Sproston Census

Sproston Timeline

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This timeline is designed to put some of the history of the family into context. It is a work in progress and I am happy to include further dates as requested. The history included is mainly European.

1066 Harold Godwinsson, Earl of Wessex, is crowned King of England; however, the throne is also claimed by William, Duke of Normandy, and Harold Hardrada, King of Norway. In September, William lays claim to the throne of England by force. He defeats King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, and is crowned on Christmas Day, but it is 4 years before the rest of the country is subdued.
1086-88 In order to understand the country he now rules, William orders the first national survey, and the Domesday Book is produced.
The village of Sproston in Cheshire is listed as 'Sprostune'.
1216 The nine-year-old Henry III comes to the English throne.
1267 Edward I is crowned. He embarks upon a massive invasion of Wales, building castles such as Conway and Carnarvon at record speed to subjugate the Welsh. He also claimed overlordship of Scotland, and was opposed by the Scottish resistance led by William Wallace, and Robert the Bruce. Edward rules until 1307 when his son Edward II was crowned.
1281 Hy de Sproustone is listed in the Betley, Staffordshire plea rolls as owning one messuage and half acre 4d. Betley is a small market town on the Cheshire/Staffordshire border.
1452 Leonardo da Vinci born.
1485 The beginning of the Tudor dynasty; Henry VII is crowned and tries to unify the houses of Lancaster and York. He also makes an allegiance with Spain, and marries his son, Arthur, to Catherine of Aragon. Arthur dies soon after the wedding and his widow is bethrothed to Henry's second son - later to be King Henry VIII.
1492 Christopher Columbus 'discovers' America.
1509 Following his father's death, Prince Henry marries his brother's widow and ascends to the throne. But over the next 8 years Catherine has 6 children, only one of which survives - a daughter, Mary. Henry has begun an affair with Anne Boleyn and wishes to end his marriage to Catherine.
1528 The Pope refuses an annulment, and Henry has himself declared the supreme Head of the Church of England. By 1536, smaller monasteries have been closed and their land given to the King - this act of dissolution leaves Henry owning around 10% of all the land in England.
1564 Galilei Galileo, Italian scientist, is born.
1587 Sir William Raleigh establishes to colony of Virginia.
1591 William Shakespeare of Straford-upon-Avon moves to London and becomes an actor.
1600 Thomas Sprawson, founder of the Harbury branch, is born in Harbury, Warwickshire.
1603 Queen Elizabeth I dies without children and James I, already James VI of Scotland, comes to the throne of England.
1605 Angered by the anti-Catholic legislation of James I, a group of Catholics led by Guido Fawkes plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament (thus killing the king) on November 5th. However, the plot was discovered and the conspirators were executed.
1617

Ralph Sproston, yeoman of Middlewich, dies. His inventory is available from me.

1625 Charles I comes to the throne.
1633 (about) John and Alice Sproston, founders of the Old Middlewich branch, are born in Middlewich, Cheshire.
1642-1646 English Civil War. The Middlewich area remained in Parliamentarian hands for most of this time, with the exception of the few days leading up to the Battle of Middlewich in 1643 in which the Royalist forces who had taken the town were defeated.
1642 Isaac Newton is born in Lincolnshire.
1642 The Dutch painter Rembrandt produces his most famous work, 'The Night Watch'.
1645 In the Middlewich Quarter Sessions of October 1645, it is recorded that 'diverse persons whose names are underwritten have broken into and possessed themselves of the said House, there intending to inhabit and dwell, by which means the same House and diverse utensils and other accommodations therein lately built and provided at the Country's great charge, are spoiled and kept from the use intended, and rogues, lewd and dissolute persons much encouraged in their idle lewd courses, to the great detriment and terror of the Country'. The 'said house' was the Middlewich House of Correction, and basically some of the less-well-off local people had taken advantage of the upheaval of the Civil War to make a home for themselves in this house. They remained for a couple of years before being forced to leave; one was listed as 'Elizabeth Sproston, widow'.
1649-1660 Commonwealth. Following the defeat of the Royalist forces and the execution of King Charles, England is ruled by Parliament under Oliver Cromwell.
1665 The Black Death comes to London and quickly spread across the country. Plague deaths in London alone total 680,000. Communities isolate themselves from the outside world to avoid infection.
1666 September of this year saw the Great Fire of London, started in Pudding Lane on the north side of the Thames. After burning for 5 days and nights, nearly all the buildings within the old city walls were destroyed.
1678 The Italien composer Vivaldi is born.
1712 First known mention of the Sproston family in America - Elizabeth Sproson of New Kent County, Virginia had a child out of wedlock in Henrico County.
1714 George I comes to the throne.
1719 John Sproston, founder of the Challener branch, is born in Wrenbury, Cheshire.
1730 Thomas Sproston, yeoman of Bradwall, is born near Sandbach Cheshire. His will is available here.
1731 William Defoe, author of 'Moll Flanders' and 'Robinson Crusoe' dies.
1742 Handel's 'Messiah' completed.
1769 The first Sprosons in Audley, Staffordshire are recorded - Isaac Sproson marries Ann Oldfield at St James, Audley.
1777 The Trent-Mersey canal is completed which allows goods from the Potteries (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) to be taken by boat to the port of Liverpool and exported all over the world. Sprostons from Cheshire begin to move into the Potteries, working as potters and miners.
1760 George II dies and George III comes to the throne.
1775 Jane Austen, writer of 'Sense and Sensibility' is born.
1775 Joseph Turner, English landscape artist, is born.
1776 The US Declaration of Independence was signed.
1776 John Sproston of the Challener branch, born in Wrenbury, Cheshire in 1753, marries Mary Court at All Saint's Church (Shakespeare's Church) in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.
1779 John Sproston, brickmaker of Tunstall is born - location as yet unknown. His children will be baptised at St Margaret's Wolstanton.
1783 The Peace Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolutionary War was signed.
1786 Job Sproston of the Old Middlewich branch, a boatbuilder born in Middlewich in 1763, moves to Sandbach and marries Mary Condliffe. His son, Thomas, also a boatbuilder, marries Ann Daines in 1809 at St Mary's Astbury, and then moves south to Weston upon Trent, Staffordshire. Thomas and Ann are the founders of the Stafford branch, and their descendants remain in the Stafford area to this day.
1804 Robert Sprowson, founder of the Newchapel branch, marries Mary Lovatt. Their descendants will remain in the Newchapel area of Stoke-on-Trent for 5 generations.
1804 Naploleon becomes Emperor of France.
1810 Stanier Sproston, the first of several descendents of William Sprowson and Maria Stanier of the Stanier branch to bear that name, is baptised at Wolstanton Weslayan Methodist Chapel, Stoke-on-Trent.
1810 Charles Sproston, founder of the Middlewich Tanners branch, is born in Kinderton to Samuel and Margaret. Samuel is a tailor and a member of the Old Middlewich branch.
1812 George S Sproston serves as surgeon's mate during the 2nd War of Independence aboard the Frigate Congress.
1815 Napoleon is defeated by Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo.
1820 Beethoven composed his '9th Symphony'.
1832 John Sproston of Wolstanton Staffordshire emigrates with his children to Canada, then Illinios.
1833 Isaac Sproston of the Challener branch dies in a stage coach accident making the steep descent into Long Compton, Warwickshire. He leaves behind his second wife, Mary Smith and 4 young children.
1835 Benjamin Sproson, miller of Wightwick, nr Wolverhampton, is listed in the local Trade Directory. Born in 1782, Benjamin dies in 1848.
1837 William IV dies and Queen Victoria comes to the throne. Her reign will last for 64 years and take Britain into a new century.
1840 Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky is born.
1840 Samuel Sproson, farmer of Shavington cum Gresty, Cheshire dies, leaving his farm to his son John and wife Mary. His will is available here.
1841 William Sproston of the Challener branch dies. Headmaster of the High Wycombe Grammar School from 1796 until his death, William was also responsible for bringing street lighting to High Wycombe. A copy of William's will is available here.
1850 (about) Thomas Samuel Carr Sproston of the Challener branch, a vicar's son from Lincolnshire, emigrates to Avoca, Australia, where he marries a 16-year-old, Sarah Ann. Together they own land locally and have 11 children. Samuel's brother, William, becomes a surgeon in Birmingham .
1853 Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh is born.
1854 John Glendy Sproston of Maryland, USA sails to Japan. 8 years later he is killed in action whilst fighting with Du Pont in the American Civil War.
1855 One Friday morning in April, James Sproston of the Bradwall branch, respected joiner and member of the local Methodist church, kills his wife Ann with a cavalry sword and the shoots himself with a pistol. James's will is available here.
1860 (about) Henry Sprosen, a carpenter from Buckinghamshire and a member of the Harbury branch, emigrates to Christchurch, New Zealand. From the deck of the boat he throws his bowler hat into the water and swears he will never wear it again.
1865 The US Civil War ends.
1869 Impressionism is born - the first 'Impressionist' painting are produced during the summer of this year by Pierre Renoir and Claude Monet.
1871 Charles Darwin publishes 'The Descent of Man'.
1876 The Bell telephone carries its' first sentence.
1876 Mark Twain writes 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' .
1880 (about) Samuel Sproston, of the Odd Rode branch and miner of Talk'o'th'Hill, dies at the age of 45, leaving his wife Paulina Archer with 10 children, the youngest just a baby. Paulina remarries some 10 years later, another miner called David Lowe.
1881 James Sproston, a cab driver born in Chester in 1863, is an inmate at Knutsford Nether Prison, Cheshire.
1883 Leonard Sproston of the Challener branch, son of Isaac and a cattleman from Shrewsbury, emigrates with his wife and young family to California. In 1906 he dies and the family loses everything in the San Francisco earthquake.
1895 Joseph Sprowson of the Styal branch arrives in Massachusetts via Canada with his family. Joseph and his children work in the cotton mills, as his brother John does at home in Wilmslow, Cheshire.
1897 Edward (Teddy) Sproston is born in Hale, nr Altrincham, Cheshire. Son of a postal telegraph clerk, Teddy and his brother Frank go on to found the Cheshire Roads Club, a cycling club based in Cheshire.
1901 The Sproston & Knight Pottery operates briefly in Stoke-on-Trent, run by John Sproston and Samuel Knight.
1901 Marconi makes his first trans-Atlantic telegraph transmission.
1907 'Red' Emma Sproson, wife of Frank Sproson from Tettenhall, Birmingham, campaigns for women's rights and is arrested during a demonstration in London.
1914-1918 First World War.
1915 Leonard George Sproston, grandson of Thomas Carr Sproston, is killed in action at Gallipoli. He is the only known Sproston of non-English origin to have died in any war.
1920 (about) Ernest Samuel Sproston of the Stafford branch emigrates to New South Wales, Australia where his descendents still live.
1939-1945 Second World War.
1942 Philip Maurice Sproston, born in 1918 to John Sproston (a member of the Stafford branch who moved to Leicester), is killed in action in WW2. Philip was a telegraphist aboard HMS Fidelity. 15 ships were torpedoed in the 3-day Battle for Convoy ONS154; 14 of them were sunk. HMS Fidelity, disguised as a Merchant ship, was torpedoed on Dec 30, 1942. She was transporting 51 Royal Marines to Indo-China, and was sunk by U435, in the Atlantic off the Azores.