The Sons of Cornet Andrew – their Ages from the Deeds

 What do We Know?

What do we know for certain about the sons of Cornet Andrew Spruell? What are the actual facts that we learn in the 1719 deed and the two deeds in Nov 1731? (See below for Deeds)

From the 1719 Deed, we learnt:

1.       Cornet Andrew Spruell has 7 sons.

2.       These sons are all alive in 1719. Can we be certain that they are all alive? Yes, fairly certain. If we think of a conversation, Cornet Andrew may refer to his 5^th, 6^th and 7^th sons even if one of the seven has previously died. But this is a legal document. If one of the sons were dead at the time, then at a later stage a usurper could come and claim to be a missing son based on this deed. Legally, Cornet Andrew would have left himself exposed. The sons must all have been alive. But they don’t all have to have been in Ireland, of course.

3.       We learn the names of the 3 youngest sons and the 1719 deed gives us their order. Joseph is the 5^th son. Charles is the 6^th son and Oliver is the youngest, he is the 7^th son.

 

From the 1731 Deeds we learnt quite a lot about the ages of these sons:

Andrew, James, Joseph and Charles Sproule were all born before 1710. The two 1731 deeds are in the names of 4 of the sons, that is 4 of the sons are named as parties to one or other of the deeds. These are Andrew, James, Joseph and Charles. It is these four sons who legally now take over these lands in these leases. That tells us that in 1731 these four sons have all reached the age of majority, they are all over 21 years old.

Oliver, the youngest son, is only named as a ‘life’ on one lease, he is not a party to these leases. This suggests that in 1731, Oliver Sproule may not have reached his majority. Oliver is named as a life with Joseph Sproule who took over the Curraghamulkin Lands, which might mean that it was intended that Oliver would take over some of the Curraghamulkin lands when he is older – this bit is speculation.

We know that this is the order of the boys, Andrew, James, Joseph, Charles and Oliver. Andrew is the oldest boy named in these deeds.

The Missing Sons are also born before 1710 We know from the 1719 deed that the 2 missing sons are older than Joseph. (Joseph was named as the 5^th son).

So we know for sure that the 2 missing sons were also born before 1710. Cornet Andrew had 6 sons before 1710. This would suggest that the older boy / boys could well have been born before  1700.

We do not know where the missing boys fit in the first 4 sons, whether they are first, second etc.

We do know that the likelihood is that they were all alive in 1719, but the missing sons are not referred to in any way in the 1731 deeds. We don’t know where they are, or whether they are alive or not.

They could be somewhere else in Ireland, they may have died or they may be overseas.

There are possibilities – but nothing definite - to follow on this.

 

References:

• 1719 Deed - 41 289 25944 Registryof Deeds, Familysearch.org
• 1731 Deed 1 - 99 81 68007 Registryof Deeds, Familysearch.org
• 1731 Deed 2 - 94 533 67557 Registry ofDeeds Familysearch.org

Part 3 – The Big Breakthough in Sproule DNA, Using the Mutation

 The Cornet Andrew Mutation, BY105178, had been found in four members of the Sproule DNA Project. Two of those members helped us pin down the time that this mutation had occurred, and this was round the birth of Cornet Andrew Spreull in Tyrone, or very close to that time.

Tommy was another project member who had this Cornet Andrew Mutation.  Like many other people, he had been searching for his roots, and he had invested in Y-DNA testing – and thank goodness he did! Without Tommy and all of the other Sproule DNA project members, we could never have identified something like the Cornet Andrew mutation, or, indeed, the other Sproule family mutations that we have found.

Tommy’s ancestor was a man called James Sproule who lived in Addington, in Canada. James was born in 1788 and in the 1851 Census he is a farmer. Now looking for a James Sproule, who was born in Ireland at that time… well let’s just say that the words ‘needles’ and ‘haystacks’ leap to mind! That name occurs in almost every Sproule family.

But now we know that this James Sproule of Addington had the Cornet Andrew mutation, and we know that he is a close relative or descendant of Cornet Andrew Spreull himself.

We are looking in two areas. The sons of Cornet Andrew were left land in two deeds both dated 10 March 1719. In one deed, Cornet Andrew leaves the townland of Grennan to 3 of his sons, Andrew, James and Charles. The name James occurs everywhere in these three Grennan families - there are loads of them!  A few years ago some of us Sproule researchers worked together at trying to sort them out and it took a while! However, an awful lot of work has been done on the Grennan Sproules, and most, if not all of the James Sproules there  have been identified and accounted for.

The second place to look is the Curraghamulkin Sproules. In the second deed of 1719, Cornet Andrew left the the Curraghamulkin land to his son Joseph. The Curraghamulkin Sproules are  a much better bet to find our James Sproule. They have large families, and many of them ended up in Canada. There are definite gaps in these families.

So let’s look at the family of James Sproule of Addington to see if we can get any clues. In the 1851 census, James is living with, or next to, his son, Joseph. Joseph was born in Ireland in about 1827. This is looking good for the Curraghamulkins – the name Joseph is definitely a Curraghamulkin name.

James has another son, also called James, who is living in Frontenac, and he is an innkeeper. So this family had money. Son James was born in Ireland in 1813.  There seems to be one more son identified, William, and there is a Robert mentioned, but I didn’t find any proof of him. So we have Joseph, James and William, and possibly a Robert. Nothing greatly distinctive there, other than the Joseph.

However, when we look at the children of two of the sons, there is something quite dramatic – well for a Sproule it was dramatic.

Two  of the sons of James Sproule of Addington had named a son Frederick Henry Sproule. This may not seem strange names to the rest of you, but to Sproules at this time, both of these names, Frederick and Henry, were almost unheard of!

Frederick is rare enough, but the name Henry is very striking. There are no Henrys at all in the any of the Grennan Sproule families – none. In my own family tree, which includes all of these families, plus the Tullymoan and the Golan Sproules, there are only 6 Henry Sproules. It really occurs in only 2 families on my tree. The name Henry occurs in the Glenfin Sproules, and in the Curraghamulkin Sproules. So Curraghamulkin get a vote again for our James Sproule of Addington.

But that wasn’t the dramatic thing – it was the two names together, Frederick Henry. For I recognised that name straight away. John Sproule of Ardvarney West, who went with his family to live in Canada, had a son called Henry Frederick Sproule born on 08 Sep 1816.

John Sproule of Ardvarney West is a Curraghamulkin Sproule, the son of John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin. Furthermore, John  ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin married twice, as we now know, and he had a son Henry – the first Henry in any of these families. The name Henry almost certainly came in to the family with his second wife, Elizabeth Edwards.

Henry, the son of John of Curraghamulkin, was unmarried and had no children. We can speculate that this Henry was, in fact, a Henry Frederick, or a Frederick Henry, and that his nephew and /or great nephews were named for him.

Now we know that our James of Addington is right in there in the family of John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule. That is fairly definite. Can we get further? Only a bit.

John Sproule of Addington was born in 1788. Based on his age, he is almost certainly the son of one of the three older sons of John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule.

And there, in my database was the perfect James! I had him. James Sproule of Curraghamulkin, son of Andrew Sproule of Curraghamulkin who died in 1799. Andrew of Curraghamulkin definitely had a son James, no birth date but the time is right, and we don't know what happened to him.

But this was wrong. When I double checked my data for this James, I found him in my notes of a PRONI document dated 30 May 1835, and this James had died in Ireland before 1835. Sad - it was so perfect.

But from all of this, what we can be definite about is that Tommy’s James Sproule of Addington is a Curraghamulkin Sproule, and that he is in the family of John 'Jack Roe' of Curraghamulkin. We can also say that he is almost certainly the son of either Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill or Robert Sproule of Leganvy.

More research to do.

Part 1 – The Big Breakthough in Sproule DNA

Part 2 – The Big Breakthough in Sproule DNA, the Timeline

The Marriage of Edward Sproule of Glenvale and Ann Harpur of Aghadulla

This is the Marriage Settlement Deed, dated 22 Jul 1808

671 423 462077 Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org, transcribed by Kate Tammemagi

 A memorial of a deed bearing the date 22 Jul 1808 between John Sproule of Curraghamulkin in the parish of Longfield and Edward Sproule his son on the one part, John Harpur of Aghadulla in the parish of Dromore and Ann Harpur, his daughter on the second part and Thomas Sproule of Curraghamulkin and D Coulson of Omagh in the third part. Whereas a marriage is intended to be solemnized between the said Edward Sproule and the said Ann Harpur and the said John Sproule is now seized by virtue of a lease of lives enabled forever of a part of the lands of Ardvarny in the parish of Magherakilmoney in the County of Fermanagh consisting of 26 plantation acres Now this notice that the said John Sproule for the consideration of the intended marriage and of £300 sterling to be paid by the said John Harpur to the said Edward Sproule as a marriage fortune of his daughter the said Ann Harpur he the said John Sproule for the said considerations doth transfer convey make over release and confirm that part of the lands of Ardvarny with one full half of the timber growing on the premises to have and hold as did the said John Sproule and Daniel Wilson their heirs and assigns for the several uses and purposes therein mentioned that is to say in case there shall be issue of this intended marriage so premises are to descend to such issue in such manner as the law shall – and appoints and at the time of the death of said Ann Harpur the lands shall descend to the said Edward Sproule his heirs and assigns on the payment of £200 to the said John Harpur his heirs etc.

Witnessed by William Todd  of Aghadulla gent

• John Sproule is John 'Jack Roe' Sproule of Curraghamulkin
• Thomas Sproule of Curraghamulkin and the Coulson gentleman were the trustees who would manage the 'marriage portion' in a trust. Thomas Sproule is the brother of Edward of Glenvale.
• The date of the deed is usually the actual marriage day.
• Ardvarny is in Magheraculmoney, County Fermanagh

 

Who is Joseph Sproule of Castletown?

I have been intrigued by Joseph Sproule of Castletown for a long time. It's not just that he is one of those isolated Sproules that you can't fit in - there are loads of those. It's because he is obviously connected to a Sproule family that he can't really belong to. I'll explain.

I have just two pieces of information on this Joseph Sproule. One is a nice record of his death in the Strabane Morning Post in 1832:

“After a lingering illness, on Thursday last, Mr Joseph Sproule, of Castletown, deservedly regretted by his numerous acquaintance.”

May 15, 1832 p. 291 Strabane Morning Post

A newspaper entry at that time tells us that Joseph is a man of some means. I know the townland of Castletown, it is on the outskirts of Strabane, and there were a few Sproules living there at one time or another in the 1700s and early 1800s. For example, Jane, the widow of Robert Sproule the Nabob, lived there until her death in 1828. She was the daughter of John Sproull the Apothecary, and a couple of his other daughters also lived in Castletown at different times. But there was no Joseph Sproule in that family. 

Castletown, Co. Tyrone, from Townlands.ie

It is the second record for this Joseph of Castletown that is quite strange. It is from a newspaper of June 16, 1829 where Freeholders are listed, and there is our Joseph Sproull of Castletown, and he is registering a freehold in ‘Grannan’.

From Strabane Morning Post June 16, 1829

Now this is odd for two reasons. Firstly, we know the 'Grennan' Sproules very well, thanks to John Inch and Jack Elder. There is no Joseph anywhere in the Grennan Sproule families - none that we know of anyway.

Secondly, the Grennan land was leased, not freehold. It was leased by Cornet Andrew Spreull, and he left his Grennan land to his three sons, Andrew, James and Charles. Prior to 1853, there was very little freehold land in Grennan.

So this unknown Joseph Sproule of Castletown does not appear to be a Grennan Sproule, and yet he owns one of the only two pieces of freehold land in Grennan in 1829. Who is he?

Maybe we can get a clue by looking at that Grennan freehold land. Usually, this works well – follow the land.  In 1829 we see that one piece of freehold is owned by Charles Sproule of Grennan. Now if we look in Griffiths Valuation, we find that Charles of Grennan still owns that freehold land and it is 54 acres.   This helps us locate the only other bit of freehold land prior to 1853. It is a small 12 acre plot within that family of Grennan Sproules that Jack Elder in his family trees called ‘Another Grennan’ family. We  have pretty good records of this family in the late 1700s early 1800s – and there is no Joseph here.

I tried several times over the years to trace this Joseph Sproule of Castletown, without any luck.  But then in my recent trawl through the Sproule Deeds there was the answer, and, as is so often the case, the answer lay in the land. It was not the Grennan land that revealed the answer, it was the Castletown land.

It was in a deed dated 11 Oct 1832.  One Robert Sproule of Clover Hill, farmer, was selling the lease of a farm and land in Castletown in the parish of Urney, consisting of 70 acres. The deed tells us that this Castletown land was lately in the possession of Joseph Sproule, now deceased. Now we know a Joseph Sproule who was recently deceased in 1832,  it is our Joseph Sproule of Castletown who died in 10 May1832.

So now Robert Sproule of Clover Hill is selling the Castletown land that was formerly Joseph Sproule’s land, and now Joseph Sproule is dead.  Robert Sproule of Clover Hill is the eldest son of Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill, who is the eldest son of John ‘Jack Roe’ of Curraghamulkin. There is only one Joseph Sproule in the family of Robert of Clover Hill that this could possibly be. Robert Sproule is selling his father’s land in Castletown, the land of Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill, a Curraghamulkin Sproule. So now we know, Joseph Sproule of Castletown and Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill are one and the same.

This was quite normal in those days. It was the custom within these Plantation families that the father retires at some point, and he moves to a retirement house. A lot of these Sproule families did this. So Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill retired to Castletown. He would not have been farming the land, I’m sure. A sub-tenant would do that, or perhaps a family member.  Joseph was living out his retirement whilst his son Robert of Clover Hill, who later became Robert Sproule of Kirlish, took over his inheritance.

Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill was our Joseph Sproule who died on 10 May 1832,  

“After a lingering illness,…deservedly regretted by his numerous acquaintance.”

And why did Joseph Sproule, a Curraghamulkin Sproule, own that wee bit of Grennan freehold? Well we know, of course, that Cornet Andrew Spreull, who acquired the Grennan land, was the great grandfather of this Joseph of Clover Hill. However, Cornet Andrew left Grennan to other sons, not this family. Why did Joseph of Clover Hill own Grennan land, and why is it freehold? Actually, I have no idea. 

Deed where the Castletown land is sold 

11 Oct 1832 between Robert Sproule of Clover Hill farmer on the one part and Major John Semple of Strabane on the other part whereby Robert Sproule for the consideration there mentioned did make over to John Semple the farm land in Castletown lately in the possession of Joseph Sproule deceased containing 70 acres of land in the parish of Urney during the residue and remainder of the 21 years remaining on the lease witnessed by Samuel Colhoun of Strabane and Robert Mease of Strabane

Deed no. 888 424 587924 Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org, Transcribed by Kate Tammemagi

John Sproull the Apothecary / Thomas Verner Deeds

 Deed 1 

237 521 154134 Verner to Sproule 4 & 5 of June 1764, Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org, transcribed by Jaime Reid

A memorial of indented deeds of lease and release bearing date respectively the 4 & 5 of June 1764 between Thomas Verner of the city of Dublin esq of the one part and John Sproull of Strabane in the co of Tyrone Apothecary of the other part. Whereby the said Thomas Verner for the considerin therin mentioned doth grant bargain etc undto the said John Sproull & his heirs one full moity or equal half undivided of and in all that and those the town & lands of Dooish otherwise Dowish otherwise Dowess Coolavanagh commonly known by their subdenomination of Upper and Lower Dowish with the Mountain of Dowish, Upper and Lower Lisnaboyaghan & lots of Cool names situated lying in the Barony of Omagh & Co of Tyrone (I think freehold)

Witnessed by Richard Cowan and Thomas Gibson both of the city of Dublin Gents and this Memorial is signed and sealed by the said Thomas Verner and witnessed by the said Richard Cowan and Thomas Gibson

Deed 2 

297 585 196250 Verner to Sproull 5 May 1773,  Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org, transcribed by Jaime Reid

A memorial of deed poll or declaration of trust 5 May 1773 reciting that by indented deed of lease and release bearing the dates 4 and 5 June 1764 between Thomas Verner of city of Dublin Esq. John Sproule of Strabane in co. Tyrone Esq. Thomas Verner did grant, bargain and sell unto John Sproull for £1,300 one full moiety or equal half undivided of the towns and lands of Dooish, Coolavanagh, Lisnaboyaghan, Coolmacormick, Coolmacbryan and Coolemore in Barony of Omagh and co. Tyrone, and the said John Sproule by said deed poll or declaration of trust acknowledges that the said lands so purchased and conveyed were purchased by him in trust and for the proper use and benefit of Andrew Sproule of Grenan in the co. Tyrone gent. his heirs and assigns and that one moiety or full half of the said consideration money of £1,300 was paid by said Andrew Sproule, and said deed poll signed and executed by said John Sproule and witnessed Richard Cowan of Lifford in co. Donegal Esq. and Thomas Cowan of the city of Dublin atty at law. Mem signed by said John Sproule and witnessed by sd Thomas Cowan and Thomas Bond of Ballykellagnan in co. Tyrone aforesaid gent.

Deed 3 

John Sproull the Apocethary, Andrew Sproule of Grennan 15^th and 16^th April 1774, Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org, transcribed by Jaime Reid

Indented deed of lease and release 15^th and 16^th April 1774 btw 1) John Sproull of Strabane in co. Tyrone Esq. and 2) Andrew Sproull of Grennan in sd co. gent. John Sproull did grant bargain sell alien enfeoff remise release and confirm unto 2 the townlands poles and tates of land of the west half or division of Duwish o’wise Dowish, Dowess, now in tenure and occupation of Andrew Sproull and his undertenants bounded on the North by lands of Lackagh and part of Glenroan Glebe lands on the NE by Donaree on the SE by the east half or division of the sd lands of Dowish now in poss’n of sd John Sproull and his undertenants on the SW by Grennan on the W by Brishatallon in co. Fermanagh and on the NW by Glebe lands of Glenroan afsd, and situate in the parish of Longfield barony of Omagh and co. of Tyrone and containing 484 acres 1 rood 36 perches. To Andrew Sproull and his heirs and assigns forever yielding paying and performing unto the Rt. Hon. Olivia countess of Ross the sum of six pounds twelve shillings and five pence one moiety or full half of the chief rent receivers fees and duty out of the whole of lands of Dowish granted by Hugh Carmichael Esq. Counsellor at Law in sd deed of release named to sd John Sproull and also performing a full half of the services reserved and payable to the said Olivia countess of Ross and also paying the sum of three pounds nine pence yearly to the Edw. Murray dec’d (in sd deed of release also named during the continuance of the lease made to William Nethery of a part of the lands of Lisnaboyaghan in the co. Tyrone and in sd deed of release several other clauses and conv’t and the same is signed sealed executed by the sd John Sproull & Andrew Sproull and witnessed by Thomas Cowan and Hugh Auchinleck of the city of Dublin atty’s. Mem signed and sealed by sd Andrew Sproull and witnessed by sd Thomas Cowan and Hugh Auchinleck, 22 April 1774.

For an explanation of these deeds, see Part 2 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, Pieces of the Jigsaw

Part 6 – the Father of Elizabeth Edwards, 2nd wife of John Sproule of Curraghmulkin

John Inch has told us that Elizabeth, 2^nd wife of John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, was Elizabeth Edwards, niece of Hugh Edwards of Castlegore.  So, Elizabeth is a daughter of one of Hugh’s brothers.

Which Edwards brother is father to Elizabeth has to be a ‘best guess’ at this moment, until further research at PRONI can be done. However, there is a very good option for our ‘best guess’ sitting right there on the Edwards family tree.

This is a lovely tree of the Edwards Family which I am lucky to have been sent by an Edwards family historian. It was created by Bishop John Grainger and it is dated July 12 1881.

In it we see that Hugh Edwards of Castlegore, who died on 24 Oct 1737, had 3 brothers who survived to adulthood. These are the three possible fathers of Elizabeth:

In it we see that Hugh Edwards of Castlegore, who died on 24 Oct 1737, had 3 brothers who survived to adulthood. These are the three possible fathers of Elizabeth:

1.       Edward Edwards, 2^nd son, married one of the Hamiltons Abercorn line,  and his family are named here, none are called Elizabeth

2.       Cairns Edwards – had no family

3.       Thomas Edwards married Elizabeth Thwaites, daughter of William Thwaites – they had 2 daughters, one whom was Elizabeth, with no record of what happened to her

This leaves only two possibilities for Elizabeth wife of John of Curraghamulkin:

1.        Our Elizabeth could be a daughter of Edward Edwards or Carins Edwards that no-one knew about or, and this is of course much more likely -

2.       She is Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Edwards and Elizabeth Thwaites.

This is as yet unconfirmed, but it actually fits really well.

Part 1 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin - The Context

Part 2 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, Pieces of the Jigsaw

Part 3 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, the Record of his Death

Part 4 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin – and the Second Wife

Part 5 John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin – the Second Wife

The Children of John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin and his Two Wives

Part 3 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, the Record of his Death

 I have to explain before going any further that the name John Sproule of Curraghamulkin is not in the deeds. Well actually, it is in one deed that I found in PRONI, only there it is mis-transcribed as ‘Cornamulkin’.

As we know, people long ago here in Donegal and Tyrone were named for the place that they lived. This could be a townland, or an area within a townland or a house name. So John Sproule lived in Curraghamulkin at one time, and he was then called John Sproule of Curraghamulkin. Then he moved to Glenvale, where Edward Sproule his son later lived, this is also in Curraghamulkin. So he was known at some point as John Sproule of Glenvale.

 Then he moved to a place called Cornear, or Corrynear or Coranear. It was in this place that John Sproule died. So John Sproule of Curraghamulkin ended his life with the name John Sproule of Cornear. This is the name he goes by in the deeds.

So in a deed dated 25 Aug 1812 concerning the land of Ardnvarny in Fermanagh, we find him named as John Sproule of Cornear. The Ardvarny land gave rise to many deeds, and I will go in to these later. For now we know that John Sproule of Cornear is the man we know as John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin. The witness on this deed is, by the way, Henry Sproule of Cornear, who had the Cornear land after his father, John, died.  Henry is listed as a freeholder in Cornear.

Cornear, I have discovered, is an area in the townland of Cornavarrow, deep in Curraghamulkin Sproule country. We now know that John Sproule lived there, and  and this also gives us his date of death. There is a record of a will for  John Sproule of Cornear who died in 1814. This is our John Sproule of Curraghamulkin and Cornear. 

There is a listing for this will but the will itself does not exist.

 

Deed with John Sproule of ‘Cornamulkin’ is - Repository :  Public Record Office for Northern Ireland PRONI Reference :     D674/19. This deed concerns the Ardvarny land in Fermanagh.

Deed with John Sproule of Cornear - 654 131 449901 Nehmiah Edwards, Edward Sproule of Glenvale and John Sproule of Cornear, Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org. This deed also concerns Ardvarny.

Death of John Sproule of Cornear 1814 - Ireland, Diocesan and Prerogative Wills & Administrations Indexes, 1595-1858 https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/3460908

Cornavarrow townland - https://www.townlands.ie/tyrone/west-omagh/longfield-east/drumquin/cornavarrow/

Part 1 John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin - The Context

Part 2 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, Pieces of the Jigsaw.

Part 4 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin – and the Second Wife

John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, Part 1 - The Context

 John ‘Jack Roe’ Sprouleof Curraghamulkin is the name that Jack Elder put on his tree for this man. He was the son of Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin, who was the 5^th son of Cornet Andrew Spreull.

How do we know this?

Well, we have a deed dated March 10 1719 in which Cornet Andrew Spreull acquires large pieces of land in Dromore, County Tyrone, and also in Curraghamulkin. This deed also tells us that Cornet Andrew has 6 sons, and that the 5^th son is Joseph.

On Nov 10 1731, a deed confirms that the Curraghamulkin land is now owned by son Joseph Sproule. We do not know if Cornet Andrew is now dead, and that is why his sons are acquiring the land at this time. In those days it was the custom for a land owner to retire, and to hand the land over to his heirs. So Cornet Andrew might be dead in 1731, or he might not.

We do know at this point that Joseph has the Curraghamulkin land, over 700 acres, and that his son John Sproule went on to inherit this.

The name of this man is interesting – John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, as Elder tells us. That is not the name that I found in the deeds.

More on this later.

Part 2 - John ‘Jack Roe’ Sproule of Curraghamulkin, Pieces of the Jigsaw