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Samuel SPURRELL
Abt 1742 - 1831 (~ 89 years)
Has 11 ancestors and 754 descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
-
Name Samuel SPURRELL Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born Abt 1742 Meavy, Devon, England 
- Based on age at death being given as 88 Samuel was born late 1742 or in 1743 - bapt date agrees with this. Place assumed from baptism.
Baptised 18 Dec 1742 St. Peter’s Church, Meavy, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 18 Aug 2012):
"Sam.el, Son of Thos and Mary Spurrell was baptized Decemb 18th"
Gender Male Occupation From 1780 to 1799 Old Mead Minor and other land, Sheepstor, Devon, England Farmer - The land tax records show that in 1780 Samuel was the occupier of two parts of a land holding known as Old Mead Minor in Sheepstor (the tax being £2/8/8 in total, £1/3/8 on 'Ould Mead Minor' and £1/5/0 on another part of mead minor). Walter Northmore paid the tax on 3 parts that year. By 1789 he was still liable to the same tax on the above, and now also another part of mead minor, on which the tax was 10/7. Church rates show that he (presumably still) held this land in 1791, as he is shown as paying the rates on both Old Mead Minor and Old Mead Major. He remained liable to the rates through to 1799; in 1800 these were paid by Richard Northmore. I guess this was the unnamed land on which Samuel paid land tax in 1798.
Other entries show a connection with other Sheepstor land: Crebers Torr (Samuel was liable to land tax, 5/3, in 1789) and Easter Burland (Church rates, 1791).
None of these locations is readily identified on a modern map, nor are any of them listed as holdings in the tithe apportionments records.
It seems that "Old Mead" may be an alternative name for "Yellowmead" which can be found on modern maps.
Apparently the prefix 'yellow' in Dartmoor placenames can sometimes be derived from the word 'old'; Glover et al make this claim for Yellowmead in Sheepstor (Gover, J. E.B, Mawer, A. & Stenton, F.M. (1931-2) The Place-Names of Devon (C.U.P.), quoted by this paper about a different Yellowmead - one in Peter Tavy Parish).
In addition, when the tithes were commuted holdings named "Little Yellowmead" and "Great Yellowmead" were listed which could correspond to Old Mead Minor and Old Mead Major (slightly oddly, Little Yellowmead is shown as 125 acres, 3 rods and 39 perches; Great Yellowmead as only 74 acres, 3 rods and 9 perches; perhaps Little Yellowmead had grown in size due to open moorland being enclose and cultivated over the years).
Occupation From 1798 to 1831 Hall Farm, Sampford Spiney, Devon, England Farmer - The 1798 land tax shows Samuel had now taken occupation of a significant holding in Sampford Spiney parish - large enough for almost 10% of the total land tax of £59/9/- paid on land in the parish being paid by him. His tax assessment of £5-12-10 was the second largest for any non landowner, most of whom paid less than £3 (although the one to pay more, Richard Andrews, paid almost twice as much: £11/4/-). The "proprietor" of the land Samuel farmed was one Humphrey Hall Esquire, the largest landowner in the parish, who also owned most of the land farmed by Richard Andrews and the tax on whose land came to about £20. Henry Tolcher Esquire was another large landowner (tax on his land amounting to about £14); the land on which the remaining £25 was due was owned by quite a number of small landowners.
Although Richard Andrews was paying more tax, this was on several different pieces of land and Samuel was paying the largest sum of anyone in the parish for a single holding. It was over 30 years later that Samuel died and is recorded as "of Hall" but it seems reasonable to suppose that it was Hall Farm, that associated with the manor, that Samuel was farming - and that he and his family were living in the farmhouse.
Hall Farm - Sampford Manor
The home of 4 generations of the Spurrell family, c. 1798-1898:
Generation 1: Samuel and Patty and their family, c. 1798-1831
Generation 2: their 3rd son (8th child) Thomas and his family, c. 1841-1868
Generation 3:Thomas's 4th son (5th child) William and his wife Eliza Northmore and their daughter (Eliza being also daughter of Samuel and Patty's grandson Peter, by their dau Ann, and of their granddaughter Mary nee Spurrell, by their son John), c. 1868-1896
Generation 4:Fanny, daughter of…Died 28 Oct 1831 Hall Farm, Sampford Spiney, Devon, England Buried 2 Nov 1831 St. Mary’s Church, Sampford Spiney, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP):
"Samuel Spurrell, abode Hall, buried Nov.r 2, aged 88, ceremony performed by S. W. Pearse Minister"
Siblings7 brothers and 2 sisters Patriarch & Matriarch 
William SPURRELL, b. Est 1690, d. Yes, date unknown (Grandfather)
Mary NOTT, b. Est 1683, d. Apr 1767, Bickleigh, nr Plymth, Devon, England (Age ~ 84 years) (Grandmother) Person ID I10522 All | Teresa's direct ancestors Last Modified 9 Oct 2019
Father Thomas SPURRELL, b. 1718, Meavy, Devon, England , d. Jun 1772, Meavy, Devon, England (Age 54 years) Mother Mary CUDLIP, b. Abt 1718, Bickleigh, nr Plymth, Devon, England , d. Sep 1781, Bickleigh, nr Plymth, Devon, England (Age ~ 63 years) Married 29 Apr 1741 St. Peter’s Church, Meavy, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 29 Aug 2012):
Under 1741: "Thos. Spurrell and Mary Cudlip were married April 29th"
Family ID F4974 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family Patty REED, b. Abt 1747, Walkhampton, Devon, England , d. 27 Jul 1837, Holetown, Sampford Spiney, Devon, England (Age ~ 90 years) Banns of marriage 22 Mar 1772 to 5 Apr 1772 Walkhampton Church, Walkhampton, Devon, England - Samuel Spurrill otp and Patty Reed of the parish of Sheepstor, no additional info. (from Banns / marriages register, image on FMP, viewed 18 Aug 2012)
Banns of marriage 8 Mar 1772, 29 Mar 1772, 19 Apr 1772 St. Leonard’s Church, Sheepstor, Devon, England - PR with combined banns / marriage entry - shows banns unusually (in my experience) being read at 3 weekly intervals - because in this tiny place, which was not then a parish in its own right, there was only a service every 3 weeks.
No info. given as to marital status etc.
(from Banns / marriages register, image on FMP, viewed 18 Aug 2012)
Married 22 Apr 1772 St. Leonard’s Church, Sheepstor, Devon, England - The marriage part of the combined banns / marriage entry shows that Samuel and Patty both made their marks, while Alice Reed and Peter Reed Junr. (both appear to be siblings of Patty's) signed. It would seem strange if they could write and Patty couldn't - but Samuel seems to have signed plenty of documents in Sheepstor, so I guess both could write but didn't on this occasion.
(image on FMP, viewed 18 Aug 2012)
Children10 children Headstones 
The positions of the Spurrell graves in Sampford Spiney
Showing where the graves of Samuel and Patty Spurrell and several of their descendants are positioned, in relation both to each other and to the Church.
Some other descendants of theirs, including two, daughters, one being my ancestor Mary, are also buried in this churchyard, but the graves appear to be unmarked.
Last Modified 25 Apr 2018 Family ID F4972 Family Group Page | Family Chart