The Sproules of Burrell's Folly, Drumnaforbe

Burrell’s Folly was the home of Robert Sproule and his wife Hully Murray, who married sometime round the mid 1770s. Robert was a Curraghamulkin Sproule according to Jack Elder, the son of Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin, which is in Longfield West, County Tyrone.[1] The house named Burrell’s Folly was situated near the village of Drumquin, in Drumnaforbe.

There was a house originally on this land, but Robert Sproule built his own house here in 1779 at a cost of £350. I'm not sure why the 'Folly' was in the name of the house, but the 'Burrell' came from the former owner of the land, George Burrell. [2]  It was built beside a stream behind the main road on the Omagh side of the village of Drumquin. The house itself was  demolished, but the offices beside the house which were built by Robert’s son Edward Sproule in 1832 still remain. [3]

Burrell's Folly offices built by Edward Sproule stabeled the horses
and the quarters on the first floor were occupied by the horsemen
 and stable lads. Picture from  Kenneth Allen, geograph.ie

We learn about the house in a book called 'Langfield Parish, A Brief Historyh' by Rev Creighton a former Rector there, which also tells us about some additions to the Langfield Church by this Burrell's Folly family.[3] The stained glass window beside the choir stalls in Lower Langfield church was paid for by Edward Sproule, in memory of his wife, Mary.   In Jack Elder’s Tree of this family, Edward's wife is Mary Potter, but in fact she was actually Mary Porter. [1]

Edward was the only son of Robert of Burrell’s Folly. He married  Mary Porter of Strabane, daughter of Frederick Porter and his wife Catherine Sproule, on 17 April 1826.  This was revealed in the Marriage Settlement deed of the couple.[4] As you can see, Mary Porter's mother was also a Sproule, and these two families are intertwined in several generations. More on this in another post.

The history of Langfield Parish book also tells us that pulpit of Langfield church was dedicated to the memory of Hully Sproule of Burrell's Folly in 1859. This Hully, or sometimes Helena, is the daughter of Robert Sproule and Hully Murray. The stone pulpit, offset with small marble pillars, has the following detail inscribed on the base;

 ‘To the glory of god in memory of Hully Sproule, wife of Thomas Simpson, died 12 August, 1859, aged 60. Erected by her husband’ 

Hully, or Helena, was Robert’s  6^th child and she married Thomas Simpson on 14 May 1841 in Langfield Church. [5] This was Hully’s second marriage, as she had been married before this to Henry Stanford Maxwell Esq., (1796-1837) an English gentleman soldier of the 98^th ft. 

Thomas Irwin Simpson, (1790-1875)  the second husband, was a very affluent man from Ballyards, County Armagh. There is a story to tell here with Mr Simpson, but I don’t know what it is yet! His will is rather extraordinary – he leaves a large amount of land and big sums of money to nephews, nieces and other folk. To his son Thomas Simpson, living in Barnsley in England, he leaves a meagre £25 a year. Perhaps this son is not the son of Hully Sproule! [6]

Rebecca Jane, (1796-1862)  the 5^th child of Robert of Burrell's Folly and Hully Murray, married a relative, John Mathewson of Clare House, and the name Hully is carried on in their family too. [7]

Another two daughters of Burrell’s Folly were single ladies. Martha (Matty) was eldest child, born about 1775 and she died on 29 December at Burrell’s Folly, aged 92 years. Sarah, the second child, died in the home of her sister Rebecca, at Clare House, on 25 September 1858, aged 80. [8] [9] 

There was one more daughter in this family and she is one that I was not away of until recently. I  first heard of this lady from John Parfitt in our Sproule Genealogy Facebook Group. She was a lady named Margaret Sproule who lived in Orange County, New York. She had been married in Ireland in 1805 to a man called James Caldwell. Now a Caldwell/Sproule marriage is not at all unusual. What made this couple stand out was the name of their only daughter and she was given a very distinctive name. She was Hully Jane Caldwell. Her own family seemed to know that this name Hully was important, and Hully herself called one of her daughters Hully. This name immediately suggested the family of Robert Sproule of Burrell's Folly.

Margaret Sproule of Orange County was the right age to be a daughter of Robert Sproule, she was born in about 1786. But we needed more evidence, and one lovely piece came from Stuart McCormick and this helped to confirm the parentage of Margaret Sproule of Orangae County. Stuart is a Mathewson researcher, and he had found a reference to this Margaret in Bill Mathewson’s excellent book, "A Mathewson Story".  On p.4 of this book there is a list of the children of James Mathewson of Arstraw (1723 - 1828) from his second marriage. The first child of this marriage was Isabella, and one of her children, Rosanna (1807 -1892):

"married James B. Caldwell, son of James Caldwell, whose wife was Margaret Sproule, daughter of Robert Sproule of Burrell’s Folly.”[10]

James B. Caldwell, was James Bell Caldwell, 1807-1887, who was born in Orange County, New York, and was the son of James Caldwell and Margaret Sproule. [11] His sister was Hully Jane Caldwell.

So that name Hully, the name of her mother,  helped bring Margaret Sproule back to her family tree. Now we have the full family of Robert Sproule of Burrell’s Folly and Hully Murray – unless of course, you have found another child!

References:

[1] JJ Elder Page 1 Sproule Family Tree 

[2]  Renewal Lease for Burrell's Folly dated 8 dec 1832 quoted in Landed Estates document, for 'the house, garden and land then formerly possessed by George Burrell'. from 1853 Landed Estates, Findmypast.ie 

[3] Langfield Parish, A Brief History by Rev. Derek Creighton with Mrs Georgina Millar, published November 1992 Thanks to Sheena McClure and Kathleen Caldwell for this.

[4] Marriage Settlement Deed dated  17 April 1826, marriage of Edward Sproule of Burrell’s Folly and Mary Porter, 17 April 1826, 814 252 348587 Registry of Deeds, Dublin, Familysearch.org 

[5]  Marriage of Hully/Helena Sproule,  "At Langfield Church, by the Rev. Archibald Hamilton, Thomas Simpson, Esq., Ballyard, county Armagh, to Helena, youngest daughter of the late Robert Sproule, Esq., Burtatolly, county Tyrone, and relict of Henry Maxwell, Esq., 98th Regiment."  Londonderry Sentenel 22 May 1841

[6] Thomas Irwin Simpson Will in PRONI Will Calendars, Date of death 23 November 1875 Date of Grant 16 december 1875

[7] Marriage of Hully Mathewson in The Belfast Newsletter, 15 Feb 1865 - "Mathewson and Mathewson - February 2 at Crew, Hugh Mathewson jun. of Montreal to Hully Mathewson, daughter of John Mathewson Esq., Clare House, Tyrone." Linen Hall Library; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Periodicals & Newspapers, Irish & Reference, Ancestry.com. Belfast, Northern Ireland, The Belfast Newsletter (Birth, Marriage and Death Notices), 1738-1925 [database on-line]. 

[8]  Death of Martha Sproule - "December 29, at Burrell's Folly, county Tyrone, Martha, eldest daughter of the late Robert Sproule, Esq., aged 92 years." Londonderry Sentinel, 11 Jan 1867.

[9]  Death of Sarah Sproule - "On the 25th ult., at Clare House, the residence of John Mathewson, Esq., Sarah, second daughter of the late Robert Sproule, Esq., of Burrelsfolly, in the 80th year of her age." Londonderry Sentinel, 8 Oct 1858.

[10 "A Mathewson Story". Bill Mathewson. 2010. unpublished.

[11] James Bell Caldwell, birth and death in Findagrave - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148355571/james-bell-caldwell Inscription on gravestone reads:

James B. CALDWELL
west Born in New York
Dec. 30, 1807
Died Mar. 15, 1887
Rosanna POTTER
Wife of
James B. CALDWELL
Born in Co. Tyrone Ireland
June 28, 1809
Died Jan. 4, 1892
Margaret Sproule
MATHEWSON
Mother of J. B. CALDWELL
Native of Tyrone Ireland
Died Feb. 6, 1854

Aged 67 yrs.