The Simcoe Sproules - Not Grennan Sproules

 My aim in clarifying the family of James Sproule of the Holm and Rebecca Scott of Ballyare, is to help others to find their correct family tree. As outlined in my last post, there are people who are placed in this family who don’t belong there, and because of this, no one is working at getting these ancestors on the correct tree.

Simcoe Ontario

In this post I will look at four people in Canada who are placed in the family tree of James Sproule and Rebecca Scott. They are in Simcoe, Ontario, and they occur in many family trees. They are always, as far as I can see, placed as older children than the Grennan children we definitely know about. (see post)

One of these I am going to dismiss straight away. She is a Margaret Sproule who is born in 1813, or sometimes 1821. Now this Margaret in Simcoe may become relevant when we are looking for the right tree or trees for these folk, but we can immediately eliminate her from the Grennan family.

James Sproule and Rebecca Scott did indeed a daughter Margaret, born on 1 September 1842, a twin of Marianne Sproule. They were baptised in Dromore Church on 4 September. Margaret Sproule of the Holm married John Clare Crockett in Ballyshannon on 31 Dec 1872. (Dromore Church Record)

She did not go to Canada.

So we have 3 others who are placed on this Holm Sproule tree:

1.       Letitia Sproule, usually placed as the eldest born born 1821. Letitia is on 57 family trees on Ancestry

2.       Robert Sproule of Simcoe, who has a confirmed date of birth 11 Jun 1821, is on 105 family trees on Ancestry. Robert of Simcoe’s death certificate says his mother was Rebecca Scott. The father is not known on the cert.

3.       William Sproule is placed next, born either 1813 or 1821, and he is on 88 family trees on Ancestry

Now if you go to look at these trees, you may notice that quite a few of those family trees have all three of these Sproules, and they are all born in 1821. Since Robert was born in June, we can assume that people are suggesting that Rebecca Scott of Ballyare had triplets in 1821.

Rebecca Scott’s Birth Year

Now let us look at Rebecca Scott, wife of James Sproule of the Holme. What age was she in 1813? What age was she in 1821?

Rebecca’s Gravestone inscription in St. Anne’s Church of Ireland, Ballyshannon reads;

 181 In Loving Memory of Rebecca Sproule, wife of the late James Sproule, The Holme, Co. Tyrone. Died January 27th 1890, at Ballyshannon, aged 83. Amy Myles, wife of Sproule Myles, died 1st December, 1942.

http://donegalgenealogy.com/stanne.htm

The Gravestone of Rebecca Scott

Rebecca Scott, wife of James Sproule of the Holme, was born in 1807. So it can be clearly seen that she definitely did not have any children in 1813, when she was only 6 years old.

Equally, she did not have any children in 1821, when she was 14 years old – that did not happen.

This gravestone is, by the way, all over the internet. If you search the text you will see that it has been online for a long time.

But even if it weren’t, even if someone thought that Rebecca Scott was born in 1785, putting these folk on the tree of James Sproule of Grennan made no sense.

Let us take Robert Sproule of Simcoe as our example. He is said to be the eldest son of James Sproule and Rebecca Scott, why could he not be?

If Robert were the eldest son, he would be heir of the Grennan Holme farm, and all the other lands that this family owned. This family were fairly affluent, with the Grennan land was owned freehold by 1853, unlike most land in Ireland at that time, and it was rich land. 

Now occasionally an eldest son in a Sproule family like this does not take over the farm, and that is because he is not a farmer. He prefers to go off to university and to become a professional - a doctor or a lawyer. Robert Sproule of Simcoe was not a professional. He was a farmer. 

In the 1861Agricultural Census, he farmed 34 acres of land. His neighbours had 100 acres or more, so Robert Sproule of Simcoe was a small farmer. 

Why would Robert Sproule be farming 34 acres in Simcoe, if he could be farming 283 acres in the Holme farm in Ireland? And that's just their Grennan land.  It never made any sense!

The same is true for the other supposed son, William who is also on these trees.

None of them belong there. Charles Sproule of the Holme was  definitely the oldest son of James Sproule and Rebecca Scott. He died on 4 Aug1852.

I have laboured this because we need to get descendants researching these families. They are not Grennan Sproules. Who are they? There are loads of clues!

Robert of Simcoe’s death certificate says his mother was Rebecca Scott. The father is not known. Robert of Simcoe did not name any of his children James. The likelihood of the father being James is low. Who, then, was his father? Is the Lennox connection the key to all this? Or is there another Sproule family in this story?

Presbyterian Dromore Records Baptisms 1835-1925, marriages 1835-1914
PRONI Film # MIC.1P/247 (PRONI = Public Records Office of Northern Ireland)