1650, Bass John Spreull

The Martyr's Crest.pdf
1667, Trial & Torture of the Boot

Daughter of
"Bass" John Spreull

Margeret SPREULL was christened on October 8, 1700 in Glasgow and died in 1784, at age 84.

Who Was "Bass" John Spreull?

"Bass" John Spreull from the painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller- Now lost

‘Tis evening, and the Martyr's face
Looks at me from the wall
His presence seems to fill the place
Where now few footsteps fall.

From The The Martyr’s Crest
Adobe Reader is required to view this file

John SPREULL Bailie in Paisley was born in 1607 and died in 1685, at age 78. John married Janet ALEXANDER, daughter of Bailie James ALEXANDER and Janet MAXWELL, in 1642. Janet ALEXANDER died in 1690. He is known for having purchased for the town of Paisley its privileges from the Earl of Dundonald.

Their children were:

34 M i. Surgeon James SPREULL was born in 1643 in Paisley. James married Ann SPREULL, daughter of John SPREULL and Agnes ALLASOUN, in 1674. Ann was born 1643 ? and died in 1686. (

+ 35 M ii. John 'Bass' SPREULL was born in 1646 and died in 1722, at age 76. John married Margaret WINGATE (d. 1756) on August 2, 1696 in Glasgow. John was an apothecary by trade. Note: While (Bass) John Spreull was a prisoner on the Bass Rock, his first wife, Isobel Clarke, died in 1683, and their daughter Margaret died in 1691. He married again in 1696 Margaret Wingate, by whom' he had three sons and four daughters. Of their two eldest sons the first John only lived a year. The second John was drowned at the age of nineteen, while crossing from Greenock to Cardross in a pleasure boat. The third son, James Spreull, was a bailie and a worthy citizen in Glasgow, and lived till 1769 (forty-seven years after his father died).

36 M iii. Alexander SPREULL

37 M iv. Thomas SPREULL died in 1676.

38 F v. Lilias SPREULL died in 1683. Lilias married Thomas REID.

39 F vi. Catherine SPREULL. Catherine married John BUCHANAN.

	From The The Martyr’s Crest - In 1667, when General Dalziel came to Kilmamock he sent a party of soldiers to Paisley to apprehend John Spreull, merchant (father of "Bass" John) there, who had been fined by Middleton, and had, with many other worthy persons, been forced to abscond.
The soldiers not finding Mr. Spreull, they took his son, a lad of twenty-one years of age, a prisoner, because he would not discover where his father was. After many terrible threatenings of being shot to death, roasted at a fire, etc., and some short imprisonment, he was dismissed.

1667 - The Trial and Torture of the Boot - Read this account of John's treatment in prison.

John was imprisoned at the Bass Rock.

Sites Helpful in Researching Bass John Spreull
Bass Rock - Now a Bird Sanctuary
Scottish Covenanter Memorials Association
The Covenanters - The Fifty Year Struggle 1638-1688 This is great Covenanter history page.