William Sproule         63 acres
  3. John Sproule              21 acres
  4. Robert Sproule          23 acres
  5. James Sproule           11 acres

In Griffiths Valuation, they are still there, four Sproule families, all living in Gortin. 


Griffiths Valuation

  • 17 William Sproule Jun  90 acres
  • 18 James Sproule  14 acres
  • 19 Robert Sproule Sen   29 acres
  • 21 William Sproule Sen  30 acres

What we need now to take this further is Y-DNA. We need  Golan Sproule DNA. Hopefully, some day we will get it, and then we can learn more.

 

References:

  • 1725 Will entry for Isabella Spreull, als. Boyd,  Altamullan, p. Termonamongan, from Diocesan and Prerogative Wills, Administrations Indexes, 1595-1858 available on Familysearch.org
  • 1725 Will entry for  Samuel Spreull recorded in Vol. 2, Chapter 2,  of Fred Sproule's book, a Sproule Family of Ireland and Canada
  • 1733 Deed - made between Hugh Edwards of Castlegore esq on the one part  and Thomas Spreull of Golan, for Altamullan, 71 481 52279 5 Nov 1733, Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org
  • Tithe Applotment Book for Termonamongan available to download in PRONI 
  • Information from Thomas Sproule of Altamullan recorded on page 219 of Eight Centuries of the Spreull and Sproule Families by James Richard Sproule, 2nd Edition, unpublished.



  

Sunday 20 June 2021

A New Spreul Record in Ireland Before 1636

The following is a sentence in a lovely piece sent to me today by Mary McCollum, a wonderful researcher of all old documents in Tyrone and elsewhere;




The article that Mary has sent me contains just that one mention of a 'Spreul' man who appears in this story as being in Ireland before 1636. This is one of the very few records that we have of a Sproule in Ireland before 1650. It is an interesting story, but I have to state straight away that we don’t find out who this Spreul man is, however, we do discover where he is living between 1633 and 1636.

The piece is from the fascinating story of a man called Francis Slingsby, and the excerpt that Mary sent is from a book called "Memorials of those who Suffered for the Catholic Faith in Ireland". Francis Slingsby was born in Cork in 1611 and he studied in Oxford where he excelled at mathematics.

He was the son of Sir Francis Slingsby whose mother was Lady Mary Percy, the only sister of Thomas and Henry Percy, the seventh and eighth Earls of Northumberland. Thomas Percy had led the “Rising of the North” and was executed for treason, and his brother Henry was executed in 1532. So the Percys were Catholics rebelling against the monarchy of the day.

Sir Francis Slingsby was a Protestant, and he took his family to Ireland, settling in Cork where his son Francis was born. However, son Francis visited Rome 1633, and during this visit he converted to Catholicism. Francis returned to Ireland and was living in Dublin. He was imprisoned there for four months for his beliefs. In prison, Francis Slingsby received help from some very influential people indeed to gain his release;

“It was at the insistence of Queen Maria Henrietta, consort of Charles 1, that young Slingsby recovered his liberty.” Irish Jesuit Archives

Whilst living in Dublin, Francis had converted some folk to Catholicism, among them his mother, his younger brother, his sister and several others. One of those was his friend, the man called Spreul. Some time between 1633 and 1636, Francis converted his friend Spreul to Catholicism. Then in 1639 it appears that both of them, Francis and Spreul, went to Rome. Francis later entered to become a Jesuit priest, and it is from their excellent records in the Jesuit Archives that we have these further details of his life.

But what of our ‘friend Spreul’? The piece says that friend Spreul was, "Converted and and won to the order he himself had chosen". That is, Spreul also became a Jesuit. However, Spreul doesn't appear in the Irish Jesuit Archives, so perhaps he didn't go through with it. We don’t have any early Sproules in Ireland who are Catholic, none at all that we know of so far. So it is fairly certain that this Spreul gentleman either didn’t return to Ireland, or did not have a family in Ireland.

We also don’t know when Francis Slingsby met friend Spreul.  It was definitely before 1636, but it could have been in Dublin or, alternatively, in Oxford where Francis had gone to study. If it were in Oxford, then this Spreul man could have been a Scottish Sproule, or an English Sproule.

If Francis met his friend Spreul in Ireland, then he could have been from any of the Sproule families that were arriving in Ireland at that time. It is possible he is a Cowden Sproule, or Clondermot, or Antrim – from any of the Sproules just arrived from Scotland.

This is one mystery that we definitely won’t solve, we will not locate our friend Spreul – but it is still a very interesting story nonetheless.

 

  • Thanks again to Mary McCollum for sending this excerpt.
  • The book "Memorials of those who Suffered for the Catholic Faith in Ireland" appears in the blog De Processu Martyriali and the author states that, "Myles O'Reilly (1825–80) published his Memorials of those who Suffered for the Catholic Faith in Ireland in the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries on both sides of the Atlantic at the end of the 1860s. It was the only accessible catalogue of Irish martyrs until the publication of Our Martyrs in 1896 by Father Denis Murphy, S.J."
  • Irish Jesuit Archives


Monday 14 June 2021

Surgeon Robert Sproull d. 1747, the Gravestone in the House

It was one of those weird coincidences in the life of genealogy that sometimes become almost disturbing. In the last few days I have been researching Robert Sproules from the early 1700s, trying to pin down our Grennan Sproules. One of the Robert Sproules on my list was Robert of Dungannon who died in 1747, and once more I took Robert out, reviewed him, and yet again, I dismissed him.

Then literally 2 hours later an email came in, from my friend Kathleen Caldwell. Within a short time, Robert Sproull of Dungannon was back out again, and this time he was being added to my own tree! Nothing to do with Grennan Sproules, however, (another digression)  but we were back to our Edwards Tree and the many Sproule /Edwards relationships!

Kathleen had sent me a printed version of Bishop John Grainger's Edwards Tree with updates compiled by Frank Collins dated Oct 2012. The joy of this was that it was a Microsoft Word document, and it was searchable. I looked for my Sproules, and immediately found a new one that I hadn’t spotted before. It was a lady Sproull, buried buried a little deeper in the Edwards Family Tree.

We knew that Martha Edwards of Kilcroagh had married Robert Sproule of Golan in about 1730. Martha had a sister Mary Edwards of Kilcroagh. Mary married Robert Stewart on 9 Sep 1726. They had a daughter, Martha Stewart, in abt 1732. Martha Stewart married a man named William Holmes in 1750. Their grandson was a man named William Holmes of Barnhill, Stewartstown, Tyrone.

William Holmes (1796-1858) was an eminent barrister who became the Sessional Crown Solicitor for the county of Tyrone. He was a QC, and Thom’s Directory tells us that he also had a practice in 18 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin. The Edwards tree now told me that William Holmes esq  had married a Sproule, a lady called Frances Sproull. Now there aren’t that many Sproule ladies with the name Frances, and most of them that I know of are from Fermanagh.

But this lady wasn’t, and I located her straight away because she was already in my database. She was right there with William Holmes esq in a deed dated 1853 that I had looked at on Familysearch.org.  

She was Frances Carelton Holmes, otherwise Sproull, wife of William Holmes of Barnhill, Tyrone. There were many names in this 1835 deed and they were Sproulls and Carletons from Antrim and Carrickfergus, so I believed that Frances was an Antrim Sproule. There were a few Sproule families in Antrim as far back as the Hearth Money Rolls. I had parked the Antrim Sproules for now, but with this marriage in Tyrone, it was time to try to find out more Frances Carleton Sproull.

This was the note I had made in from the 1853 deed:

8 Jan 1853 lists Antrim, Belfast Sproules & family – William Henry Sproull attorney of Belfast and Eleanor, Mary & Eliza plus Davidson relatives – also William Holmes in Barnhill, Tyrone & Frances Carlton Holmes, otherwise Sproull his wife.

I had another Carleton Sproull in my database, Henry Carleton Sproull. He was much more recent – he got married in Calcutta in 1894, but he then lived in Tyrone. His father was William Henry Sproull of Scotch Quarter, Carrickfergus and William Henry was the son of William Sproull and Eleanor Carleton. William Henry Sproull and Eleanor Sproull were named on my 1853 deed, so I knew straight away that we had the right Carleton.

William Sproull lived in Dungannon before going to Carrickfergus – and now I knew for certain who this family was.

William Sproull was the son of my old friend Robert Sproull, surgeon, from Dungannon who died in 1745 – the one I keep taking out and dismissing!

I had first come across Robert in one of my very early visits to PRONI many years ago. In PRONI reference 2578/2,  I had found a collection of snippets from newspapers, and one was a very interesting story of a Sproull. I was so inexperienced then, that I did not even record the date on the newspaper but it was in the 1900s. The text revealed that a tomb stone had been discovered in a private house Dungannon – yes a whole tomb stone! It was in a house in Scotch Yard, Dungannon. The tombstone was entact, and the writing on it had on it the following names:

Now I always knew that Surgeon Sproull was not one of our Tyrone/Donegal Sproules. He appears in another document in PRONI T2578/1 – and/2, as the head of a large Sproull family. These are the Antrim Sproulls known by their dominant character Wilson Sproull of Antrim. They lived in Antrim town and Carrickfergus.

I knew from this that Surgeon Sproull had moved to Dungannan from Carrickfergus,  and he had lived there with his wife raising a large family, which was now to be added to my tree. The family moved back to Antrim some time after the death of Robert senior.

The tree in PRONI is like one of our Elder Trees, but much bigger and much more detailed. Sadly, I didn’t record it, but it is now top of my ‘Next PRONI Visit’ document!

So now, thanks to this lovely find on the EdwardsTree, we have a link to this family of Surgeon Sproull of Dungannon, with the marriage of his granddaughter Frances Carelton Sproull to William Holmes esq, descendant of Mary Edwards of Kilcroagh in 1822.

UPDATE

It would appear that there was a misprint in this original newspaper article. Mrs Rebecca Temple was, in fact, Mrs Rebecca Semple. This came to light thanks to Robyn Ritchie who was carrying out an extensive trawl for Sproules in early newspapers. This was one of the little gems that Robyn found:

"JAMES SEMPLE, has opened the Shop which was formerly kept by Mr Robert Sproul in Dungannon ..."

Robyn wondered if the name Temple on Surgeon Robert Spoull's gravestone could have been a mistake. Could it have been 'Semple' - was there a connection? A quick search of the Indexes to Wills, Probate Administration, Marriage Bonds and Licences, revealed a marriage:

James Sample (Semple) - Rebecca Sproul, 1748.

Well spotted Robyn, and thank you!

Thanks again Kathleen Caldwell for the Edwards Tree.

 

1835 Deed - 1853 7 86 Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org

 

 

Wednesday 9 June 2021

The Will of John Sproull the Apothecary - Ending the Ancestry Myth

 Here is the will of John Sproule the Apothecary who died on 21 May 1787 in Strabane. I was anxious to put this will up so that the owners of the 52 trees on Ancestry who have connected John Sproule the Apothecary to Hoods and McClellans could see this will and read it carefully.

To those 52 people I say;

  1. Rebecca Sproule, daughter of John Sproull the Apothecary did NOT marry John McClellan/McClelland when she was 11 years old
  2. Rebecca Sproule did NOT have her first child when she was 12 years old
  3. And, wait for it… at the ripe old age of 23, Rebecca, daughter of John the Apothecary, did NOT have her first grandchild, a Robert Hood.

NONE OF THAT HAPPENED!!!

Now, strange to say, and despite the totally illogical nature of this information, this is not your normal Ancestry Myth. In fact, it is not an Ancestry Myth at all – it is a pre-Ancestry Myth!

A man called Francis Hopkinson Gilpin put together what looked like a page from a Sproule Family Bible, and it was this that made the connection to the McClellan and Hood families. Now, I don’t know if it was Francis himself or some older person who added the McClellan/Hood connection, but there it is in all of its illogical glory. However, there is something very strange  about this page.

I believe that the original family details look very accurate for John Sproull’s family – I think it was at one time a page from his family bible, from the bible of John Sproull the Apothecary.  Some time later a notation is put on to the page, about the John McClellan marriage. Someone just made a mistake about who married John McClellan. Fascinating!

Anyway, in real life, Rebecca Sproule, daughter of John Sproull the Apothecary married a man called John Barclay on 18 Jan 1774,

    “Married at Strabane, John Barclay, son of Robert Barclay, to Miss Sproul.”  Irish Genealogical Abstractsfrom the Londonderry Journal 1772-1784 -

You will see in the following will, dated 5 Mar 1787, Rebecca Sproule, now Rebecca Barclay, is still married to John Barclay. That is 14 years after she is supposed to have had her first Hood grandchild! There are no Hoods or McClellans anywhere in this family - none at all.


The WILL of John Sproule the Apothecary  5 Mar 1787

391 53 257167  Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org, transcribed by Kate Tammemagi

A memorial of  the last will and Testament of John Sproull late of Strabane esq Apothecary  bearing the date 5 Mar 1787. Whereas the said John Sproull after leaving & bequeathing to his daughters, Jane Sproull, Mary Sproull, Rebecca Barclay and Catherine Porter, and to his son John Sproull the several legacies therein mentioned to be paid out of his personal estate and bequeathing all his silver household plate to his said three daughters, Mary, Rebecca and Catherine and to his son James  Sproull to be equally divided between them, he left devised and bequeathed to his friend William Smyley, his heirs, exeqs and admins, all his real estate as far and upon the several uses and intents and purposes in said will and hereinafter expressed and declared concerning the same. That is to say,  the intent and purpose in the first place is to permit and suffer the testator’s sister-in-law, Francis Cunningham, to have take and enjoy to her own, ever yearly and every year during her natural life or unmarried state out of the Testators dwelling house one annuity or yearly rent of 5 pounds sterling. And to in Trust the tenements and lands of Barlayhill and Mullandrait with the Appurtances in and near Stranurlar County Donegal and for the use of his said three daughters Mary Sproull, Rebecca Barclay and Catherine Porter, their heirs and assigns forever, and also his two fields, two houses and gardens with the appurces in Magirr in the parish of Urney share and share alike as tennants in common and not joint tennants. And in trust as to the testators town and lands in Meenacheeran and Polygerryleane with the Appurtances in the Co of Tyrone to and for the use of the Testators eldest son John Sproull, his heirs and assigns forever, and in trust to the Testators town and land in Dowish and the Testators house and office houses in Strabane to and for the use of the Testators son James Sproull forever subject nevertheless to the payment of two hundred pounds to the Testators son John Sproull and the Annuity of five pounds yearly to the testators sister-in-law Frances Cunningham and the Testator and he left all the residue and remainder of his personal estate to his three daughters, Mary Sproule, Rebecca Barclay and Catherine Porter, and of his said will the Testator did constitute and appoint his friend William Smyley and his son James Sproull Executors and he left his executor William Smyly  10 pounds to buy mourning and the said will is duly signed sealed published  and declared by the said Testator John Sproull as and for his last will and testament in the presence of Andrew Mease esq Doctor in Physick, Samuel Morton and James Patton, merchants all of Strabane.

Tuesday 8 June 2021

Golan Sproules – the Search for the Y-DNA

We really need the Golan Sproule Y-DNA to help with our Sproule family research. This is going to be quite tricky, as there are not many Golan Sproule lines that survived. In this post, I will go through the possibilities, and identify the only two lines where a male Sproule descendant might exist.

If you want to go straight to these two lines, they are descendants of James Sproule of Newtonstewart, and descendants of Robert Sproule of Ohio.

We will begin at Thomas Spreull of Golan who died around 1761. Thomas had 4 sons that we know of:

Robert Sproule of Golan, eldest  son of Thomas of Golan

Robert of Golan or Drumnabey married Martha Edwards of Kilcroagh. He died young in 1734 and he had only one son, Oliver.

1.1 Oliver Sproule of Golan was the heir of his grandfather Thomas of Golan and inherited his distillery business and land. Oliver had three sons that we know of:

1.1.1          Andrew Sproule of Spamount 1741 -1798 – Andrew was ‘The Bleacher’, building on his father’s bleachgreen business, distillery and eventually the linen business.  Andrew had 11 children with 2 wives. However, he was unlucky with his 6 sons.

1.1.1.1    Oliver of Spamount  died at age 26 in Baltimore on a visit there in 1790, no children

1.1.1.2    William of Spamount – died in childhood

1.1.1.3    Andrew  Sproule ought to have then become the heir following the death of his older brothers, but in Jan of 1804 Andrew handed over all of his interest in the Spamount land, business etc. to his brothers Edward, James and Arthur. He then went off to live in Draper’s Hill near Brookboro, Co Fermanagh. Andrew produced 3 boys who survived to adulthood, but none of these had children

1.1.1.3.1           James Sproule of Skeog, Fermanagh, 1816 -1881 married twice, had no children

1.1.1.3.2           John Sproule of Skeoge, Fermanagh died unmarried in 1858

1.1.1.3.3           Oliver Sproule QC of Blessington St., Dublin died unmarried in 1854

1.1.2          Edward Sproule of Spamount died unmarried in 1851

1.1.3          James Sproule of Spamount died unmarried 1852

1.1.4          Arthur Sproule of Spamount was a lawyer in Dublin, and he married Susan Bennet in 1818 and had one son Andrew Bennet Sproule 1819. Susan, the mother, died in childbirth. Arthur died in 1828 in Nice.

1.1.4.1 Andrew Bennet Sproule died in 1843 at the age of 24 – no children

1.2   Robert Sproule of Golan b.1747 – in a 1764 deed with his age, so we know he was born in 1747. By 1768 he is gone. He would be 21, so he could have died or he could have emigrated.

1.3   James Sproule of Golan b.1752 is mentioned in the same 1764 deed, born in 1752. He was still there in 1768. James of Golan does not appear after this. All of the Spamount Sproules who were very affluent males and females, all left wills where they left money to every known relative – loads of nephews, nieces, grand nephews etc. James Sproule is not mentioned. However, most of them who died in the mid 1800s left money to ‘Eliza and Mary Sproul of Golan’.  These could well have been daughters of James Sproule of Golan. No sign of any sons.

Bottom line on the family of Robert Sproule of Golan & the Spamount Sproules – NO MALE Sproule Descendants.

James Sproule of Newtonstewart son of Thomas of Golan

James Sproule was an Innkeeper / Merchant in Newtonstewart. He is named in the will of Thomas of Golan, and in further deeds concerning the inherited lands. He died before 1774. I believe he had at least three sons, Edward, Charles and James.

Edward Sproule was definitely the son of James, he went to America and he died before 1779. This is stated in a 1779 deed, but where in America is not given.

Charles Sproule of Newtonstewart  was also an Innkeeper  and appears to be an affluent man. He is not named in a deed as son of James of Newtonstewart, but I believe he was and took over his business. It is also likely that the Charles Sproule who lived in Rakelly in the early 1800s and who died there in 1816 is this Charles of Newtonstewart. (The later Rakelly/Rathkelly Sproule family, there in 1900, is a completely different family who just arrived there)

James Sproule was a farmer in Croshballinree, Newtonstewart.  He is in deeds dividing land with Charles – which is why I believe these are two sons of James.

There was also a Robert Sproule of Newtonstewart , who witnessed a Spamount Sproule deed in 1799, and an Edward Sproule in Newtonstewart  mentioned as a buyer in a market in 1816. These are obviously grandsons of James Sproule of Newtonstewart, but I don’t know who they belong to.

The Newtonstewart Sproules were all gone by 1824. No Sproules of this line have been traced so far. They disappeared from the area. They may have moved within Tyrone or out of Ireland.

Bottom line on the family of James Sproule son of Thomas of Golan - POSSIBLE MALE SPROULES, but we don’t know where!

John Sproull the Apothecary son of Thomas Spreull of Golan

John Sproull (1713 – 1787 lived in Strabane, and lectured in medicine in Dublin. He had two sons, John and James.

We know a lot about this family because of the Will of Thomas Spreull of Golan. He left land to his 3 sons James, Samuel and John the Apothecary share and share alike. In 1863 the boys divided up the land in a deed of partition. John the Apothecary got the land Meenacheeran and Pollygeravane. This Meenacheeran land is on a ‘perpetual lease’ with named lives, and as it is  passed down through the generations in a series of deeds we learn about the deaths in the family and the new names added. 

Son Robert Sproule died before 1779 – no children

Son James  Sproule was a doctor in the hospital in Omagh, also died before 1779 no children

Son John Sproule was a lawyer in Beresford St. Dublin, he died Nov 1814 leaving one daughter.

(The Meenacheeran land was by now freehold, and was owned be John’s daughter Elizabeth who married Humphrey Jones on 26 Apr 1817. She is the Mrs Jones in the Griffiths for Meenakeeran.)

Bottom line on the family of John Sproull son of Thomas Spreull of Golan – NO MALE Sproule descendants

Samuel Sproule of Coolnacrunaigh, son of Thomas of Golan

Samuel’s descendants are our only realistic hope of finding a male Golan Sproule descendant. We know a lot about these because of the will of Robert Sproule the Nabob, and also from the letters written to Robert of Ohio from his family in Bridgehill. (I am descended from Martha, a daughter of this Samuel)

Samuel had 8 children, but only 2 boys.

1.  Robert Sproule the Nabob died in 1807, and he had only one child, Rebecca Jane, who died at age 20.

            2.  Thomas Sproule of Bridgehill, born about 1730. Thomas had three sons:

        2.1           Samuel Sproule of Bridgehill. Samuel had 9 children, 3 boys

        2.1.1          Robert of Bridgehill – became Robert Sproule of Kildevin, came to a sticky end in Australia, had no children

        2.1.2          Thomas of Bridgehill – who became Thomas Sproule of Altamullan, married late in life, had no children

        2.1.3          Samuel Sproule MD of the Sappo, doctor in the navy died at age 34 no children 

        2.2           James Sproule of Inchany -  poor James had a large family of 9 with 5 boys, none of whom had children

        2.2.1          Robert of Inchany died in 1829 aged 27 – no children

        2.2.2          Moses lived to age 64, never married, no children

        2.2.3          Samuel died young before 1829

        2.2.4          James Robert died in 1838, no children

        2.2.5          Thomas also died in 1838 no children

    2.3          Robert Sproule of Ohio – Robert was born 13 Feb 1775 in Clare Bridge, County Tyrone. He went first to South Carolina, and then to Miami County, Ohio. He married Isabella Hays on 4 Apr 1801 in Newbery County, South Carolina.  It is here that we have our best chance of finding a male Sproule descendant.

        2.3.1        Samuel Sproule of Ohio 06 Dec 1805 – 1867, was born in South Carolina and had at least 2 sons

        2.3.2        Thomas Abner Sproule 06 Feb 1816 12 May 1882, born in Troy, Miami County and  had at least 4 sons

        2.3.3        James Sproul 10 Dec 1817 - 15 May 1891 had at least 4 sons

        2.3.4        Robert D. Sproul 11 Feb 1826 13 Oct 1887 no surviving male children

 Bottom Line descendants of Robert Sproule of Ohio are our best chance for finding a Golan Sproule male

The chances of finding a male Golan Sproule are slim. The best chance is with the descendants of Robert Sproule of Ohio. It is possible that there are descendants of James Sproule of Newtonstewart out there  – but they will be difficult to find and validate.