The Family History of Eliza Walker, Wife of Samuel Sproule (1776-1829)

1. ALEXANDER WALKER was born in 1667 in Fife, Scotland. He died in 1723 in Fife, Scotland. He married Jean Jeone Fleeman Fleming in 1696 in St Fort, Fife, Scotland,. She was born on 6 Mar 1659 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Alexander Walker and Jean Jeone Fleeman Fleming's son was Alexander Walker.

2. ALEXANDER WALKER was born on 02 Oct 1697 in Forgan, Fifeshire, Scotland. He died on 01 Mar 1744. He married Isabel Miller in 1723 in Edinburgh Canongate, Midlothian, Scotland. She was born in 1699 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. She died in Warrington, Lancashire, England. Their son was Alexander William Walker.

3. ALEXANDER WILLIAM WALKER was born in 1724 in Forgan, Fifeshire, Scotland. He died on 14 Nov 1771 in Collessie, Fife, Scotland. This Alexander was a Church of Scotland Minister He married Margaret MANDERSTON on 31 Oct 1762 in Scotland. She was born in 1736 in Forgan, Fifeshire, Scotland. She died on 02 Dec 1810 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Alexander William Walker and Margaret had 5 children, two of whom were Alexander and William.

4.1. ALEXANDER WALKER OF BOWLAND was born on 12 May 1764 in Collessie, Fife, Scotland. He was the eldest of five children, and the father died when Alexander was just seven years old. He was in the military of the East India Company in America, Bombay and St Helena. Alexander married Barbara Montgomery on 12 Jul 1811.  They had two children. He had retired in 1812 to Bowland, near Edinburgh, but was coaxed back in 1822 to become Governor of St Helena, still owned by the East India Company. This was 2 years after Napoleon’s death there. Brigadier General Alexander Walker  died on 05 Mar 1831 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

4.2.WILLIAM WALKER was born on 15 Jan 1768. He died in 1799.  William Walker died when his child ELIZA WALKER was just a baby.

        

5. ELIZA WALKER was born in 1796. Eliza was a baby when her father William Walker died. She was in the care of her uncle Alexander Walker when she married Samuel Sproule MD, son of Andrew Sproule of Tullymoan and Matilda Sproule on 10 Nov 1818 in Bowland, near Edinburgh, Scotland. They lived in Bombay, where Dr Samuel Sproule was Head of the Medical Board. He died on 30 May 1829 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,  England. Eliza Walker died on 6 Nov 1827 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England (Aged 31). Samuel Sproule and Eliza Walker had the one surviving child Ann Jane Sproule.

      

6. ANN JANE SPROULE was born on 29 Sep 1819 in Bombay, India. She died on 02 Sep 1876 in Elham, Kent, United Kingdom (Age at Death: 56). She married SIR JOHN RIVETT-CARNAC, son of James Rivett-Carnac (1st Baronet) and Anna Maria Richardes on 19 Dec 1840 in Bombay, India. John Rivett-Carnac was born in 1818 in Baroda, Madhya Pradesh, India. He died on 11 Aug 1883 in Farleigh House, Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent, England. Sir John and Ann Jane had four children, one of whom was James Henry Sproule.

           

7. JAMES HENRY SPROULE RIVETT-CARNAC, the 3rd Baronet, was born in Sep 1846 in Lymington, Hampshire, United Kingdom. He died in 1909 in Kensington, London, United Kingdom (Age at Death: 62). He married MARY JEANNIE HENDERSON. She was born about 1856 in Bodmin, Cornwall, England. She died on 05 Apr 1927 in 24 Chester Terrace, Eaton Square, Westminster. James Henry Sproule Rivett-Carnac and Mary Jeannie Henderson's son was Claud James. 

8. CLAUD JAMES RIVETT-CARNAC, 4th Baronet, was born in March 1878 in Kensington, London, United Kingdom. Claud disappeared in 1909 when he should have inherited his father’s title. There was much searching and there were newspaper advertisements asking him to come forward. He was officially declared dead in 1924.

The Reputed Son of Samuel Sproule

This is the sad tale of my cousin Harry Robertson Sproule, a story that I still find thought provoking.

My great, great uncle Samuel Sproule, former First Member of the Medical Board of Bombay, had spent some thirty years working in India.  When he left India in 1827 he settled in Cheltenham, England, home of so many retired East India Company folk that it became known as the city of Colonels and Curries!

Samuel brought with him from India his wife Eliza, their only child Ann Jane and his ‘reputed son’ Harry Robertson Sproule. Harry was his illegitimate son and Samuel had taken him into his family.

Eurasian Children in the East India Company Culture

Samuel Sproule was from Ireland where, in the 1800s, having a child out of wedlock was condemned.  However, in the East India Company culture of that time, it seems that having a ‘reputed child’ with a local Indian lady was quite acceptable. In its early days, the East India Company actively encouraged Anglo-Indian liaisons and marriages. Surprisingly, inter-racial marriages were socially acceptable to the British, and the offspring, official or otherwise, were favoured by them. I wonder if the same could be said of the Indian culture? How did they view these relationships?

This was the situation when Samuel arrived in Bombay, India, in 1797. So it is likely, but of course not certain, that Harry’s mother was an Indian lady.

Harry Robertson Sproule

Harry Robertson Sproule was born on 25^th September 1809, nine years before Samuel married his wife Eliza. Harry was baptised in Bombay five years later, on 30^th December 1814 and Samuel Sproule is the only parent named on the baptism certificate.  

Bhema, the Indian Lady in the Will

Samuel wrote the first draft of his will on 30^th of January 1828 when Harry was 18 years old.  He tells us that Harry is now living with him in Cheltenham in England. There is no mention of Harry’s mother in the will. However, Samuel does leave a bequest to an Indian lady:

“The sum of twenty five rupees a month to be paid during her life to a Native Woman of India by name Bhema now residing at Surat”

Samuel does not give an address for Bhema, a way to contact her regarding her inheritance. We can assume, therefore, that either the Executors knew this lady or that Bhema was indeed Harry’s mother, and he would know how to find her. Bhema was living in Surat near Bombay, and Samuel was stationed there for some time. Was Bhema Harry's mother, or could she have been simply his long-term housekeeper?

Harry’s Inheritance

In his will, Samuel leaves a trust fund of £2000 to his 'reputed son' Harry Robertson Sproule. This is a large sum of money, and Harry is to receive the interest on this annually during his lifetime. Samuel leaves the bulk of the estate to his only legitimate child, Ann Jane, who was only nine years old at the time of the will. However, he states that should Ann Jane die before the age of 21 or without issue, his estate is to go to the eldest son of Harry Robertson Sproule.

Samuel obviously sees Harry as his second heir. However, why leave the money to Harry’s son and not to Harry himself? Harry was just 18 years old at this time. It could well be that Samuel was already having doubts about his reputed son Harry.

The Codicils to the Will

During the period between the first writing of the will in 1828 and his death in 1829, Samuel added two codicils to his will that concerned Harry. In the first of these, there are indications that poor Harry is not excelling in the English education system:

“I intended my reputed son Harry Robertson Sproule to be brought up to Law or Medicine, but this plan for several reasons I have relinquished. Therefore I think some retail kind of business such as a grocer or being a clerk in an office would be best suited for him.”

He requests that his son should go to a Commercial School for a year, and he provides money so that Harry can then set up his own business. Samuel cautions his Executors that they must approve the said business, otherwise Harry is not to be given the money. He adds a brief insight into his view of his son:

“The youth I believe possesses upright moral principles but is at present free from any serious habit.”

The End of the Story

Sadly, we know the end of this story, for it is in the last codicil to Samuel's will. Here Samuel tells us that his reputed son Harry Robertson Sproule has died, and that his legacy should go to Ann Jane.

Harry died on the 22^nd July 1828 in Brighton, England. He was still just 19 years old and he had died a long way from his home in India.

Those were strange times indeed. Did Samuel do the right thing by Harry? Would he have been better off at home in India? I am sure that Samuel himself pondered on these questions. But what was definitely important to Samuel was to recognise that Harry was a member of his family, a member of our family. Harry Robertson Sproule was my first cousin three times removed, and he belongs in our family tree.

Thanks to FIBIS, Families in British India Society,  for their super database which helped in tracing this story.

The story of Samuel is in Samuel Sproule, President of the Medical Board of Bombay

The Family History - Sproule / Rivett-Carnacs

1. THOMAS RIVETT was son of Thomas Rivett of Derby, England. He died in 1763. He married Anna Maria Sibley who was born in 1730 and died in 1807. Their son was James Rivett.

2. JAMES RIVETT was born in 1759. He died on 16 Jul 1802 in Bombay, India. He married Henrietta Fisher on 4th February 1783 in Bombay, India. She was born in 1765 and she died on 23 Dec 1837 in London, England.

James Rivett took the name Carnac by royal charter on 8th May 1801. His sister Elizabeth had married John Carnac, a General in the East India Company, and he had died without issue. James Rivett was his heir and took the name Carnac. Their son was James Rivett-Carnac

3. JAMES RIVETT-CARNAC (Baronet) was born in 1784 in Bombay, India. He married Anna Maria Richardes, who was born in 1790, and died in 1860. James Rivett-Carnac died on 4 Feb 1846 in Milford, Hampshire, England. His son was John Rivett-Carnac.

4. SIR JOHN RIVETT-CARNAC BART was born in 1818 in Baroda, Madhya Pradesh, India. He died on 11 Aug 1883 in Farleigh House, Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent, England. He married ANN JANE SPROULE, daughter of Samuel Sproule MD and Eliza Walker on 19 Dec 1840 in Bombay, India. Ann Jane Sproule was born on 29 Sep 1819 in Bombay, India. She died on 02 Sep 1876 in Elham, Kent, United Kingdom (Age at Death: 56).

SAMUEL SPROULE’S parents were both Sproules. His father was Andrew Sproule of Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone Ireland. His mother was Matilda Sproule, granddaughter of Thomas Sproule of Golan, County Tyrone, and daughter of Thomas Sproule. 

Ann Jane and John Rivett-Carnac's son was James Henry Sproule

5. JAMES HENRY SPROULE RIVETT-CARNAC, the 3rd Baronet, was born in Sep 1846 in Lymington, Hampshire, United Kingdom. He died in 1909 in Kensington, London, United Kingdom (Age at Death: 62). He married Mary Jeannie Henderson who was born about 1856 in Bodmin, Cornwall, England. She died on 05 Apr 1927 in 24 Chester Terrace, Eaton Square, Westminster. Their son was Claud James Rivett-Carnac.

6. CLAUD JAMES RIVETT-CARNAC, 4th Baronet, was born in March 1878 in Kensington, London, United Kingdom. Claud disappeared in 1908 prior to his father’s death.  There was much searching and there were newspaper advertisements asking him to come forward. He was officially declared dead in 1924, and his death date was designated as 31st December 1909.

For the Sproule / Rivett-Carnac story see Sir James Henry Sproule Rivett-Carnac

 and Samuel Sproule, President of the Medical Board of Bombay

Samuel Sproule, President of the Medical Board of Bombay

It is a long, long way from the green fields of the Sproule farm in County Tyrone, Ireland to the hot, humid streets of Bombay. In 1797, when the 21 year old Samuel Sproule of Tullymoan first made the journey, it would have taken over three months in a rolling sailing ship to travel the four and half thousand miles from Liverpool to Bombay.

The young Dr Samuel Sproule, recently qualified Member of the Royal College of Physicians, was a cadet in the service of the East India Company. He was going to take up his first position in the Bombay Medical Service.¹  Samuel Sproule, brother of my great, great grandfather Andrew Sproule of Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone, was to finish his career at the very top of the medical world there, as President of the Medical Board of Bombay.²

Samuel's Early Career

The Honourable East India Company began as a co-operative of powerful merchants who eventually controlled all of the trade on the Indian sub-continent. It was a private Company that grew to become ruler of India with its own armies and with control of all administrative functions. The Directors of the East India Company were the elite, and they became rich and powerful men.

It was into this world that young Dr Samuel Sproule arrived as an assistant Surgeon in 1797. In June 1803, he was promoted to Surgeon³, and in 1808 he distinguished himself by driving a major campaign to test small pox vaccination in the area of Kattywar, in Gujarat.⁴  The expedition to Kattywar was led by a Major Alexander Walker, from Scotland,  who was to become one of Samuel’s life-long friends.⁵

Mixing with the Elite

Despite having come from a modest farming background in County Tyrone, Samuel Sproule seems to have survived well in the social world of the East India Company Raj. He was a member of the Literary Society of Bombay and of the Asiatic Society.⁶  His friend Alexander Walker had become an influential General and another friend, Major James Rivett-Carnac, became a Director of the East India Company.

General Alexander Walker retired in 1812 and went back to live on his recently purchased estate called Bowland, near Edinburgh in Scotland.⁷  Alexander Walker had in his charge Eliza Walker, daughter of his late brother William. Samuel Sproule travelled from Bombay to marry Eliza, the niece of his friend, at the Bowland Estate on 10^th November 1818 ⁸.  The newly married couple returned immediately to live in Bombay. Eliza and Samuel had several children but only one survived, Ann Jane Sproule born in 1819 in Surat, India.

The Summit of Dr Sproule's Career

By 1821 Samuel was  on the Medical Board of Bombay, and that year was appointed ‘Third Member’.¹⁰  The East India Company had divided India into three ‘Presidencies’, and Bombay was one of these. So effectively, the Medical Board of Bombay controlled one third of British India.

Samuel Sproule became first Member of the Medical Board of Bombay on November 11^th 1826, with the title of President¹¹. He was at the top of the tree, he had achieved the most senior medical position in the Presidency of Bombay.

Unfortunately, Samuel’s career at the top was a short one. Within a year of his appointment, in November 1827, his wife Eliza died at just 31 years old.¹²  She was at their home in Cheltenham in England at the time of her death and I can only speculate that they had left for England due to her illness. It was in Cheltenham just 18 months later that Samuel himself died on 30th May 1829, aged 53. ¹³

The Legacy of Samuel Sproule

The only daughter of Samuel and Eliza, Ann Jane, went on to live in Bombay. Samuel’s good friend James Rivett-Carnac became Chairman of the East India Company and then Governor of Bombay.  Ann Jane Sproule married his son, Sir John Rivett-Carnac on 19^th December 1840. ¹⁴  

The grandson of Dr Samuel Sproule was the heir, Sir James Henry Sproule Rivett-Carnac, the 3rd Baronet.

References:

¹  Joined Bombay Medical Service, 10^th March 1797, British Library, Bombay Med Svce; bond & covs 30 Mar 1797; O/1/4 ff.4-7

²  The Oriental Herald and Colonial Review [ed. by J.S. Buckingham].‎ - Page 429 James Silk Buckingham - 1826

³  The Asiatic Annual Register, For the Year 1804 By Lawrence Dundas Campbell p.166

⁴  S. Sproule, Surgeon, Report Relative to the First Introduction of Vaccination in Kattywar, 22 February, 1808.

⁵ The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register, Volume 7, p206 – Major Alexander Walker in Kattywar

⁶  Glimpses of old Bombay and Western India, with other papers (1900),   by Douglas, James, 1826-1904,  reference Asiatic Society in August, 1823

    Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay. - London, Longman 1819-23 p.553

⁷  The East India Company Man: Brigadier-General Alexander Walker by Ken Hall 

⁸  The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, Volume 82, July to Dec 1818

⁹  Bombay Almanac    1820 Birth date 29 Sep 1819 . FIBIS, Families in British India Society

¹⁰  The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany, Volume 11‎ - Page 192 Asia – 1821

¹¹  The Oriental Herald and Colonial Review [ed. by J.S. Buckingham].‎ - Page 429 James Silk Buckingham – 1826

¹²  Gentleman's Magazine (Bombay) Date Nov 1827

¹³  Gentleman's Magazine (Bombay) Date June 1829

¹⁴  The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 97, Part 2; Volume 142, p 475

Other Chapters:

• Sir James Henry Sproule Rivett-Carnac
• Family history of the Rivett-Carnacs
• Family history of Eliza Walker