Early Life
It's not clear which family
Susanna Sparll came from, though her year of birth is indicated in her death record as being 1745, given she was 79 when she died.
We have the following people popping up in Bungay at the right time:
- Robert Sparll, married Susanna Edwards in 1764; he must have been born before 1743. There is a burial record for Robert Spall, born 1739, died 1827 in Bungay, also for a Susan Spawl, born 1740, died 1796 who might have been his wife Susanna Edwards. FMP has apprenticeship records suggesting a Robert Sparl was a wheelwright in Bungay from 1741 through to 1776 - could this have been the father of Robert? The surname is variously spelled Spall, Sparl and Sparll. Robert jnr appears to have remarried in 1801 to Lucy Hambling following the death of his first wife Susanna in 1796.
The Ipswich Journal of 30 Sept 1749 mentions that one of Robert Sparll's (the wheelwright) apprentices, John Wright, had absconded.
- Sarah Sparll, married James Brown of Ellingham in 1766; she must have been born before 1745
- Ann Sparll, married Robert Smith on the 29th of October 1776; she must have been born before 1755
- William Sparll, who married Margaret Lincoln at Brampton in 1782; he must have been born before 1761
- An Edward Sparll, married Jemima Griggs in Bungay in 1793; he must have been born before 1772. This could possibly also be the same person: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGRP-KLK. Looks like Jemima died in 1807 (aged 35) whereas he survived until 1851. Later records have his surname as Spall and suggest he was born in 1767
- Lucy Sparll, born 1775, who died in 1812 (aged 37) and was buried at Holy Trinity
So possibly, Susanna had siblings Robert (b. 1739), Sarah (b. c. 1744) and Ann (b. c. 1755); all children of Robert Sparll the Bungay wheelwright. The
Ipswich Journal of 7 Nov 1795 (p. 3) carries a notice that the Wheelwright's shop currently in the occupation of Robert Sporl is shortly to be let.
It may be relevant that there is a village called Sporle in Norfolk, near Swaffham. This might be the origin of the surname Sparll. Certainly, there are many more births in this period with similar surnames (Sporle, Spaull, Sproll etc) in Norfolk than there are in Suffolk (only 3 on
FindMyPast). So it's most likely that Susannah's father was born in Norfolk and perhaps moved south to Bungay to work.
One final note: a reader
2 sent me the following short note, quoted from a manuscript
3 in the British Museum:
Nelson Burtsall, of Bungay, farmer, married Susan Spall, of Bungay, of mean origin and character
. I think 'of mean origin' denotes she was from a fairly lowly family, though it could also mean that she was illegitimate (perhaps an illegitimate daughter of Robert Sparll the wheelwright?).
Family Life
Susanna married
Nelson Burtsal on the 25
th of February 1770 at
St Mary in Bungay, Suffolk.
Death
Susanna died on the 9
th of September 1824, 16 years after her husband, and was buried at
Holy Trinity in Bungay on the 14
th of that month. Her will is
held at the Norwich Record Office. Her tombstone is on findagrave and apparently indicates that she was 76 when she died, making her year of birth 1748. This contradicts her burial record, which gives her age as 79 and so year of birth as 1745.
Footnotes
[1] NRO has a
marriage bond for a Thomas Sparll and an Elizabeth Isbell dated 1734 which is an appropriate time for them to be Susanna's parents. His surname is variously spelled Spaell, Spaull and Spavll in FindMyPast records of the marriage, which appears to have happened on the 28th of February (the day after the bond). Thomas' parish was Whitlingham (between Norwich and Claxton) and Elizabeth's was Claxton (a few miles SE of Norwich).
[2] Email, 2nd December 2021
[3] Add Ms 51251, f. 252
1745 - 1824 (~ 78 years)
[2] 
