Captain John Aspell

Abt 1720 - Bef 1800  (~ 79 years)

• Name	John Aspell
  Title	Captain
  Born	Abt 1720	Ireland   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Research Overview	1752	Trinity Bay, Newfoundland   [2]
  Seary's Names of the Island of Newfoundland ASPELL, a surname of England and Ireland; in England from the English place names Aspall (Suffolk) or Aspal (Lancashire), or (dweller in the) valley overgrown with aspens, or (dweller on the) aspen hill. In Ireland, Aspell is a variant of Archbold (Archibald) in east Leinster. (Bardsley, Ekwall, MacLysaght). In Newfoundland it appears that, except for one family who appears briefly in the Church of England records at St. John's, the Aspell families were all of Irish Roman Catholic origin. Where details of their origins are recorded, the Aspell settlers are all identified as being from Co. Wexford, Ireland. In surviving records, the surname has been recorded under multiple variants and spellings i.e. Archbold, Archibald, Aspel, Aspell, Aspil, Asbell, Aspbell etc., etc. One of the earliest mentions of the Aspell surname in Newfoundland (recorded under one of its variants) was at Trinity, Trinity Bay in 1752. At that time, the Church of England clergy were responsible for collecting funds in the area for the support of the destitute, orphans, etc. The surviving Trinity court records for that year show that a Capt. John "Archibald" was assessed 15 shillings as his contribution to this fund. In 1800-1801, a "Return of the Number of Houses, Inhabitants, etc" was conducted in Trinity Bay which shows that a home and a fishing room were being occupied by two men named Archibald and Mealey. They were located at Rider's Harbour, Random Island. The return tells us that William Mealey was the proprietor of the fishing premises, which had two boats. It also tells us that one man (unspecified) was married, and up until that time, there were five children in his family, two boys and three girls. All eight people in the household were Roman Catholic. Based on various church records, for individuals recorded under the various spellings of the Aspell surname, it is likely that the family was that of Andrew Archibald (Aspell), his wife Bridget, and their five children John, Patrick, Bridget, Mary and Catherine. Analysis of surviving records indicates that Rider's Harbour, up until the late 1830s, was considered (for the most part) a Roman Catholic settlement. One historian explains, that based on folklore of that area, their eventual departure was due to a feud spawned by a love triangle which divided the Roman Catholic population. The statistics of the 1857 Census indicate that the population of the settlement had greatly declined, and none of the residents living at Rider's Harbour were Roman Catholic by that time. After the Aspells left Rider's Harbour, they initially settled in other settlements in Newfoundland mainly at Harbour Grace and St. John's. In these two locations, the Aspell/ Archbold etc. surname was already present. It had been established there by unrelated Aspell settlers who had come directly from Co. Wexford, Ireland. From these two towns, some Aspell family members eventually moved again settling at Ferryland and Cape Broyle, while others chose to immigrate to Montreal and New Brunswick, Canada. Eventually the family who settled at Ferryland also moved to Montreal. The Aspell families who settled in Tar Cove, Cape Broyle (via Harbour Grace) form most of today's Aspell presence in Newfoundland. From what I can determine, most families bearing the Aspell surname in Newfoundland, and their like-named distant cousins in other locations, can trace their ancestry directly back to Capt. John Archibald. I could find no indication that any surviving Aspells were direct descendants of other Aspell families who settled in Newfoundland. Of course, in addition to those bearing the actual Aspell surname, we know there are also other families who can trace their family roots through generations of female descendants of Capt. John Archibald.
  Died	Bef 1800  [1]
  Person ID	I5314	Families of Calvert (Caplin Bay), Newfoundland
  Last Modified	14 Aug 2019

  
  

  Children	+ 1. Andrew Aspell,   b. Abt 1765, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland ,   d. Aft 1820, Rider's Harbour, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland  (Age ~ 56 years)
  Last Modified	28 May 2016
  Family ID	F1873	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - Abt 1720 - Ireland Research Overview - 1752 - Trinity Bay, Newfoundland  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S90] Approximate date based on another recorded event, Reddigan, Kevin, (A date calculated by using a recorded date and a person's age, or by estimating the most likely date, based on other recorded life events). [S113] Keith Matthews Name Files, 1500-1850, Matthews, Keith, (The Maritime History Archives, Memorial University of Newfoundland), Keith Matthews Name Files, 1500-1850 -- File A079 - Archibald.