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:
- Robert Sproule of Kildevin 5 Dec 1789 - 1859
- Sarah Sproule 29 Jan 1801
- Thomas Sproule of Altamullan 06 Dec 1802 -9 Jun 1893
- Rebecca Jane Sproule 17 Sep 1807 - 3 Jul 1870
- Elizabeth Sproule 17 Jul 1809 - 22 Aug 1878
- Samuel Sproule MD of ship Sappo 14 Jul 1811 - 1 Mar 1846
- Isabella Sproule 23 Jun 1813
- Matilda Sproule 29 May 1815
- Ann Sproule 2 Sep 1816 - 26 Mar 1817
References:
- Thanks to Kathleen Caldwell for the picture of the home of Thomas Sproule of Altamullan, the picture came originally from Mairead McHugh, former Principal of St. Caireall's Primary School, Aghyaran. Mariead's family owned the house at one time.
- 1 Nov 1840 Deed Robert Sproule of Kildevin selling the Altamullan land to his brother Thomas of Bridgehill. 1840 23 11 Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org
- 4 June 1779 Date of Samuel Sproule of Coolnacrunaigh Will appears in a revision of the Altamullan lease, dated 24 April 1843 PRONI Reference : D847/5/17
- Will of Thomas Spreull of Golan
- 1763 Deed Dividing up the Land left by Thomas of Golan - 223 566 149281 Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org
- 1733 Deed between Hugh Edwards of Castlegore esq on the one part and Thomas Spreull of Golan, for Altamullan
Part 1 - The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan – Altamullan Gortin
No comments:
Post a Comment