Sproule, George

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Robert Fellows, “SPROULE (Sprowle), GEORGE,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/sproule_george_5E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • SPROULE (Sprowle), GEORGE, army officer, surveyor, office holder, and politician; b. c. 1743 in Athlone (Republic of Ireland), eldest son of Adam Sproule and Prudence Lloyd; d. 30 Nov. 1817 in Fredericton, N.B.
    • In 1770 Sproule was in the party that surveyed the eastern New England coast in conjunction with work being done by DesBarres. His surveying and mapping efforts were eventually incorporated into DesBarres’s famous compilation The Atlantic Neptune . . . (2v., London, 1777-[81]). Engaged from 1772 in the first thorough survey of New Hampshire’s boundaries, Sproule was two years later appointed surveyor general of that colony, a post he held until the American Revolutionary War broke out. Although he had obtained permission to retire from the army in order to establish his family permanently in New Hampshire, at the commencement of hostilities he returned to active service as a lieutenant in the 16th Foot. Having joined the British army in Boston, Mass., he was immediately named an assistant field engineer. On 9 June 1781 he purchased a captaincy in the 16th, “observing but little probability of being restored to his appointment and property in New Hampshire.” The following year his lands there were confiscated by the state. At the end of the war Sproule found himself in a difficult situation: not only had he lost both position and property, but he faced the prospect of reduction on half pay. “Justice to his Family” prompted him to sell his company, though he could get only half the price for it that he might have obtained during the war. In memorials to the loyalist claims commission he estimated that his total losses as a result of the revolution exceeded £2,300. In compensation, and as a reward for his military service and his surveying work, he was appointed on 2 Sept. 1784 surveyor general of the recently established colony of New Brunswick at a salary of £150 per annum.
    • In the spring of 1785 Sproule energetically took up his new post, which he would hold until his death. He was a significant figure in the province’s administrative history because he established the Surveyor General’s Office, created and maintained essential land records, and in so doing offered a high degree of stability for new settlers during a particularly turbulent time. 
  • United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7977
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61803411/george-sproule