May Charlotte A Sproule 1862-1945

• Subject: May or Mary Sproule
• Date: Unknown
• Photographer: Lambert, 82 Milsom St, Bath
• Found: UK

Marriages Sep 1899
Hess  George Ralph     Marylebone  1a 1460   
Sproule  Mary Charlotte A     Marylebone  1a 1460

May (or Mary) is proving to be an enigma to find in any of the census before she was married although she is at home with George in the 1901 & 1911 census:-

Reference RG14PN115 RG78PN4 RD2 SD1 ED28 SN99
1911 Census
4 Harrington Court, Sth Kensington, London
George Hess head 54 mar stock jobber employer born Liverpool
May Hess wife 48 mar 11 years no children born Bath, Somerset

Source Citation: Class: RG13; Piece: 12; Folio: 23; Page: 38.
1901 Census
32 Newton Rd, Paddington, London
George Hess head mar 44 stock & share dealer born Liverpool
Mary Hess wife mar 38 born Somerset

As May/Mary didn’t have any children there will be no descendants to claim this lovely photograph of her but as you can see there is at least one child of one of her older brothers in the 1881 census so hopefully there are more generations who are still living.

Unfortunately there is no birth registration listed on FreeBMD for a May or Mary Charlotte A Sproule and this is where it gets murky as to what her given name was. From her age in the above census she was born about 1862 in Bath and as you will see from the following census entries she is listed variously as May or Mary:-

Source Citation: Class: RG12; Piece: 2873; Folio 118; Page 5; GSU roll: 6097983.
1891 Census
12 Rock Park, Bebington, Birkenhead, Cheshire
Margaret Ellen Sproule head wid 63 living on own means born Horling Kent
Lalla Sproule dau unm 40 born Bath Somerset
May Sproule 28 teacher of English born Bath Somerset
Elsie Wilcox visitor mar 40  born Bath Somerset

Source Citation: Class: RG11; Piece: 2434; Folio: 129; Page: 1; GSU roll: 1341586.
1881 Census
2 Lynvale Villas, Lyncombe & Widcombe, Somerset
James Sproule M.A. head mar 68 vicar of St Mark's Lyncombe parish born Dublin Ireland
Margaret Sproule wife mar 53 born Hawling Kent
Kate Sproule dau unm 30 born Bath Somerset
Margaret Sproule dau unm 27 born Bath Somerset
May Sproule dau unm 18  born Bath Somerset
Daisy Sproule grdau 8 scholar born Holborn Middlesex

Source Citation: Class: RG10; Piece: 2484; Folio: 55; Page: 44; GSU roll: 835195.
1871 Census
2 Lynvale Villas, Lyncombe & Widcombe, Somerset
James Wm Sproule head mar 58 vicar of Lyncombe Bath born Dublin Ireland
Margaret En Sproule wife mar 43 born Habling Kent
Edward Banks Sproule son mar 22 medical student born Bath Somerset
Eliza A Sproule dau unm 20 born Bath Somerset
James W B Sproule son unm 19 scholar born Bath Somerset
Margaret A Sproule dau unm 17 born Bath Somerset
Adela C A Sproule dau unm 13 born Bath Somerset
Mary Ernesta Sproule dau unm 8  born Bath Somerset

It looks like the census enumerator mixed up the names of the two youngest daughters and they probably should have been listed as - Adela Ernesta aged 13 & Mary C A Sproule aged 8.

Source Citation: Class: RG9; Piece: 1689; Folio: 10; Page: 13; GSU roll: 542851.
1861 Census
3 Widcombe Cres, Widcombe, Somerset
James W Sprowle head mar 48 vicar of Lyncombe Bath born Dublin Ireland
Elizabeth E Sproule dau 10 born Bath Somerset
James W B Sproule son 9 born Bath Somerset
Margaret A Sproule dau 7 born Bath Somerset
Frederick Sproule son 5 born Bath Somerset
Ada E Sproule dau 3 born Bath Somerset

Source Citation: Class: RG9; Piece: 749; Folio: 73; Page: 25; GSU roll: 542695.
1861 Census
Margaret Ellen Sproule sister mar 33 clergyman's wife born Halling Kent
staying with brother Wm J Banks 38 landed proprietor born Swansea Glamorgan

Source Citation: Class: HO107; Piece: 1942; Folio: 146; Page: 21; GSU roll: 221101.
1851 Census
3 Widcombe Cres, Lyncombe & Widcombe, Somerset
James W Sproule head mar 37 curate of Lyncombe Bath born Ireland
Margaret E Sproule wife mar 23 born Haling Kent
Edward B Sproule son 2 born Bath Somerset
Eliza A Sproule dau 9 mths born Bath Somerset

Marriages Jun 1848
Banks  Margaret Ellen    Eastry  5 203   
Sproule  James William     Eastry  5 203  

Then I found a few Sproule probates that more or less confirmed most of the above:-

UK National Probate Calendar 1861-1941

Sproule The Reverend James William 29 June. The will of the Reverend James William Sproule late of 2 Lyn-Vale-villas in the Parish of Lyncombe and Widcombe in the City and Borough of Bath Clerk who died 5 May 1881 at 2 Lyn-Vale-villas was proved at Bristol by Margaret Ellen Sproule Widow the Relict and Eliza Amelia Sproule Spinster the daughter both of 2 Lyn-Vale-villas and George Edgar Lawrence of 31 Claverton-street in the City and Borough of Bath Surgeon the Executors. Personal Estate £425 15s.

Sproule Margaret Ellen of 27 West-park Whiteladies-road Clifton Bristol widow died 27 Sep 1904 Probate London 23 Nov to Eliza Amelia Sproule spinster and William John Willcox architect Effects £498 14s 10d.

Sproule Eliza Amelia of Strand House Ringmore Teignmouth Devonshire spinster died 6 Aug 1931 Probate Exeter 3 Sep to Margaret Annie Sproule and Ada Ellen Ernesta Sproule spinsters. Effects £2943 3s 4d.

Sproule Margaret Annie of Strand House Ringmore Teignmouth Devonshire spinster died 4 Nov 1933 Probate Exeter 30 Nov to Ada Ellen Ernesta Sproule spinster. Effects £4877 17s.

Hess George Ralph of Pavillon Miraniar Mentone Alpes Maritimes France died 23 Jan 1924 Probate London 12 May to Mary Charlotte Annie Hess widow. Effects £2938 18s 8d.

May/Mary’s husband, George Ralph Hess, died in France in 1924, she herself died in 1945 in the UK so no will found for her as yet (the Probate Calendar only goes up to 1941):-

Deaths Mar 1945
Hess  Mary C A  82  Newton A  5b 226

References:
ancestry.com
FreeBMD
IGI

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If anyone knows anything about or is connected to May/Mary Charlotte A Sproule please do contact me, I would love to pass this photo onto a family member. Contact by email is preferable but if you are going to leave a comment please don’t forget to include your email address.

Dawn Scotting
pandora@kc.net.nz