There are two missing sons of Cornet Andrew. My first theory was ‘There has to be an eldest son, and he is probably called Robert’. I then went on a hunt for this missing Robert. I have to hastily say that I haven’t found anything definite about these boys, but the search was really useful in two ways, 1) in finding more possible members of this family and 2) in eliminating some possibilites that looked very likely. Hopefully, some clues will lead others further.
The Eldest Son
Cornet Andrew told us
about 5 of his sons in his deeds. In the 1731 deeds, Cornet Andrew’s land is
handed over to these 5 sons. The custom often was in those days that
the oldest son, the chief heir, is treated separately. For example, the heir
often doesn’t appear at all in a will – the heir has already taken over his inheritance several years before the death
of the father.
So, could that be the
case in Cornet Andrew’s family? Is it possible that one of the missing sons is
the eldest, and that he got a large inheritance somewhere else, somewhere other
than Grennan and Curraghamulkin? This was my thinking.
The other factor I
took into account was that it is often thought that Cornet Andrew is a son of
Robert Sproule of Lisleen – that is, Robert Sproule, husband of Jean Deniston, who is in the Castlederg grave. Again,
this is pure speculation on the part of Sproule family historians, and it is definitely
not a certainty. However, if Cornet
Andrew was a son of Robert of Lisleen, then he could well have called his
eldest son Robert.
Robert Sproule and Jean Deniston's grave, Castlederg
Is there a likely Robert anywhere? Well, one possibility jumped straight out.
Robert Sproule of the Slab
The early Sproule family historians built their trees round Robert Sproule who’s grave is in Castlederg Church. This grave is famous. What is not widely known is that there are TWO early Sproule gravestones right there in the same spot. Sheena McClure, from Castlederg, sent me a photo of the second stone.
Robert
Sproull(e) died Sbr
y 28 1752 aged
42 years
Here lyes……
This Robert Sproule of the Slab was born in 1710. He lies close to, and is almost certainly related to, Robert Sproule of Lisleen. We know that this Robert of the Slab is definitely not a son of Robert and Jean Deniston, he is born too late.
We know also that he is definitely not a son of
Thomas Spreull of Golan, for Thomas had a son Robert who we know died in 1734.
Robert of the Slab could still be a grandson of Robert of Lisleen. Could he, then, be the son of Cornet Andrew Spreull?
I realised very quickly that, sadly, no. The dates
are wrong.
Robert of the Slab was born in 1710,
so if he were the son of Cornet Andrew, he would have to be one of the younger
sons. We know that the 5th, 6th and 7th sons
were Joseph, Charles and Oliver, and that Joseph and Charles were born before 1710.
Robert of the Slab
cannot be the son of Cornet Andrew.
Who is Robert of the Slab?
We know he is not the son of Cornet Andrew, but could he be the son of one of Cornet Andrew's brothers? We have no idea how many sons that Robert Sproule and Jean Deniston had, and if Cornet Andrew were one of these sons, he could have had many brothers.
We know that Cornet Andrew is very closely related to our Carncorran Sproules - we know this through our Sproule DNA Project. Is it possible that Robert of the Slab is actually the father of our Carncorran Sproules, who we know are definitely connected very closely to Cornet Andrew? Possibly.
With Robert of the Slab eliminated from my search for the sons of Cornet Andrew, I went looking for the land. If there was a missing older son who inherited land bigger or richer than Grennan or Curraghamulkin, then it should be easy to find.
Thanks to Sheena McClure for all the information on the Sproules in the Castlederg graves, and for later guiding me round these.
References:
- Ages of the Sons of Cornet Andrew
- 1731 Deeds - 94 533 67557 Registry of Deeds Familysearch.org 99 81 68007 Registryof Deeds Familysearch.org
- The Carncorran Sproules - Relationship to Cornet Andrew
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