Hugh Sproule of Grennan & Jack Elder’s “Another Grennan” Branch – Part I

By James Reid, a descendant of this Grennan family

 Introduction

Ever since I first saw Jack Elder’s tree of my Sproule family, with my great-grandmother, Lulu Isabel Sproule (1893-1980)[i] at the very bottom of the tree, I’ve been wondering how this branch fits into all the others. Elder named this, “Another Grennan Branch,” to distinguish it from some of the other more prominent, and wealthier, Sproule families who lived in Grennan.

At the very top, the patriarch of this family is shown clearly as Hugh Sproule, a man who would have been born in perhaps the late 1740s through late 1750s. However, no contemporary surviving records – parish records, gravestones, will index entries, deeds, newspaper notices – have yet been found that mention this Hugh Sproule of Grennan. Some of the later generations on this tree are a little mixed up, so could that be the case with the name of the patriarch too? Was Jack Elder correct, and could I find any evidence indicating that Hugh Sproule actually existed? 

We find Hugh’s family in the Tithe Applotment Books from the 1830s, but it is likely that Hugh had died by that time. Tracing family landholdings for periods before the Tithe Applotment Books is quite difficult and subject to the surviving records in a particular locality. In the absence of surviving parish records for the period, as is the case for our corner of county Tyrone, the main surviving records are either the Registry of Deeds (for all of Ireland) or the estate records of the local gentry (for a particular place), which may not survive. Estate records may contain deeds, lease records, tenant rolls and payment ledgers.

 Belmore Estate Papers

Grennan was one of many townlands in the estate of the Edwards of Castlegore family at the time the original leases were granted to the Sproules prior to the 1740s, but later that century the estate passed to the Lowry-Corry family of Castle Coole (who later became the Earls of Belmore), so that the Sproule rental payments were now being received by them. Luckily, the Belmore estate records survive, held at PRONI in Belfast. What information was there on Grennan?

The earliest relevant record in the Belmore Estate Papers, a tenant roll of all Belmore townlands for the half-year to November 1777, shows a single tenant (or head-tenant) in Grennan, Cha^s Sproule, paying £17/-/6 (or £34/1 per year). The next record, for the full-year to September 1787, also shows a single tenant, Cha^s Sproule, paying the same amount. We know from the Encumbered Estates Records (1853), in connection with the bankruptcy of the estate of Juliana, Countess of Belmore, that these Grennan leases originally granted by the Edwards of Castlegore family reset in 1796. That would seem to indicate that the lives on the original leases had expired, although it is possible that the Lowry-Corry family had instigated this, since it appears that they granted many leases starting that year. In any case, this reset is evident here in the next record, for 1808, which is quite different from the prior two records for 1777 and 1787.

Grennan Details in Belmore 

Rentals for this third period, the full year to May 1808, show a new level of detail. We have Cha^s Sproule Sr. paying £55 per year Irish currency (this would be Charles Sproule of the Holme), on the land simply known as “Grennan”. All the other holdings were on land called “Grennan Aughnabracken” (or “Aughnabrakan”)[ii] as follows: 

• Cha^s Sproule Jr. paying £45/10 (this would be Charles Sproule of Upper Grennan)
• Joseph Sproule paying £25/10/10 (this would be Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill and Castletown [iii], and 
• Hugh Sproule paying £29/13/4.[iv] 

There we have it – Hugh Sproule! This is the first confirmed historical record of Hugh Sproule of Grennan, from 1808. Jack Elder was correct!

Figure 1: The 1808 tenant roll of the Belmore Estate, showing five Grennan tennants. 

 Source: Belmore Estate Papers, PRONI (Belfast), reference D3007/B/3/4/1

We see references to Hugh Sproule again in the 1816 to 1825 period, in the 1825 to 1829 period, and in the 1829 to 1834 period. He and his holding is always listed fourth among the Sproules, and is always paying about 16% more rent than Joseph is paying.[v] Perhaps the order is indicative of moving westwards from the Holme farm in the east, ending at Hugh’s land in the west which abutted the townland of Dullaghan, sloping upwards from Grennan’s main road.

In the 1816 to 1825 entries, a small piece of paper is pinned to the ledger by John Spiller, the estate’s factor: “John Sproulle, Oliver Sproulle & James Sproulle”. This seems to be a clear indication that the successors to Hugh’s holding were these three presumed brothers, entirely consistent with the information we have from later records[vi]. Finally, we see only one payment from Hugh himself in the ledger, which was dated February 1824. But in the next ledger account, for 1825 to 1829, it seems apparent that he was not making any payments and the ledger title indicates, “Hugh Sproule’s Reps”, perhaps giving us an indication of the timing of his death.

The ledger accounts that accompany these entries show some interesting further detail. On the pages devoted to the bi-annual rental charges for the plot of land allocated to Hugh Sproule, we also have records of the myriad payments that satisfied those bi-annual charges. In the early entries, we see clearly that payments are varyingly made by Hugh, and by John, James and Oliver (without mention of surname), with some consistency of amount indicative of established sub-plots within Hugh’s holding. Some payments are also made by “Elkin” which we have determined is Hugh Elkin, known to have married Jane Sproule, believed to be Hugh’s daughter.

Figure 2: the 1816 to 1825 Grennan ledger
(left side) for Hugh Sproule in Belmore papers

Figure 3: The 1816 to 1825 Grennan Ledger
(right side)for Hugh Sproule in Belmore papers

 Source: Belmore Estate Papers, PRONI (Belfast), reference D3007/B/3/5/2.

Conclusion

The Belmore Estate Papers are an important source of information on tenancies for this part of Tyrone, with information that may not be preserved anywhere else. We learn some important detail on the Grennan Sproules, and can finally firmly put the elusive Hugh Sproule of Grennan on the map!

 References:

[i] Born in Oshawa, and later Mrs. Frederick William Evans of Walkerville, Ontario and Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.

[ii] This sub-townland name may be a compound Irish and English name meaning, “field of the bracken”.

[iii] See Who is Joseph Sproule of Castletown?, by Kate Tammemagi, on Sproule Genealogy Blog

[iv] The fifth plot was always held by members of the Grugan family, presumably Catholic.

[v] By the time of Tithe Applotment Books (1834), the land formerly held by Joseph appears to be occupied by the Brine or Breen family, presumably Catholic as well. 

[vi] See the Tithe Applotment Books (1834) and the Encumbered Estates Records (1853) for the townland of Grennan, parish of Dromore, county of Tyrone.

Other Posts of this Sproule Family

• The Family of James Sproule of Grennan and Ann Irwin/Irvine, by Jo McCoy

The Burning of the House of Charles Sproule of Grennan 1827

In late 1827, early 1828, an advertisement was placed in the local papers all over the northern part of Ireland, appearing in most of them, and it was repeated at quite some expense. Charles Sproule of Grennan was obviously very upset that the new house that he was having built in Tully for his son, Charles Jun. was burnt down. The people who did this seemed to be a political group, called the Rockites, and we learn that they had also fired shots at Charles Jun when he appeared.  

View over Tully today from the Mid Ulster Mail

Charles of Grennan placed a reward for information, and obviously many of his friends and neighbours contributed to this. The early advertisements contained a list of folks who contributed to that reward.

We know from ‘following the land’ that this gentleman is Charles Sproule of the Holme, and the son is Charles Sproule of Daisy Hill. When Charles of the Holme handed over his lands to his sons in 1836, the Tully property was one of those mentioned in the deed – see below.

 

The NewryCommercial Telegraph

January 1, 1828

                                                             REWARD

  WHEREAS, on Sunday the 12th day of August last, about the hour of Two o'Clock in the afternoon, a Mob of at least Fifty Persons, well supplied with fire-arms, and provided with crow-bars, and such instruments, came to the Townland of TULLY, in the Parish of LANGFIELD, and in the County of TYRONE, and levelled to the ground a Dwelling House thereon, the property of CHAS. SPROULE, sen., of GRANNAN, in the said County, the mason work of which had just been completed, and destroyed all the timber, &c. used in building the same ; and when CHARLES SPROULE, jun. son of the above, for whom the House was intended, appeared, several Shots were fired at him, by individuals of this party, and with difficulty, he succeeded in escaping. Now We, the undersigned, holding in abhorrence such atrocious villainy, and perfectly convinced that if the Perpetrators shall (in this case) be suffered to escape with impunity, there will neither be safety for the Persons or the Property of any Individuals, residing in the exposed situations in this part of the Country, who may happen to become obnoxious to any of the Party (we mean Rockites), of which these ruffians are supposed to be members, do hereby offer a reward of Three Hundred Pounds Sterling, Payable in proportion to the Sums respectively annexed to our Names, to any Person or Persons who shall, within Twelve Calendar Months from the date hereof, give Information against, and afterwards prosecute in Conviction, any considerable number of the Principals or Accessories engaged in this nefarious transaction ; And we also, in like manner, off the Sum of Fifty Pounds Sterling, for such private Information, within the same time, and with strictest secrecy observed, as shall lead to the Conviction of any considerable number as aforesaid.

  Application to be made to JAMES GALBRAITH, of JAMES WILSON, Esqrs. ; or to Chief Constable DUFF, all of Omagh; or to ANDREW SPROULE, of Grannan.

--Dated this 21st day of December, 1827.

  [Here follows the List of Subscribers, with the Sums opposite their respective names, amounting in all to the Sum of £785.]

   Dublin Castle, 21st Dec. 1827.

   The LORD LIEUTENANT for the better apprehending and bringing to Justice, the Persons concerned in the Outrage Committed on CHAS. SPROULE, jun. is pleased hereby to promise His Majesty's most gracious Pardon to any of them (except the Person who fired the Shots), who shall, within Six Months from the date hereof, discover his Accomplices, so as they, or any of them, be convicted.

  Given at His Majesty's Castle of Dublin, the 21st day of December, 1827.

   By His Excellency's Command,

   WM. LAMB.

 

Charles Sproule of Grennan handing over his estate to James and Charles 7 Dec 1836

1837 12 198 Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org, transcribed by Kate Tammemagi

A memorial of an indednted deed baring the date 7 Dec 1836 and made between Charles Sproule Sen. of Grennan in the Parish of Dromore and the County of Tyrone Gent. of the first part, James Sproule of Grennan Gent. his son to the said Charles Sproule in the second part, and Charles Sproule of Daisy Hill, in the parish of  Kilskeery Gent. also son of Charles Sproule of Grennan. Whereby the said Charles Sproule Sen for the consideration therein mentioned did grant etc. to the said James Sproule and Charles Sproule Jun in their actual possession ... share and share alike and to their respective heirs and assigns all that and those the one half of the townland of Glennan heretofore in the tenure and occupation of John McCloskey, James Sherry ,William McCraner and Thomas Loughran their indented and assigns excepting thereout that part formerly held by James Sherry and now in the possession of Thomas Graham and his undertennants situated and lying in the parish of Fintona, Barony of Omagh, Co Tyrone.

Also and those that quarter or fourth part of the town of Letteree held by James Owey and his undertennants, containing 70 acres or thereabouts, in Dromore, also the townlands of Skreen bounded in the east by the townland of Dunnamona, on the west by the townland of Glennan, on the north by Tallykeel, and on the south by the townland of Alla, all in Donnacavey (that’s not what is written) except Crawfords Hill containing 40 acres or thereabouts, to hold by James & Charles share & share alike.

The said Charles Sproule did sell etc. unto the said James Sproule in his actual possession etc. all that and those that part of Grennan formerly in the occupation of the said Charles Sproule sen in the parish of Dromore, and also the lands of Tully containing 700 acres situated in the parish of Lower Langfield. To hold the lands of Grennan for and during the natural lives of Andrew, son of said Charles, Archibald Osbourne and John Osbourne, first and second sons of Archibald Osbourne late of Derrynasseer deceased. To hold the lands of Tully for all the residue of the term and years unexpired of the lease. And which said deed further witnessed that the said Charles Sproule for the consideration therein mentioned did grant etc. onto the said James Sproule in his actual possession etc. all that and those an equal and undivided moity of all the estate right and interest in and to the lands of Skreen with the rents issues and profits thereof situated in the parish of Fintona, to hold etc. forever, to hold to the said James Sproule forever heirs etc.  and the deed also witnessed that the said James Sproule for the consideration therein did sell etc. unto Charles Sproule sen the and equal and undivided moity of the half of three fourths of the lands of Ardvarnok and Noughty situated in the Parish of Raphoe.

Witness Alexander Osbourne of the Royal Navy esq,  Archibald Osbourne of Dernaser, farmer, and John Osbourne of Mossfield, farmer, and Oliver Sproule of Curraghamulkin, farmer

 

Part 1 - The Intriguing Carncorran Sproules and their Y-DNA

I had been fascinated by the Carncorran Sproule family ever since I first learnt about them from Heather Arnott. We had something in common straight away. Her Carncorran Sproule line had folk who went from County Tyrone to Ohio, and more than that, there was a series of letters between the Ohio folk and their home in Carncorran. This was in the 1800s. I had the same in my line of Sproules, with the Bridgehill Sproules and Robert Sproule of Ohio.

The letters also fascinated me. Sproules in Ireland tended to fall loosely into two groups. There were the educated Sproules, who had children who were farmers, lawyers and doctors. Then there were the craftsmen and  ‘Labourer’ Sproules. These tended to be less well educated, and often could not read or write.

The Carncorran Sproules were definitely in the ‘educated’ group, based on these letters that were written in a time period from the 1840s. Because of this, I believed they ought to belong to one of the families that I was very familiar with in that area – the Grennan Sproules, the Curraghamulkin Sproules or the Golan Sproules. If they were, there ought to be some references in the letters that I would recognise, talk of relatives that I knew well.

Heather was stuck at Robert Sproule of Carncorran, who was born in 1782, and I poured over these Carncorran letters from the 1840s looking for something that would help her.  I was also looking for any mention of other Sproule families that I would recognise.  There were none. Nobody from any of the known families was mentioned as being a relative in any of the letters.

Now, was it possible that this family had originated from a known family, but further back than mid 1700s? According to Heather, the Carncorran Sproules seem to be related to the Castlebane Sproules, and probably to the Carrickadartans Sproules. These townlands are all grouped together in Ardstraw, with Golan Sproul to the west and Drumnabey to the north – this is Golan Sproule country!

Thomas Spreull of Golan lived in Golan Sproul in the first half of the 1700s, and he had land in Drumnabey, part of which eventually became Spamount. I am very familiar with the Golan Sproul/Spamount family line and I know for certain that the Carncorrans are definitely not related to them in the late 1700s or early 1800s. But there must have been other members of this family that we don’t know anything about. What of Thomas Spreull’s brothers? What happened to them?

As a Golan Sproule descendant myself, this piqued my interest in a big way. Could the Carncorran / Castlebane Sproules be descendants of the brothers of Thomas of Golan?

There are no records in existence that will link these families.  I knew this because the link, if it existed at all, would be way back in the early 1700s or before. There was really only one way to find out, and that was by Y-DNA.

Fate, in the form of Joe Sprowl and his Sproule DNA project, stepped in to help.

Note:

The Carncorran Sproules written by Heather Arnott 

Another Son of Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin?

 Jamie Reid had sent me this 1742 deed, which he had transcribed – thank you Jaime. (See below for the transcribed deed)  It  is the first one in which we  find Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin after he took possession of the Curraghamulkin land in 1731. 

It is dated 13 Feb 1746 and it is  between Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin and a lady called Ann Godfrey of Castletown in Co. Tyrone.  Joseph is leasing land from Ann Godfrey in a place called Dunwest, County Tyrone. Now I know that Joseph had sons so it was possible that he was buying land for one of the sons in this Dunwest place, so it was worth chasing.

But first I had to find it, and I no idea where Dunwest was.

The first place to look for anything of this kind is our County Tyrone genealogy sites – two excellent sites full of all sorts of information. A search for Dunwest on the cotyrone.com site revealed one page with two different entries for Dunwest. It was a page giving information on Langfield or Longfield.

One entry was from the 1840 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel Lewis, where he is describing Longfield West or Lower Langfield. The section on Dunwest says:

“In Dunwest are extensive beds of coal in 3 strata, all easy of access but though at every flood, large masses are detached by the river Poe and carried down the stream, no attempt has yet been made to work them; coal of very good quality is also found in other parts of the parish.”

This confirms that Dunwest is in West Longfield, but the description meant nothing to me. 

I looked up Dunwest in the Tithe Applotment Book for West Longfield, and there was indeed a ‘Dunwaist’ in this book, a townland of 1096 acres. That townland did not exist later in Griffiths Valuation, it’s not there. So it must have had a name change or have been integrated into another townland.

I couldn’t find the river Poe from that Topogrphical Dictionary entry at all. I contacted one of my good friends in that area, family historian Sheena McClure, and she had great insight into where this place could be from that description. She told me that the river Poe is now called Fairy Water and;

“The most westerly part of the Fairy Water but still in West Langfield is Drumgallan and on the old 1830s map shows quite a few buildings and wooded areas at the western part of this townland, but no label of Dunwest that I can see.”

Drumgallan, that was great news! Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin was leasing land in Drumgallan in 1742, and I had two unidentified Sproule records for Drumgallan!

One was the record of a death in Prerogative Wills & Administrations Indexes. It records a Thomas Sproule, Drumgallan, who died in 1808. According to Inch/Elder, Joseph of Curraghamulkin did indeed have a son called Thomas.

We have a second record of Drumgallan, another Thomas Sproule. This time Thomas appears in a list of subs for the Topographical Dictionary for 1837, and he is ‘Thomas Sproule esq. Drumgallan, Castlederg, Co. Tyrone. This is obviously a son of Thomas Sproule of Drumgallan who died in 1808. We also know that he is an ‘esq.’ telling us he is from an affluent family which again would fit with our Joseph of Curraghamulkin. Have we located the son of Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin, namely Thomas Sproule of Drumgallan?

Now life got a bit complicated when I saw the second description of ‘Dunwest’ on the very the same page in the cotyrone.com site which describes a completely different location! It is an advertisement for the sale of land in Dunwest which was placed in 1809, and it describes the location of this piece of Dunwest land quite precisely;

 “The lands are situated within 1 mile of Drumquin, 6 of Omagh, 7 of Newtown-Stewart, 9 Fintona, 6 of Dromore, and 8 of Lowtherstown.”

This is definitely nowhere near Drumgallan!  Two different locations, both in Longfield – where was my Dunwest?

After spending a lot of time trying to figure this out and going demented, I went to my friends on County Tyrone Ireland Genealogy group on Facebook and they came to the rescue!  I explained the evidence of Dunwest being in two different places both in Longfield. None of them knew or had heard of Dunwest. We discussed things, explored various possibilities, but I wasn’t happy that we had solved this. Then a short time later one of the group involved in the discussion,  Marie Maguire,  added another comment to my post;

‘Kate as I was driving along the Drumlegagh Road just outside of Omagh today I saw a minor road to the left called Dunwish Road. Could Dunwish townland be what you're looking for?’

God bless you Marie Maguire, Mary McCollum and the other folk on there who worked on this, problem solved! No, Dunwish was not the place I was looking for, but it eliminated the second place, the place in the advertisement  that described Dunwest as 1 mile from Drumquin. That wasn’t Dunwest, that was Dunwish.

So the Dunwest of the deed must be the one that has been integrated into Drumgallan, the ‘Dunwaist’ of the Tithe Applotment.

So now we have placed another person on our tree. Joseph Sproule of Curraghamukin leased land in Dunwest, which was in or near Drumgallan. Joseph had a son Thomas Sproule of Drumgallan who died in 1808. Thomas had a son also called Thomas Sproule of Drumgallan. What happened to him? Another question to be answered.

 

1746 Deed Joseph Sproull of Curraghamulkin leasing land in Dunwest,

149  134 99169 1746 Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org Transcribed by Jaime Reid

Godfrey to Spruell, red’d 13^th June 1751

Indenture of lease 13^th Feb. 1746 between Ann Godfrey of Castletown in Co. Tyrone widow on the 1^st part, and Joseph Sproull of Carrickamulkan in the said co. gent. on the other part. Whereby Ann Godfrey did demise grant let to farm let unto Joseph Sproull all that town or peell [?] of land commonly called Dunwest situate in co. Tyrone with all houses buildings and improvements erected and made thereon together with all woods and underwoods growing lying or being thereon with a liberty for the sd Joseph Sproull his heirs ex admons & assigns (during the sd term) to cut down fellraise sell and dispose of the same and every part thereof without impeachment of waste (all other royalties excepted) to hold unto the sd Joseph Sproull his h e a & a the sd demised premises from the 1^st day of November then last past for and during the term of twenty one years at the yearly rent of forty-seven pounds for the first ten years and for the remaining eleven years the yearly rent of forty-nine pounds with sixpence a pound receivers fees in case sd yearly rent should not be pd before the end of three calendar months after the days appointed in the said indenture for payment of the sd rents.

Executed in presence of Rev. Wm Hamilton of Strabane in co. Tyrone and Simon Rousse of Strabane afsd gent, and this mem duly executed by sd Joseph Sproull in presence of sd Simon Rousse and of Edward Morris of Strabane afsd, 27^th May 1751. Signed, Joseph Spruell.

This deed on Familysearch.org

Dunwest in County Tyrone Genealogy

Subs for A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837 

Tithe Applotment Book for West Longfield 1826, PRONI Fin_5_A_204A/B

Diocesan and Prerogative Wills & Administrations Indexes, 1595-1858 in Familysearch.org

Document with Information on Magheracrigan and Curraghamulkin Sons

 One of my most pleasurable experiences was rooting through old cardboard boxes in PRONI, the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, in Belfast. One of these was the box of  documents of James Sproule Crockett & Ors Solicitors, and it had some good information, including this one on the Magheracrigan and Curraghamulkin Sproules.

At that time you were not permitted to copy documents, so I have here my notes.

 In the box of deeds LR1/1605/1 of James Sproule Crockett & Ors, County Tyrone, Record Number NI 165, Box 1605.

This is document is dated 30 May 1835 and in it Andrew Sproule of Crigan (Magheracrigan)  in Ardstraw is handing over land land that had been left in the will of Andrew of Curraghamulkin to  Andrew Sproule junior, his son. It records the death of other sons, though no dates.

Andrew Sproule late of Grannan (this is Andrew of Curraghamulkin) deceased did by his last will and testament bearing the date 27 July 1797 bequeatherd the lands of …. Therein mentioned described as then in the possession of a Alexander King,  12 acres unto his son Joseph Sproul during the said Joseph Sproul and his wife Elizabeth’s lives and after their decease to the sons of said Joseph Sproul namely James and Andrew and in the case that the said persons should die without issue then the said lands to go to his two sons Charles Sproule and Andrew Sproul. And the said Andrew Sproul did further also by this said will bequeath unto his son James Sproule that part of the lands of Screen then in possession of the Widdow Hall  and now in the possession of Benjamen and Robert Hall and if James should die without issue the said lands were to go to his sons Charles and Andrew. Andrew of Crigan is now passing these lands to his son Andrew.

 So in this document we learn:

• Andrew Sproule of Curraghamulkin was also referred to as Andrew Sproule of Grennan
• Andrew of Curraghamulkin had a son Joseph , who is now dead in 1835
• Son Joseph had two sons James and Andrew who are now both dead with without issue
• Andrew of Curraghamulkin also had two sons Charles and Andrew Sproule (Andrew of Magheracrigan) We assume Charles is also now dead, though it doesn’t state that.
• Andrew of Curraghamulkin also had a son James, who is also dead without issue.
• Andrew Sproule of Curraghamulkin is passing all of the land left by these deaths to his son Andrew.

Note - John Sproule Crockett, the Solictor, was the son of John Clare Crockett and Martha Sproule of the Holm

The Marriage Settlement of Chadwallader Blayney and Mary Sproule 1792

 This is the marriage settlement of Chadwallader (Cadwallader) Blayney, son of Ambrose Blayney of Oughterard and then Dullaghan,  and Mary Sproule, daughter of John Sproule of Grennan 11 Ap 1792

 

478 553 311812 Registry of Deeds, Familysearch.org, transcribed by Kate Tammemagi

A memorial of a deed or articles of marriage dated 11 Ap 1792 between Ambrose Blaney of Oughterard in the Parish of Dromore Co Tyrone, farmer in the first part, John Sproule of Grennan in the said parish in the second part, also in the second part Chadwalader Blayney eldest son of the said Ambrose Blayney of the 3^rd part Mary Sproule, eldest daughter of the said John Sproule of the fourth part. Whereby for the consideration therein mentioned namely the said marriage it is agreed in case the said Mary Sproule should survive survive the said intended husband Chadwallader Blayney having issue then it shall and may be lawful for the said Mary Sproule to take and receive the tenants, leases and profits of all that part of the lands of Bodony situated in the parish of Dromore in the occupation of the said Chad. Blayney this understood to consist of about 40 acres of arable and green pasture with the bog … belonging and after her decease then to the heirs of Chad Blayney by her begotten. It was further agreed in case the said Mary Sproule should die within the space of 12 months from the date thereof without issue 50% of her fortune should be returned. 

And the said Ambrose Blanyey did by the said deed did grant make over unto his son the said Chad Blayney for the consideration therein mentioned all that part of the said lands of Bodoney all his title rights interest therein. And the said John Sproule in the said deed did grant and make over one yearly rent charge of thirteen pounds and thirteen shillings issuable and payable from out of the lands of Dullaghan in the Parish of Dromore to be payable until the sum of one hundred pounds sterling be paid the said Chad Blayney for the marriage portion of the said Mary Sproule. In case the said Mary Sproule should survive the said Chad. Blayney after the expiration of Cormac McNulty and Owen McNulty’s lease then she is only to receive the yearly sum of 10 pounds sterling during her life.

Witnessed James Buchanan of Omagh Gent, Charles Thompson and Charles Caldwell both of the parish of Dromore

James Buchanan and Charles Caldwell did the registration of the deed.

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

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

 We had discovered a mutation, BY105178, in the DNA of 4 of our Sproule DNA project members. Other project members did not have this mutation. The 4 who had the BY105178 mutation were:

1. Fred Jun.
2. Ben
3. George
4. Tommy

One of the folk who carried this mutation, Fred Jun, was descended from Charles Sproule of Upper Grennan. So at at some stage along that family line from Fred Jun back through his ancestors,  a male Sproule child had been born with a slight difference in his DNA, this BY105178 mutation. This child in turn passed this on to his own children. But when was that, when was this child born into this family? Fred Sproule was born on 28 May 1926, in Monaghan, Ireland, and we know that Fred was born with this mutation. That tells us straight away that the BY105178 mutation definitely arose in Ireland.

Now, if we look at another of the folk with this mutation, Ben, we can learn more. Ben’s family tree goes back to Nova Scotia, Canada in the mid 1700s, to a couple, Robert and Sarah Sproule. I always check these trees, and there seemed to be a dodgy assumption right there in this one. Robert and Sarah Sproule, living in Annapolis, Nova Scotia, were supposed to have been married in Middlesex County, Massachusetts! How can anyone possibly make the assumption that this is the same couple, that Robert and Sarah Sproule in Massachusetts are the same people as Robert and Sarah Sproule in Nova Scotia? But Robert and Sarah, bless their little cotton socks, were wise enough to call one of their children Elliot. We would find an Elliot Sproule wherever he went.

So Robert Sproule and Sarah Whitcomb were definitely married on 15 November 1745 in Massachusetts. Robert had been born in Ireland, so he must have been born around 1710ish. Robert Sproule of Nova Scotia was born with the BY105178 mutation. Now Robert was not the originator of the mutation, since he had left Ireland, and the mutation continued in Ireland. So Robert's father had to have had this mutation too. So now we know two things about this mutation:

1.       The mutation arose in Ireland

2.       It arose in Ireland before 1700 

Now, let’s look at the family of of Fred. If we go back from Fred Jun. to before the year 1700, we arrive at Cornet Andrew Spreull himself - 

We now have identified a mutation that will link a person to the family of Cornet Andrew Spreull who died in the 1730s.

If you have this mutation in your DNA, you are definitely a descendant of Cornet Andrew, or like Ben, you are a descendant of a very close relative - from his brother or perhaps one generation before Cornet Andrew. If you do not have this mutation, you are definitely not a descendant of Cornet Andrew or his immediate family.

For this reason, I have called this mutation,  the Cornet Andrew Mutation.

We know from a deed in 1719 that Cornet Andrew had at least 7 sons. We know 4 of these sons very well, they include:

• Andrew, James and Charles Sproule, who inherited the Grennan Lands
• Joseph Sproule, who inherited the Curraghamulkin land

Now we have a tool, the Cornet Andrew Mutation, to identify these Cornet Andrew descendants.

This is where life got very exciting - for when I looked at Tommy, another one of the four people who carried the Cornet Andrew Mutation, we were able to achieve so much more.

Part 1 – The Big Breakthough in Sproule DNA

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

Part 1 – The Big Breakthough in Sproule DNA

 Like all of us, I get a great thrill when there is a big breakthrough on my family tree. But lately, I have been getting an even bigger buzz from helping Sproules from all over the world to get closer to their breakthough. So it was with huge pleasure that I wrote this email to Tommy, a man who had searched for many, many years to find his family’s home...

This was the reason I had become involved with Joe Sprowl on the Sproule DNA Project - this was the dream. Could we find a specific piece of Sproule DNA that would allow us link a Sproule somewhere in the world to a specific family? Something like a  magic DNA diagnostic tool to help those Sproules who had no clue where their family came from. And here it was.

The Sproule DNA Project had been going for some years. The late Philip Sprowl had begun working with Sproule folk, collecting their Y-DNA, and this mantle was then taken up by Joe Sprowl. Joe does trojan work canvassing project members, analysing the data and managing the whole project.

Joe had made contact with me, and we quickly realised that we shared the same aims. Y-DNA is the male DNA, passed down from male to male, from Sproule to Sproule. But there are problems in making use of this, even with this special Y-DNA, and I had very strong feelings on the topic. I found that Joe shared the same views.

It is terrific to have this Y-DNA. However, DNA on its own is useless. We need a database to compare it to. It’s like the police having the DNA of a suspect, but then find they have no database to turn to to search for him/her. 

Only, in our case in genealogy, the situation is much worse! We have databases online, family trees. The problem is that a lot of the early information, the pre-1850 information, on many of these trees is just plain wrong.  It is like the police having a database that is full of forgeries, mistakes, or incorrect information. We needed validated exemplars of family trees to compare the DNA to.

So we worked together, Joe on the DNA side and me working on the different family trees.

And then came that special day. Joe emailed me:

“Kate we have found a mutation BY105178, it is shared by just 4 project members. The others do not have it. What does this mean? They are:

1. Fred Jun
2. Ben
3. George
4. Tommy

When I looked at that first name, Fred Jun, I knew we were in business – we had found something special. I was very familiar with Fred Jun's family tree, it is the family tree of Fred Sproule who passed away in 1998. Fred was a meticulous Sproule researcher, he loved facts and figures, and he double checked everything. His tree was totally validated. 

We had a single, specific mutation for someone who had a validated Sproule family tree - and not just any Sproule family tree. 

This is the family that Elder made famous - this is the Grennan Sproules.

(The names of our project members have been changed in this post)

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

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

 

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

The Golan Sproules

This is the family tree of the Golan Spoules of County Tyrone, Ireland.This tree was originally named 'the Nabob Spoules' by Jack Elder. The tree is now updated, with verified information from Deeds and Wills. I have managed to get further back than Elder, so I have changed the family name to reflect the first Sproules of this line in  County Tyrone, Ireland - the Golan Sproules. For more information on this see The Ancestors of The Nabob – the Golan Sproules.

1.       THOMAS SPREULL OF GOLAN was born about 1680 in Golan, south-east of Castlederg in County Tyrone, the son of Samuel Sproule of Golan. Thomas of Golan first appears on a deed in 1718 witnessing a deed for Cornet Andrew Spreull.  He is called a distiller in some documents and as owner of a bleachgreen in others. Thomas Spreull died in 1761 in Golan and left a will naming  his wife MARY and his three sons, James, Samuel and John the Apocethary. The land in Golan and Drumnabeigh had already passed to Oliver, the son of Thomas'  oldest son Robert. The name is spelt ‘Spreull’ on most of the early documents. It is worth noting that the name is spelt 'Sproull' on most of the documents from the 1800s.

Thomas Sproule of Golan and Mary had the following children:

1.1   ROBERT SPREULL OF GOLAN was born about 1700 in Golan, Ardstraw, Tyrone, Ireland. He died in 1734. He married MARTHA EDWARDS, born about 1707, the daughter of Robert Edwards of Kilcroagh and Martha La Vie  and they had at least two children:

1.1.1  OLIVER SPROULE OF GOLAN was born in 1723 in Ardstraw, Tyrone, Northern Ireland. In a deed dated 1764 Oliver is confirmed as owning all of the land owned by his grandfather, Thomas of Golan. Oliver’s son Andrew Sproule moved to Spamount and he is the father of all the Spamount Sproules.

1.1.1.1  ANDREW SPROULE OF SPAMOUNT was born on 26 Apr 1741 in Golan, Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland.  He married twice, first to REBECCA who was born about 1741 and she died on 06 Jan 1776. He then married ISABELLA on 07 Jan 1781. Isabella was born in 1742 and she died on 17 Jul 1812 in Spamount, Ardstraw, County Tyrone (Aged 70).  Andrew of Spamount died on 21 Feb 1798 in Dublin. 

1.1.1.2    ROBERT SPROULE OF GOLAN was born in 1747.

1.1.1.3    SARAH SPROULE OF SPAMOUNT was born in 1747. She married a man named WETHERALL.

1.1.1.4    JAMES SPROULE was born in 1752.

1.1.1.5    UNKNOWN SPROULE She married HUGH KELSO. He was born in Ardstraw, Tyrone, Ireland. He died in 1797 in Ardstraw, Tyrone, Ireland.

1.1.2  MARTHA SPROULE OF GOLAN was born about 1730 in Golan. She married JOHN "JACK ROE" SPROULE of Curraghamulkin, son of  of Joseph Sproule and grandson of Cornet Andrew Spreull.

1.1.2.1    JOSEPH SPROULE OF CLOVER HILL, Kirlish, County Tyrone was born about 1750 and he married REBECCA PORTER, born in 1756 in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland. Joseph was the father of the Kirlish Sproules. His wife Rebecca died in Kirlish 1850 in, County Tryone, Ireland (Aged 94).

1.1.2.2    MARTHA SPROULE OF CURRAGHAMULKIN was born about 15 May 1766. She married George Sproule, son of Charles Sproule of Upper Grennan and Ann Wallace, on 28 Jan 1787. George was born on 17 Nov 1755. They moved to Crillan, County Fermanagh, and they are the ancestors of this line of the family. George  died on 03 May 1838 in Crillan and Martha Sproule died on 22 Apr 1844 in Crillan.

1.1.2.3    ANNE SPROULE OF CURRAGHAMULKIN was born in 1771 and she married three husbands. First she married LEONARD INCH in 1792. He was born in 1770 and died in 1798 in Ederney Bridge, Fermanagh, Irleland. (Buried at Drumquin). She next married WILLIAM JOHNSTON in 1800 and he died in 1801. Anne married JOHN HOLMES on 15 Oct 1802 in St. Marys Church, Ardess, Magheraculmoney. Both John Holmes and his wife Anne Sproule died in 1813.

1.1.2.4    ELIZABETH "BETTY" SPROULE OF CURRAGHAMULKIN was born in 1775 and she married her first cousin, NEHEMIAH EDWARDS of Kilcroagh House, Castlederg, Co. Tyrone who was born in 1761.  Nehemiah died on 05 Apr 1846 in Kilcroagh House (Aged 85). Betty Sproule died on 24 Nov 1859 in Kilcroagh House, Castlederg, Co. Tyrone  aged 84.

1.1.2.5    ROBERT SPROULE OF CURRAGHAMULKIN  married PEGGY WALLACE

1.1.2.6    THOMAS SPROULE OF CURRAGHMULKIN married MARY MCCOLGAN.

1.1.2.7    CAPTAIN EDWARD SPROULE OF GLENVALE DROMORE married ANN HARPER OF AGHADULLA.

1.1.2.8    HENRY SPROULE OF CURRAGHAMULKIN.

1.1.2.9    JOHN SPROULE OF ADVARNEY WEST died between 1851-1855 in Ormstown, Quebec, Canada. He married   a woman called Ann.

1.1.2.10 ANDREW SPROULE OF CURRAGHAMULKIN owned the lands of Curraghmulkin, Screen and Cooel. He died in 1799 and his wife’s name was Ann.  His son Andrew Sproule bought the Magheracrigan land and he became Andrew of Magheracrigan that is on the Elder Tree.

1.2   JAMES SPROULE OF NEWTONSTEWART was born in Golan. I know very little of James as yet. He is mentioned in leases of 1733, also in the Will of Thomas of Golan of 1761, and later when the inherritance was divided up between the three brothers Samuel, John and James. He had a son Edward who is mentioned in a 1733 deed, and is later identified in a deed as having died in America. 

1.3   JOHN SPROULE THE APOTHECARY was born on 11 Oct 1713 in Golan, Ardstraw, County Tyrone. He studied as an Apocethary in Strabane and then went into the Army. He came back to Strabane to his own Apocethary practice. He also was a Provost in Strabane. He died on 21 May 1787. He married REBECCA CUNNINGHAM. She was born on 21 Mar 1720 and died on 06 Nov 1772 in Strabane.

1.3.1   JOHN  SPROULE was born on 09 Jul 1747. He was also a doctor and went to live in Beresford Street, and then Marlborough Street in Dublin where he died in Nov 1814. He married ELIZABETH BOSQUET in 1773 who came from Enniskillen.

1.3.2    JANE SPROULE was born in 1748. She died on 22 Jul 1828 in Castletown, Tyrone (Aged 80). She married her first cousin Robert Sproule the Nabob, son of Samuel Sproule of Coolnacruniagh on 27 Sep 1785.  They had one child, Rebecca Jane born on the 16 December 1790  in India, who died in 1810 in Exeter, England.

1.3.3    MARY SPROULE was born on 16 Oct 1749. Mary did not marry. She lived in Exeter with her sister Jane and Robert the Nabob  when they came home from India.

1.3.4    REBECCA SPROULE was born in 1750 in Strabane, Tyrone, Ireland. She married John Barclay, son of Robert Barclay of Strabane, on 18 Jan 1774. He was born about 1750 in Strabane, Tyrone.

1.3.5    JAMES SPROULE MD was doctor in Omagh. He was born on 28 Aug 1754 in Strabane and he died in 1791. His wife was Ann and she died on 15 Mar 1858 in Omagh (Aged 76).  Based on information on deeds, I believe that they had no children.

1.3.6    CATHERINE SPROULE was born in 1756 in Strabane, Tyrone, Ireland. She married Frederick Porter of Strabane on 16 May 1785. He was born about 1750 .

1.4   SAMUEL SPROULE OF COOLNACRUNIAGH was born about 1711 in Golan, south-east of Castlederg, County Tyrone. He died about 1779 in Coolnacrunaght.

1.4.1   THOMAS SPROULE OF BRIDGEHILL was born about 1730 in Coolnacrunaght, he lived in the nearby Bridgehill farm.

1.4.1.1. SARAH SPROULE (SALLY) was born about 1762 in Bridgehill, Ardstraw, Tyrone. She lived at Bridgehill in her later years.

1.4.1.2.  SAMUEL SPROULE OF BRIDGEHILL was born in 1759 in Bridgehill, Ardstraw, Tyrone and he married FRANCIS LEITCH (Fanny). They  raised 9 children at Bridgehill . Samuel of Bridgehill died on 05 Nov 1845.

1.4.1.3.  JAMES SPROULE OF INCHANEY was born in Bridgehill. He married Sarah in 1800 (From 1802 Robert of Ohio Letter). They had 11 children including Robert Sproule who built the Kildevin House in County Meath. Sarah died on 08 Feb 1840. James of Inchaney died in 1827 in Inchaney, Tyrone, Ireland.

1.4.1.4.  FRANCIS SPROULE was born in 1755 in Bridgehill, Ardstraw, Tyrone.. She married  a man named JAMES HAYS. He was born in 1746 in Tyrone and he had a child called Isabella by his first marriage. They emigrated to America, to  South Carolina.  Here James Hays  died in 1799 in Newberry, South Carolina, USA leaving Francis Sproule with three children, Isabella, James Jn and Sara Hays. Isabella Hays married Robert Sproule, brother of her step-mother Francis. Francis Sproule died in 1811 in Union Township, Ohio, USA.

1.4.1.5.  ROBERT SPROULE OF OHIO was born on 13 Feb 1775 in Bridgehill, Tyrone, Ireland. He married Isabella Hays, daughter of James Hays, on 04 Apr 1801 in Newberry County, South Carolina. Isabella Hays was born on 25 Nov 1782 in Tyrone, Ireland. Robert and Isabella had 12 children and I believe they have the most descendants of all of the Sproules. Isabella died on 02 Apr 1868 in Miami County, Ohio (Age: 76). Robert of Ohio died on 14 Jun 1858 in Elizabeth, Miami, Ohio, United States (Age at Death: 83).

1.4.1.6.  ANN (NANCY)  KERR was born about 1760 in Bridgehill, County Tyrone. She married  JAMES KERR who was born about 1755 in Tyrone. They went to live in Pitsburg, Pennsylvania where he died on 14 Jul 1845 (Age: 90). Nancy Sproule died in May 1850 in Pitsburg.

1.4.2     ROBERT SPROULE THE NABOB was born in 1746 in Coolnacrunaght, Ardstraw, Tyrone, Ireland. He married his first cousin Jane Sproule, daughter of his uncle John Sproule the Apothecary  on 27 Sep 1785.  Robert was a surgeon in India and he came back in 1785 to marry Jane. They then travelled back to India. Eventually they retired to a mansion in Exeter in England, but Robert the Nabob died shortly afterwards in 1807. They had one daughter, Rebecca Jane, who was born in India. Rebecca died in 1810 in Exeter. Jane Sproule sold up and came back to Ireland where she lived in Castletown, County Tyrone. She died there on 22 Jul 1828, aged 80.

1.4.3   ELIZABETH SPROULE was born in Coolnacrunaght, Ardstraw, Tyrone, Ireland. She married a  MISTER RANKIN.

1.4.4     MARTHA SPROULE OF COOLNACRUNIAGH was born about 1750 in Coolnacrunaght, Ardstraw, Tyrone, Ireland. She married ANDREW SPROULE OF TULLYMOAN, son of William Sproule. He was born about 1740 in Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone. Martha died in 1820 in Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone, Ireland. They had five sons.

1.4.4.1.  ROBERT SPROULE OF STRABANE was born about 1773 in Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone. He died in Jun 1834 in Strabane. He married ANN LECKY who was born in Altamullen, Tyrone, Ireland. They had two children, Robert of Jamaica and Mulvin, and Matila who married William Gwynne of Strabane.

1.4.4.2.  SAMUEL SPROULE MD was born in 1774 in Tullymoan, Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He was a surgeon in the East India Company and was based in Bombay, India. He married Eliza Walker, daughter of William Walker, on 10 Nov 1818 in Bowland (Samuel 42 , Eliza 22).  Eliza  was born in 1796 and she died on 06 Nov 1827 in Cheltenham.  (Aged 31). Samuel died on 30 May 1829 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom (Aged 53). They had one daughter Ann Jane Sproule who married Sir John Rivett-Carnac.

1.4.4.3.  WILLIAM SPROULE was born about 1785 in Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone, Ireland. He died about 1827 in Glentimon,  County Tyrone. He married  ANN KNOX who was born in Glentimon, Tyrone, Ireland. She died on 12 Jun 1847 in Glentimon, Tyrone. They had one son Samuel Sproule who became a surgeon in the East India Company. Samuel married his first cousin Margaret Madden Sproule, daughter of James Sproule of Mellmount..

1.4.4.4.  ANDREW SPROULE OF TULLYMOAN was born about 1770 in Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone, Ireland. He died after 1840. He married  REBECCA MACKEY who was born in 1774 in Lismontigley, Raphoe, Donegal. She died on 01 Feb 1858 in Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone, Ireland (Aged 84).  Andrew and Rebecca had eight children.

1.4.4.5.  JAMES SPROULE OF MELLMOUNT was born in Tullymoan, Urney, County Tyrone, Ireland.  He lived most of his adult live as a planter in Jamaica. He met his lady,  CHARLOTTE E TAYLOR, daughter of Simon Taylor, in Jamaica and they had nine children. Charlotte was born in 1795 in Jamaica and she died on 17 Apr 1849 in their home in Mellmount, Strabane, Tyrone. James died on 01 Aug 1840 in a shipwreck in Jamaica.

1.4.5   ANNE SPROULE was born about 1740  and she married Oliver Lecky of Melmount, Strabane, County Tyrone  who was born about 1740.

1.4.5.1  ISABELLA LECKY was born in Mellmount, Strabane, Co Tyrone. She died in Apr 1837 in Sandy Mills, Donegal, Ireland. She married James Mathewson, son of James Mathewson of Ardstraw and Martha Sproule Curraghamulkin, about 1799. He was born in 1770 in Kirlish, Drumquin, County Tryone, Ireland. He died on 08 Oct 1836 in Donegal.

1.4.5.2  OLIVER LECKY was born about 1771 in Mellmount, Strabane, Co Tyrone. He died on 06 Feb 1840. He married  REBECCA PORTER.

1.4.5.3    NANCY LECKY was born in Mellmount, Strabane, Co Tyrone. She died in 1856. She married a man called KILPATRICK.

1.4.5.4    JANE LECKY was born in Mellmount, Strabane, Co Tyrone. She married  RICHARD HENDERSON. He was born in Laught, Donegal. He died on 22 Apr 1835.

1.4.6    REBECCA SPROULE  was born in 1745. She married  ROBERT SPROULE OF UPPER GRENNAN. He was born about 1735 in Grennan, Dromore, Tyrone. Rebecca died there in 1815.  

1.4.6.1    ROBERT SPROULE OF UPPER GRENNAN was born in Grennan, Dromore, Tyrone, Ireland (Died unmarried).

1.4.6.2    JOHN SPROULE OF UPPER GRENNAN was born in Grennan, Dromore, Tyrone, Ireland (Died unmarried).

1.4.6.3    SAMUEL SPROULE was born in Grennan, Dromore, Tyrone, Ireland.

1.4.6.4    CHARLES SPROULE OF UPPER GRENNAN was born in Grennan, Dromore, Tyrone, Ireland (Died unmarried).

1.4.6.5   JENNIE SPROULE OF UPPER GRENNAN was born in Grennan, Dromore, Tyrone, Ireland. She married  WALLACE BRATTON.

1.4.7    JANE SPROULE was born in Coolnacrunaght, Ardstraw, Tyrone, Ireland. She married a MR LECKY.

1.4.8     MARY SPROULE was born in Coolnacrunaght, Ardstraw, Tyrone, Ireland. She married a  MR JOHNSTON.

1.5   REBECCA SPROULE was born in Golan, Ardstraw, Tyrone, Ireland. She married  ROBERT PORTER the postman of Strabane who died in 1772. Their daughter Rebecca (1756-1850) married Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill.

1.6   DAUGHTER SPROULE  married WILLIAM JOHNSTON OF COOLNACRUNIAGH. This Sproule daughter must have died young as her two sons were in the care of their Grandfather Thomas Spreull of Golan – this is mentioned in the 1733 deed. The sons were named as Arthur Johnston and James Johnston

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