The Unfortunate Robert Evan Sproule – Returns to his Family Tree

The tale of Robert Evan Sproule is indeed a sad one. It has been much talked about and written about over the years, and therefore I will only give a brief summary here. My interest, as always, is in the family history of Robert Evan Sproule and there is an important job now to be done.

He came from Maine, as we know from that first article that I had seen. I was familiar with the Sproule families in Maine, as I have traced them when I was chasing a family for the Sproule DNA Project. I have a tree on Ancestry of Maine Sproules and I thought it would be easy, therefore, to find the family of Robert Evan Sproule. He wasn’t there. He wasn’t on any tree that I could find.

And yet, when I contacted the right person who sent me extensive files of amazing research, I got a bit of a shock. His family was known all along. Everyone knew who he was, or they should have. There were plenty of clues were there in the newspaper coverage.

 Robert Evan Sproule ought to have been on his family tree. Robert Evan Sproule ought to have been on nearly all of the Maine Sproule family trees.  He is a descendant of the very first Sproule in Maine. He is from one of the chief families. And yet he is not there. We have to get him back where he belongs.

Kootenay Lake, British Colombia

Poor Robert really was an unfortunate man. Hehad found a promising area on the Kootenay Lake, in British Colombia in 1881, and in 1882 he staked a claim, planning to mine there.  He filled in all the right paperwork, so it was an official claim. He was mining for minerals and he called his mine the Blue Bell mine.

At the end of that year Robert Sproule ran into financial problems, it was costing a lot to get the mine going. And there was also competition. An affluent consortium was financing three other miners. One of these miners was Thomas Hamill, the victim in the murder case. Hamill had the area on the other side of the lake from Robert Sproule. Robert left the mine at the end of 1882 taking an official leave-of-absence, and Thomas Hamill stepped in and illegally ‘jumped the claim’.

There followed court cases, with our poor Robert Evan Sproule trying to get his claim back. Thomas Hamill was well financed, and even though the first verdict went to Sproule, Hamill was able to appeal to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

In 1884 Robert Sproule finally got his mine back, but he was far from out of the woods. He had gained partners to invest in the mine and they also helped with the court costs. One of these partners defaulted on his payments, and the Court seized his share in the Blue Bell mine. They auctioned it off to the highest bidder who turned out to be the infamous claim-jumper Thomas Hamill.

Map showing Blue Bell Mine
and Kootenay Lake

During 1885 Robert Evan Sproule found new partners and worked the mine.

On 1 June 1885, Thomas Hamill came to the Blue Bell mine. Whatever happened, we don’t really know, but Robert Sproule allegedly shot Hamill in the abdomen.

Thomas Hammill, the Victim

Robert Sproule was arrested and charged with the murder. The court case and subsequent appeals gave rise to much fuss in both Canada and the US. There even seem to have been protests in the streets. The case against Robert had hinged on his hatred of Hamill, and on two eye witness testimonies. Apparently, these two witnesses withdrew their statements at the appeal stage, and claimed they were paid to give their testimony.

But, as we know, Robert Evan Sproule was hanged on 29 October 1886.

Now, which of the Sproule families of Maine is our Robert Evan Sproule from?

Notes

• Special thanks to Greg Nesteroff and his excellent blog THE KÜTNE READER Adventures in Kootenaiana. Thank you so much for all your superb work on this story.

• Thomas Hammill, the Victim pic from The Blue Bell Grave, by Greg Nesteroff, 28 Sep 2018 
• Map showing Blue Bell Mine and Kootenay Lake is from "Dr. W. A. Hendryx and Robert E. Sproule" by Nancy Foster Renk posted on North Idaho Past/Present, January 26, 2016

• Sproule's Saga Continues the Vancouver Voyager, Karen McGill, 5 July 2013

For more on this story:

The Hanging of Robert Evan Sproule

The Family Tree of Robert Evan Sproule

The Hanging of Robert Evan Sproule

This article was on Trove and I thought it to be a brief, if tragic, story. It had been reprinted in the 'Riverine Grazier' of 27 January 1888 and it came originally from the New York Sun.  I was surprised to find that there is quite a bit more published about the story of Robert Evan Sproule and about his efforts to defend himself. 

Robert Evan Sproule was prosecuted in Victoria, British Colombia, Canada for the murder of Thomas Hammill and he was hanged there on 29 October 1886.

The following is the original article as it appeared in the 'Riverine Grazier' 27 January 1888. (The victim in the case is a man called Thomas Hammill, not Thomas Cannell as was printed here.)

THE FATE OF ROBERT E. SPROUL

When on the Gallows he Heard that A Fortune  Had Fallen To Him

"This story was made public for the first time in the Supreme Court of New Haven lately. Lawyer William L. Bennett went before Judge Andrews and made a motion for the sale of certain personal property belonging to the estate of Robert Sproul, who was hanged about two years ago in British Columbia, for having murdered a miner named Thomas Cannell. Sproule was born and reared on a farm in Kennebec Country, Maine. In 1854 he became tired of the drudgery, of farm life, and in company with several friends, went West to try his fortune in mining. Sproul learnt that a company had been in Connecticut for mining in Kootenay, British Columbia, and he purchased an interest in their claim, and as a representative of the Connecticut corporation went to Kootenai. He built a cabin, which he shared with Thomas Cannell.

On New Year's Day, 1885, Cannell was found dead with his body riddled with bullets. Sproul was arrested on suspicion, and was tried in Victoria. Having no money, he appealed to the corporation in Connecticut which he represented, and procured a loan of 1800 dollars, for which he gave his stock in the mine as security. After a long trial he was convicted. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of Canada, on the ground that additional evidence had been found, and Justice Henney granted a motion for a writ of habeas corpus. The Sheriff who had the keeping of Sproul refused to deliver up his charge, and in August, 1886, the same attorney obtained from Justice Henney a discharge for Sproul.

At this stage of the proceedings Sproul found himself in the singular position of being, a free man in theory, but in fact a prisoner of the Canadian Government. Having been unsuccessful in his own effort to procure Sproul's release, his attorney appealed to the United States Government, and an application for Sproul's release was made.

About that time the Attorney General of Canada, recognising the peculiar position in which Sproul was placed, appeared before a Justice of the Supreme Court and had the decision of Justice Henny reversed and Sproul's imprisonment, made legal. He at the same time had a date set for the hanging.

A large part of the evidence which had  convicted Sproul was given  by Charles Wolfe, who, when he heard that the date for hanging Sproul had been determined upon, came forward and swore that all the evidence which he had given was utterly and absolutely false. In addition to this, a witness was found who made a sworn aftidavit that he was in Sproul'a company at the time the murder was committed, and that they ware fifteen miles from the scene of the tragedy. A motion for a new trial was refused, as was an appeal for a respite.

On the day set for the hanging Sproul was led to the gallows, and from the platform addressed the assembled crowd, affirming his innocence. The noose was adjusted to the neck, and the hangman was about to spring the trap when someone in the crowd caught sight a horseman riding at full speed towards the scene. He waved a paper in his hand, and it was supposed he bora a respite.

On dashing up to the scaffold he handed Sproul a message, which he scanned eagerly, and falling backward, said:

“Too late!  Justice claims the blood of an innocent man.”

A moment later the trap was sprung, and Robert E. Sproul was launched into eternity. The paper which had been handed him bore the information that by the death of a relative in Boston he had become heir to 100,000 dollars.— N.Y.Sun."

Publication Title: Riverine Grazier,  Source: Trove [National Library of Australia]

Country/State of Publication: NSW, Australia

UPDATE:

It appears that it is not only the name of the victim in this case that is wrong - so too is the whole story of the horseman dashing up! 

According to the Victoria Daily Colonist of Wednesday 23 November 1887, the man who wrote this story;

 'must either be a lunatic or a fool. The story of the horseman "dashing up to the scaffold" is only another instance of the wonderful imaginative power of the ordinary American reporter.'

Victoria Daily Colonist is the local paper of the area where Robert Evan Sproule was hanged, and they covered all of the trial and aftermath of this story.

This article was in the information recieved from Greg Nesteroff of the THE KÜTNEREADER, thanks Greg.

For more on this story:

The Unfortunate Robert Evan Sproule

 The Family Tree of Robert Evan Sproule

Robert Auchmuty Sproule and the Jamaican Plate

Many years ago,  I got a phone call  from a gentleman in a big auctioneer company in London. He had emailed me first, getting my contact from my Sproule Genealogy Blog, and asked if he could he call.  When he did, he asked me if I would have any photographs of the plate that Robert Sproule of St Georges, Jamaica had commissioned from his cousin Robert Sproule in Canada?

St George, Grenada Plate from the series

What? What plate? What cousin in Canada? Robert Sproule of Jamaica I knew well, and he didn’t have a cousin Robert Sproule in Canada. What was this about?

The auctioneer explained that there was a series of decorative dinner plates from the early 1800s from the West Indes.  He had only one plate in the series and it was of Grenada, I think – nothing to do with either of these Robert Sproules. It seems that another one of this same series of plates was of Robert Sproule’s plantation in St Georges, Jamaica. He believed it was commissioned by Robert of Jamaica himself. Another plate in the series was a rather 'out-of-place' scene from Canada, and apparently it had been copied from an engraving by a Robert Sproule in Canada. So the auctioneer had put two and two together and he had guessed that these two Roberts were cousins.

I never found a picture of this plate of Robert Sproule’s plantation, and judging from my internet search today, neither has anyone else – though there are people still looking for this series!

Robert Sproule of Jamaica and Mulvin is an interesting character and I will write about him shortly, but before I get to his story, a little on that Canadian ‘cousin’ Robert Sproule.

He wasn’t hard to find, as he is quite famous. He is Robert Auchmuty Sproule and he is an Athlone Sproule. His father wasThomas Ernst Sproule born about 1765ish, who was a great grandson of Captain John Sproule of Athlone. His mother was Marianne Plummer Ardesoif.  Her uncle was the Rt Hon Sir Samuel Auchmutty, who left Thomas Ernst and Marianne a legacy – hence the middle name of our Robert Auchmutty Sproule.

Robert Aughmuty Sproule

Thomas Ernst Sproule was in the Navy and retired as a Commander, and it was shortly after this that they received the legacy from Sir Samuel Auchmutty. Using this, the family headed to Canada.

Robert Auchmuty Sproule was the second son born in 1799, and he was educated in Trinity College Dublin. When he arrived in Canada, he took an advertisement in the Montreal Herald announcing himself as a miniaturist who had studied with ‘the best masters in London and Dublin’.

In November 1829 he brought out six views of Montreal which were later made into engravings on copperplate.

Montreal from St. Helen's Island.
Robert Auchmuty Sproule 1830,

Quebec from Point Levi Robert Aughmuty Sproule 1832

Although he was a proflific painter,  Robert Sproule seemed to have difficulty making a living, as most artists do, and he moved around from place to place. He married Jane Hopper in Montreal, and they had two sons and four daughters. He died 1845 in March Township, Upper Canada.

• Family history of Robert Auchmutty - Eight Centuries of the Spreul & Sproule Families, James Richard Sproule

• Biography of Robert Auchmuty Sproule from Dictionary of Canadian Biography

• Information on the plates - CARIBBEANVIEWS SERIES (MAKER UNKNOWN) 

1849 The Sproules are Rioting!

 This is another riot, but this time it is the Sproules who are doing the rioting! It appeared in the Tyrone Constitution of Friday 4 May 1849. 

Riot and Assault at Dromore

At the petty sessions held in this town, on Wednesday last, James Sproule, Anne Sproule, William Graham, William Smith, James McAleer, Francis Anthony, Archibald Alexander, George Coulter, Cormack Scallon, John Sproule and Hugh Sproule were called to answer the complaint of Hugh Bradley and Phil McCaghery for a riot and assault at Dromore on 26th April last by  presenting a gun and bayonet at complainants and obstructing them as bailiffs in the discharge of their duty. The three first mentioned parties James Sproule, Anne Sproule, and William Graham were also called on the complaint of Mr John Martin for assault at the same time and place while superintending the execution of a judge’s fiat on the part of Mr John Donnelly merchant of this town.

It appeared from the evidence of several witnesses that Mr Donnelly had some time previously obtained a judge’s fiat for the some of £10 against Mr James Sproule of Dromore and that Mr Martin on the part of Mr Donnelly went to have the fiat executed accompanied by the bailiffs mentioned. Mr Sproule on hearing that the fiat was about to be executed got into a hay loft, the ladder approaching to which was then taken away, and armed himself with several weapons, guns, bayonets, blunderbusses etc to resist any attempt that might be made for his arrest. William Graham, Francis Anthony, Archibald Alexander and some other parties also got into the loft with Sproule to protect him from arrest. Mr Martin and the bailiffs got into the yard through the house but finding the parties so well prepared to resist the seizure and being unwilling to risk the consequences of a conflict with such a number of armed men did not persist in executing the order.

They were given bail to appear for trial in the next session.

British Newspaper Archive, Tyrone Constitution - Friday 04 May 1849

Note:

The Sproule family here are the Grennan family that Jack Elder called 'Another Grennan' Family. The John Sproule mentioned is John (1785- 1858) who married Elizabeth Wallace (1784-1868) He is the father of this family and James and Hugh are his children. 

 Ann Sproule could be either the daughter or daughter-in-law of John. John Sproule had a daughter Ann. In addition, his son James Sproule, mentioned in the riot, was married to Ann Irwin of Magheracross, Fermanagh at this time. James Sproule went to New Zealand after Ann's death in 1852, and he died there in 1884.

The son Hugh Sproule was unmarried at this time. He married Mary Crozier in 1854 and they went to live in Jamberoo, New South Wales, Australia. Hugh died there in 1904.

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

 

Who is Robert Sproule of Innisfil? The Lennox Connection 2

 I had made a link between the family of John Lennox in Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario and Noble Sproule. Both had lived near the small town of Kilrea in Londonderry, and both families had gone to Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario at about the same time. But there the similarity ended.

When I looked at the children of Noble Sproule that we know of, the name 'Noble' appears everywhere – in the families of the children of Noble Sproule and it continues in the families of the grandchildren. The name Noble is nowhere in the family of Robert Sproule of Innisfil who married Jane Lenox, nor is it anywhere in the family of Margaret Sproule who married John Lennox.

Equally, the death certificate of Robert Sproule is very definite, his mother’s name was Rebecca Scott. The wife of Noble Sproule was a lady called Isabella McIlroy and she was there with him in Canada.  Robert and Margaret Sproule are not the children of Noble Sproule.

Back to the drawing board, what other clues do we have? Well, Robert called his first son John – that could well be a clue. Robert married Jane Lennox, daughter of John Lennox and Margaret Humphries Galloway. We know that there were other members of this Lennox family who married Sproules, so I went looking for them to see if we could find more clues.  

One that appears in the family trees is a William from Tecumseth. Tecumseth is in Simcoe, but it’s quite a way from Innisfil. William married a lady called Margaret Ann Lennox, and she is also the daughter of John Lennox and Margaret Humphries Galloway. William Sproule had only one child, for William died the year after the child’s birth. The child was called John Calvin Sproule. Another John as a first son– that’s 2 now, we have the eldest sons of Robert Sproule and William Sproule.

I looked in the 1861 census for any other Sproules of the right age. Noble Sproule himself is there in Innisfil, and he is 80 years old. Other Sproules there are a William in Innisfil who is an Innkeeper, but he is not married to a Lennox. The only other male Sproule in Innisfil is Thomas Sproule. Thomas married Mary Ann Lennox – we have the 4^th Lennox/Sproule marriage.

Thomas Sproule’s eldest son is called John William Sproule! Three John Sproules as eldest children of Robert, William and Thomas Sproule.

Three Sproule boys, all married to Lennoxs, all with their eldest child called John. You might say, could the eldest child not be called after the mother’s father, who was called John Lennox? That might happen once, for a special reason. It would not happen 3 times! These 3 Sproule boys are almost certainly the sons of a man named John Sproule.

If Robert’s death cert is correct, the wife of this John Sproule is Rebecca Scott.

I was still focussed on the Kilrea connection. To me it was too much of a coincidence. Kilrea is such a small place, and somehow it seemed logical that folks from the same small town would stick together when in Canada, so far from home. I decided to look again at Kilrea. Could there be Scott families there who would fit the bill for Rebecca Scott, mother of our Robert Sproule?

Well, that didn’t really help. Scott is a very common name, and there are loads of them all over the county of Londonderry in the 1831 census, and plenty near to Kilrea – they are all over Tyrone too. But there was something else there in that Londonderry census of 1831 that I had missed the first time, something I had overlooked in my excitement over Noble Sproule. There was another Sproule in Kilrea! 

There was a Jonathon Sproule, in Claragh, Kilrea. Claragh is on the edge of the town of Kilrea. Jonathon is there in 1831, but Jonathon Sproule is not there in Griffiths Valuation. There are 7 people in his family in 1831.

Townland of Claragh on the edge of the town of Kilrea

Now we have 3 Sproule males in Innisfil all married to children of John Lennox and Margaret Humphries Galloway who came from ‘near the little town of Kilrea’, Londonderry. All  of these three males, William, Robert and Thomas Sproule, called their first son John. A John Sproule is almost certainly the father of all three of these Sproule boys. A Jonathon Sproule lived in Claragh, on the edge of the little town of Kilrea, Londonderry. Jonathon Sproule is gone from Kilrea by the mid 1850s.Is he in Innisfil with his sons Robert, William and Thomas Sproule? He might be.

Is this definitive proof – definitely not. But it is very firm ground for further research. Over to you, Canadian Sproules.

 Our Family History by Donald Dean Parker, Sr, published by the author, the Lennox information.

1831 Census of Londonderry, Bill Macafee site

Who is Robert Sproule of Innisfil? The Lennox Connection.

Who is Robert Sproule of Innisfil? The Lennox Connection

 I recently became engrossed in the Sproule families of Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario and this began when Larry McKay brought up the subject in a recent Sproule Genealogy Group post. I always knew that Robert Sproule of Innisfil  who married Jane Lennox, definitely did not belong on the tree of James Sproule of the Holm and Rebecca Scott, but I had no idea where they did belong. Larry’s post led me to a very important clue, one that has been just sitting there, one that everyone knew about and yet no one had picked it up!

Robert Sproule was born on 11 June 1821 in Ireland. He had married Jane Lennox in Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario, in about 1851. Larry McKay had looked up this family and he pointed out that Jane Lennox seemed to be related to another Lennox, John, who was also in Innisfil.

The two families are almost together on the same page in the 1861 census. It seemed that John Lennox had married a Margaret Sproule, and they were now living very close to Robert Sproule's family. Larry also said that the the Lennoxs came from Londonderry. This got my attention immediately.

The Sproule families in Ireland are located in only a few areas in the early 1800s. In Londonderry, they are in just one area, and therefore this was now a clue as to where our Innisfil Sproules might also have come from. If the Lennoxs came from Clondermot, Londonderry, then possibly so did the Simcoe Sproules.

So I looked up these Lennoxs of Innisfil, and this led to a lovely little book on the Lennox family called "Our Family History". In this we learn that between 1790 and 1802 near the little town of Kilrea, Londonderry, lived a John Lennox. His son, also called John Lennox, left Kilrea in 1828 and went to Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario.The book also told me that four of the children of John Lennox had married Sproules. So not just two, but four Sproule / Lennox marriages in Innisfil.

The placename Kilrea rang a bell, but not, I thought, for Sproules. It’s not near Donegal/ Tyrone, and it’s not near Clondermot. Where was it? Kilrea is right on the eastern edge of Londonderry, well away from the usual Sproule country. Could this be an Antrim Sproule family, I thought?

I chased down some information on Kilrea. The Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, published in 1837, tells us that the population of the whole parish of Kilrea is 4262, and the town is small, with  just 973 people. But the real bombshell came when I found the 1831 census of Londonderry on the site of Bill Macafee. It had a census of Londonderry in 1831 and Kilrea was on this census. It had rang a bell, and it was for a Sproule!  It was Noble Sproule.

Now Noble Sproule I knew well. Many years ago Clare Lawler Kilgallen, from the County Tyrone Ireland Genealogy Facebook page, and I worked together on chasing down Noble Sproule. Clare gathered some information that he had been born in Kilrea, Londonderry  but other information suggested Castlederg. And here he was. Here was Noble Sproule definitely living in Kilrea, Londonderry, in 1831.

And guess where Noble Sproule and his large family ended up? Yes, you’ve got it, they also, like the Lennoxs, went from the small town of Kilrea in Londonderry, to Innisfil, Simcoe, Ontario.

So great excitement! There are 4 people in this John Lennox family who are are married to Sproules. Surely some, if not all, of these Sproules must come from their former neighbours in Kilrea, now also living in Innisfil, the Noble Sproule family!

But sadly... no. 

 Our Family History by Donald Dean Parker, Sr, published by the author, the Lennox information.

1831 Census of Londonderry, Bill Macafee site

The Family of James Sproule of the Holm and Rebecca Scott of Ballyare

The Simco Sproules - Not Grennan Sproules