Claire McCormick's Ph.D. discusses my three Palatine ancestors: Sparling, Switzer, shier
In the 1600s a lot of Huguenots, inspired by new religious laws, moved from Switzerland to the Palatinate - hence the name Switzer in my family ancestry (originally spelled Swisser or Schwiser, meaning Swiss Man). A particularly harsh winter in 1708/9 saw vines wither...birds freeze in mid-flight and the River Thames to freeze over for ice-skating.... and the Palatines petitioned to leave that spring, May 1709.... the settling of British colonies by Protestants had already been promoted by several religious orders - showing the Natives of the New World...corralled into forts [neat wooden villages]...
"the native Indians are not but few compared to the formerly"
Wow gotta entice those Protestant settlers! The Palatines were considered to be good Wine growers - Viticulturists... compared to even other German settlers... the colonists in the new World colony were to be granted 100 free acres each with free corn seed!
While "viniculturalist" (or "viniculturist") is still a recognized word in major dictionaries like Merriam-Webster, it has largely fallen out of standard professional use...
The Swiss who had already settled in the Palatinate, following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, were still considered poor and could be controlled as an English colony in the New World without fear of French revolt....this was to be in the Carolinas...the 100 acres were to be granted with no payment for 10 years...
The Tory Party of England considered the Palatines and Huguenots as the "scum of all Europe." The Whigs had pushed through the Palatine immigration...
Both labels started as insults. "Whig" came from a term for Scottish Presbyterians and horse thieves; "Tory" came from an Irish word for a papist outlaw...
So about a 1000 Palatines showed up in London as "strong and fit for work...." Some of the Palatines brought "vessels of Brandy" but they were confiscated by custom officials....An advertisement was put in the Post Boy to sell off the Palatine immigrants into England...by this time 6,600 Palatines had camped out into London and more also in Rotterdam..."miserably...and ruined..."
after another 2000 arrived, then famine was feared and it was recommended to send them off to work in the mines....
Londoners feared a "malignant distemper," they were often referring to highly contagious human killers like typhus (jail fever), smallpox, or the bubonic plague....
at this point it was realized there were Catholics from the Palatine and now only Protestants should be allowed - any future Catholics would be turned back...2,275 were returned to Holland with some money...
Husbandman/Vinedresser was the main occupation listed for the Palatine immigrants....with 33 other trades/crafts listed!
by the end of August 1709 were 12,000 Palatines in London! Wow. A proposed settled in Sundridge Kent was met by protests from the locals... "angry mobs...were not happy."
821 families of 3,073 people then were sent to Ireland!! Some were proposed to be sent to Jamaica was each plantation was required to have one white servant for each 10 slaves and one white man-servant for the first five slaves.... wow! A resolution of 1000 Palatines was signed to be sent to Jamaica and a later report from 1s784 claimed all of the Palatines died while trying to clear the land in Jamaica! One Palatine name survives as owning over 4800 acres in Jamaica...Henry Bendish...
2184 Palatines embarked to settle along the Hudson and 446 died from Typhus on the way there...
As winter of 1709 closed in then a wall was proposed for enclosed cooking for the remaining Palatines in London - to keep warmer....in their tents....
The Tory-Leaning Post Boy Newspaper stated the Palatines are "healthy beyond Expectation" - to dismiss rumors of plague and infection of the Palatines... as long as they were "poor and industrious" then it was fine, compared to "poor and lazy."....
Daniel DeFoe wrote a pamphlet to advocate for the Palatines.... arguing they should be settled in the forest...that the French-Swiss Protestants had already proven themselves as worthy immigrants when they had settled in the Palatinate in the 1689...
There were angry mobs in the streets of London at this time - based on religious dissent...and protests against it, etc. Meanwhile the Palatines "lingered in their camps" trying to survive...
In the Spring of 1710 some Iroquois Indian Kings were upset at the plight of the Palatines - they were in London to argue their case for British protection along the Mohawk River and also argued for the Palatines to move to their land! Schoharie Valley....
The Palatines sent to Ireland were also provided money from Queen Anne for cattle and tools....and household goods... and the Lords were to provide the land for the "poor Protestant strangers." Thomas Southwell was the most prominent Lord, of Castle Matrix, who settled the Palatines - including my ancestors. Many Palatines were housed in the Royal Barracks upon arrival in Dublin....
In 1711 the Tories rescinded the "Naturalization Act" of the Whigs and the Tories called the Palatines "useless and indigent" but by 1713 the Palatines were growing Hemp and Flax in Ireland - for weaving linen....Sir (by 1716) Lord Thomas Southwell was pleased with his first 30 Palatines and so took another 100 in 1712 - only needed a German-speaking minister to ensure the Palatines were loyal to the Majesty and the [Anglican] Church of Ireland....
"the industriousness and cleanliness" of the Palatines in Limerick was noted - the ladies in their cabins... taking in the Palatines was compared to being a Good Samaritan - and since Palatines were honest and hard-working, singing Psalms, then this was considered a worthy-cause. Some of the Palatines in London were begging door to door and the Tories were against this....
One Palatine wrote "Catholic...will turn a Protestant" for their religion. This emphasizes that the Palatines were primarily economic migrants despite the Protestant cultural push. Daniel DeFoe's main argument was a Liberal free market economic "laborious and skilful" claim for the value of Palatine immigrants to increase wealth. Some called the Palatines "poor distressful" and "gipsies" while others called the "useful." By 1758 John Wesley noted an "utter neglect of religion" among Palatines in Ireland....
"Most families of Long [Palatine surname] recorded on the main database gave their religion as Roman Catholic by the time they reached Canada the Longs identified as Irish Protestant, rather than Catholic or Palatine."
by 1821 a Rev James Martin wrote on behalf of the Palatines seeking to emigrate to Canada since moving within Ireland was not possible due to "murders and house burnings" - that is the year that Christopher Sparling, my ancestor, was murdered.
In 1749 John Wesley preached where John Sparling, my ancestor, lived in 1756. Shinrone County, Tipperary. p. 150
source:
European Migrants in Eighteenth Century Ireland: The Great Palatine Migration of 1709 by Katherine McCormick, 2025 book, page 86
Wow - Rotorua New Zealand area - fascinating vid
Last night I watched Black 47 - the film about the famine struggle in Ireland
The Palatine
tradition of loyalty to the Crown had a number of side effects. The downside
was that they sometimes became the focus of anti-establishment feeling.
This peaked in the difficult years of 1821–1822 when the country was suffering
from an economic downturn compounded by famine. There were attacks on
farmhouses, robbery and murders on the roads resulting in a wave of emigration.
History repeated itself in the 1840s, many abandoning the Old Country
to seek a life elsewhere....In addition
to farming skills, all Palatines tried to ensure that their sons acquired
an additional trade, carpenter, shoemaker or weaver, often apprenticed
out to relatives. Some were attracted to trade and are to be found in
the big cities.
This reminded me of my murdered Christopher Sparling ancestor in 1821. I discovered a book that had been self-published in New Zealand - and an email contact. Sure enough I received a nice long reply.
Their younger brother Christopher
is associated with the landholding of his wife’s family, the Corneilles.
This was at Ballycurrane, to the west of Patrickswell. He later, on behalf
of his newly married daughters, took on a lease at Rouska, on the Courtney
Estate up in the hills to the west of Newcastle, a project which led to
his murder.
This led me to reading more Sparling ancestry details.
https://latitude.to/articles-by-country/de/germany/6518/palatinate-region
The Sparlings exports cattle back to England. The Sparlings became militia leaders in St. Mary's Ontario... - "wardens" and a major and colonel....and a tax collector!
Their parents were both Sparlings - meaning Sparling was actually Mary's maiden name! But they were SECOND cousins - not direct cousins...
Their Daughter Olivia moved to New Zealand. Mary Sparling and her daughter Susannah moved to St. Mary's Ontario or Huron tract Canada....
, its historic site was originally surveyed in 1839 within the historical "Huron Tract"
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~jksparling/genealogy/
Pony and Trap is how they got around...
The bride and groom
only met after the suitability of the match had been considered by their
parents.
https://historyireland.com/irish-palatine-centre/
My mom went to the Irish Palatine Center by Castle Matrix....
Irish Palatines adapted their homeland winemaking traditions into hard cider production after settling in Ireland in the 18th century.
[1, 2] History of Palatine Cider
- German Roots: Palatine refugees arriving from the German Rhineland in 1709 brought wine-making skills, but shifted to cider due to Ireland's cooler climate. [1, 2, 3]
- Orchards and Presses: Settling largely around County Limerick (such as Rathkeale and Ballingrane), they planted apple orchards next to their homes and built stone-wheeled cider presses. [1, 2, 3, 4]
https://boydellandbrewer.com/blog/early-modern-and-modern-history/the-palatine-migration-irelands-european-connection/?v=0b3b97fa6688
In the early 17th Century, the Lower German Palatinate was rich with Protestant refugees from neighbouring lands. Families settled there to rebuild their lives and escape persecution. The Palatinate was repeatedly ravaged by attacks from France during the 17th Century.
Following a terribly harsh winter and responding to notices by New World landowners showing the benefits of emigrating to America, a substantial exodus of Palatine families occurred in 1709. Some of the Palatine emigrants of 1709 found their way directly to the New World, but over 13,000 were routed through London. The Landlords of Irish estates wanted to increase the Protestant tenant population, a goal supported by Queen Anne of England. In September 1709, almost 3000 Palatines were relocated to rural Ireland, with a roughly equivalent number being transported to New York and North Carolina. Over the following three years, more than two thirds of the Irish Palatine settlers left Ireland and returned to England and Germany.
Of the Landlords who successfully managed to induce their allotment of Palatine immigrants to remain in rural Ireland, the most successful was Sir Thomas Southwell of Castle Matrix near Rathkeale, Co. Limerick. He championed the Palatines to secure government support for the settlement venture and took care of many of their initial needs at considerable personal expense, being reimbursed only just before his death in 1720. In 1711, Southwell had retained only 10 families but by 1714 he had settled about 130 families on his lands, and the region around his demesne has retained the largest concentration of Irish Palatine residents to this day in Killeheen, Ballingrane, and Courtmatrix.
