Andrew Sprowle (1710 – 1776) was a Scottish-born merchant, naval agent, landowner, shipyard owner, slaveholder and slave trader in Portsmouth, Virginia. Today Andrew Sprowle is best remembered for establishing the Gosport Ship Yard, now known as Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Sprowle emigrated from Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, to what is currently the Commonwealth of Virginia in the mid-18th century, where he lived until his death on 29 May 1776.Sharp, John G.M., Andrew Sprowle, 1710 -1776, "Lord of Gosport" http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/portsmouth/shipyard/sharptoc/asprowle.htmlUK American Loyalist Claims, 1776-1835, AO 12–13, Katherine Sproule, aka Katherine Sprowle, AO13: American Loyalist Claims, Series, II, Piece ,033 B.T.W. and Miscellaneous Virginia, The National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew, Surrey, England, p. 144, Katherine Sprowle in her claim dated 18 October 1783, specifically stated Andrew Sprowle's death occurred on 29 May 1776."Sprowle, Andrew, formerly of Milton but late of Gosport", will filed, 22/1/1779, Edinburgh Commissary Court, CC8/8/124. All pages, 1051-1062 of the will, are posted see Sharp, John G.M., Andrew Spowle 1710 -1776, Lord of Gosport, accessed 11 August 2021, http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/portsmouth/shipyard/sharptoc/asprowle.html
Early life Andrew Sprowle was born in 1710 in Milton, Dunbartonshire, Scotland, the third son of John Sprowle, Laird of Milton.Sproule, James Richard, Eight Centuries of the Spreull and Sproule Families, (Create Space London, Independent Publishing, 2017), p. 202.Sprowle, Andrew, Ibid, will Andrew's father, John Spreull I, held a number of important and profitable government posts, such as Commissioner of Supply for Ayrshire and Dumbarton and for paying army troops in the area. These crown positions, made him responsible for the collection and recording of land tax.Sharp, "Lord of Gosport" During the Jacobite revolts of 1708, 1715 and 1719 see Jacobitism, Andrew's father John, stayed loyal to the crown and continued in office. As a young man Andrew Sprowle, probably journeyed from his home in Milton, the five miles to Glasgow often. His older brother John III, was enrolled in the Glasgow University and his father as a Commissioner would have had frequent business with contracts for the army in the port city. According to James Spreull, Andrew Sprowle's father died sometime in early 1731. Andrew's older brother John Spreull II, in accordance with primogeniture, inherited both the title of Laird, and family property.Spreull, James, pp 202-203This law was in effect until 1964 see, Scott's Law, 2019, https://www.lawscot.org.uk/news-and-events/blogs-opinions/platinum-blog-claire-e-macpherson/ In Andrew Sprowle's lifetime, the family surname was spelled variously, sometimes even in the same document. Among the different spellings were, Sproule, Spreulle, Sproul, Sproull, and Sprowle.Spreule, James, pp 5-8. For example, Andrew's father, John, spelled his name Spreull while Andrew spelled it "Spreule and Sprowle." In this article, the family surname is spelled, Sprowle, the way he spelled it in his 1774 will, the exceptions being quotations from historical documents.
There is only one brief 1768 account by merchant William Nelson, of Andrew Sprowle's physical appearance. This was included in a letter of Nelson to John Norton, regarding a welcome speech Andrew Sprowle delivered on behalf of the Virginia merchants, to the new colonial Governor Norborne Berkeley.,William Nelson to John Norton, 14 November 1768, John Norton and Sons, Merchants of London and Virginia, Mason, Frances Norton, ed. 2nd ed., (Newton Abbot, Devon, England, 1968), p. 76Costa, Thomas, "Economic development and political authority: Norfolk, Virginia merchant-magistrates, 1736-1800" (1991). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects, Paper 1539623807, https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-myhw-xv82 https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3717&context=etd"The old Fellow wears his own Hair, as white as old Charles Hansford's was, with a Pig tail to it, but bald as the brave Lord Granby;John Manners, Marquess of Granby and cuts as droll a Figure as you ever saw Him in a Silk coat & two or three holes in his stocking at the same Time he is a respectable Appearance, the oldest among the Trade, & acquitted himself well. Sprowle's address to the governor showed "plainness [sic] Elegance & Simplicity, and far out does the studied Performance of the P[rofessors] & Masters of the College."
In his 1774 will, Andrew Sprowle, confirmed he had a portrait made and carefully notated his instructions regarding its disposition, "I recommend my picture being sent home to my sister. She orders the delivery of it and at her death to those relations of mine that will take good care of it."Sprowle 1774 will, p. 1060. The portrait was apparently sent to his younger sister Jane, current location unknown. The family history though is available in James Sproule's Eight Centuries of the Spreull and Sproule Families.
Portsmouth, Virginia
Andrew Sprowle, like many younger sons, left Scotland about 1733 to seek his fortune in Virginia, the exact date is disputed.Linder, Bruce, Tidewater's Navy an Illustrated History, (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis Maryland, 2005)p.5, Linder believes he emigrated before 1733.Clancy, Paul, Hampton Roads Chronicles History from the Birthplace of America,(History Press, Charleston, S.C., 2009), p.20. His second wife Katherine Hunter Sprowle, later recalled, Andrew came to colonial Virginia circa 1725, however British documents record him as arriving in Virginia in 1733.Dobson, David, Scottish Transatlantic Merchants, 1611-1785. (Baltimore: Clearfield Co., 2007), Dobson provides arrival date of 1733Sharp, Lord of Gosport", contends Sprowle's departure, followed his father's death in 1731, after the settling of the estate. Yet another publication Scots on the Chesapeake 1607 - 1830 has Sprowle arriving in Virginia in 1735.Scots on the Chesapeake 1607 - 1830, (Genealogical Publishing Company, University of Michigan, 1992), p.147 Few documents regarding his early years in Hampton Roads, survive. These are mostly fragments of court records listing ships and property that he owned. After emigrating from Scotland, he settled in Norfolk Borough where opportunities for wealth were available in the soon-developing town of Portsmouth. The first records we have for Andrew Sprowle in Virginia, reflect by the 1730s, he was associated with Alexander Mackenzie, a Scottish merchant as "apprentice, clerk, or partner, later becoming an independent merchant in the mid-1740s..."Costa, p.68.
Sprowle was well respected in the mercantile community, serving for 36 years as President of the Court of Virginia Merchants. While Sprowle became a substantial men of business in the 1750s, he never attained any local political office such as alderman.Costa, p.99 According to Norfolk County Court records, he was listed as a merchant of Norfolk Borough in 1746, and in 1752 purchased Portsmouth lots (numbers 11, 12 and 24) from William Crawford, acquiring other town lots and extending his holdings within a few years across Crab Creek with several waterfront tracts in Gosport, including part of the site of what later became the Gosport Navy Yard, and was still buying Gosport property as late as 1772.
In 1763, Portsmouth underwent its first annexation, expanding the western boundary. The same year, an early governing body of Town Trustees were named, including Andrew Sprowle, George Veale, Thomas Veale, Charles Steuart, Humphrey Roberts, Francis Miller, James Rae, David Purcell and Amos Etheridge.
Marriage to Anabella McNeill In his 1774 will Andrew Sprowle wrote he wished to be buried in Trinity Church grounds, Portsmouth, Virginia, "I also order for myself a genteel funeral but not extravagant and to be buried in Portsmouth church yard alongside the funeral pile of Anabella McNeill, alias Sprowle and such a tombstone erected for my remains and to be covered with Irish marble stone now lying at Gosport."1778 Sprowle 1774 will, p. 1056. Except for this brief mention, no other records have been found regarding Sprowle's first wife.
Slaveholder/Slave Trader
While widely known that Andrew Sprowle's established the Gosport shipyard which built and repaired naval and merchant ships, the extent of his slave-holding, slave trading and ownership of slave trading vessels, has receive far less attention.Michinton, Walter E., Maykin, Celia, Waite Peter B., Virginia Slave Trade Statistics 1689-1775 (Virginia State Library, Richmond, 1984), pp.139,141,149Encyclopedia of Black America, editors W.Augustus Low, Virgil A.Cliff (McGraw Hill, New York, 1981), p.11 Thomas McCulloch, Andrew Sprowle's business manager and executor of his estate, later testified that Sprowle's highly trained enslaved workforce were integral to his shipyard and other businesses. "Among the men an excellent Skipper and Pilot and two or three good sailors, an excellent Caulker, a Cooper, a Miller, a Mason, a Joiner, a Painter, a Glazier, a Sawyer, three good Planters and several Jobbers." Thomas McCulloch specifically noted Sprowle hired out his enslaved workers for other nautical jobs for additional income and added that "Mr. Sprowle's Books of Accounts will shew the wages for them hired." McCulloch further explained that Lord Dunmore's hasty departure from Virginia," Mr. Sprowle's negro sailors being all dead, he was exposed to great danger and suffered much distress.", see thumbnail re his statement of 26 January 1784. The enslaved women were listed as "Cooks, Laundry Maids, Sempstresses, House Maids, Spinners &c." McCulloch calculated the total value of the enslaved workforce as £1200 sterling.The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; American Loyalist Claims, Series I; Class: AO 13; Piece: 054. Thomas McCulloch's statement is found within the claim of Katherine Hunter Sprowle. Except for their monetary value Andrew Sprowle, showed little regard for his large enslaved workforce. In 1774, he left instructions "I order my plantation at Sewells Point be disposed of not too soon with my Negros or without." Ever the business man, Sprowle explained that the Blacks, the other wares and merchandise to fetch a good price "be disposed of not too soon from the hardness of the time."Sprowle,1774 will, p.1057 Documentation for Andrew Sprowle's enslaved workforce taken from the Virginia Tax records can be found posted at the University of Sidney, Black Loyalist, under Andrew Sproule (Sprowle).Black Loyalist, accessed 11 August 2021, http://www.blackloyalist.info/person/display/765 One of Sprowle's warehouses was used as a slave market.Frye, John Hampton Roads and Four Centuries as a World Seaport(Edwin Mellen Press, Richmond, 1996), p.48 A substantial slaveholder Sprowle still occasionally rented additional enslaved labor from the Elizabeth River Anglican Vestry to supplement his household staff.
In 1935 scholar Elisabeth Donnon, found at least two of Andrew Sprowle's vessels, the brigantine Saint Andrew and the sloop Providence, employed in the intercolonial slave trade. British Admiralty records from the years 1748 to 1751 confirmed Sprowle as the owner of both vessels.