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I recently came across a copy of the Model Railway News magazine dated June 1956. It contains the story of the supposed MacSporran branch of the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway. This comprised a room sized 'O' gauge model layout which was started in 1935 by David R. Goodfellow a doctor in Manchester. The layout apparently was named by his children. It subsequently survived the family's emigration to Auckland, New Zealand and after conversion there to an outdoor setting, it expanded to incorporate stations at Inveraray, Dalmally and Fort William with a circuit of over 50 metres plus a possible future extension to Campbeltown. Further research shows that Dr. Goodfellow returned to England in 1966 and passed away at Braintree, Essex in 1982. The fate of his model is unknown.

As part of the 100th anniversary of the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign in 2015, an exhibition is being held at St. Columb's cathedral in Derry, Northern Ireland. This page shows one of the exhibits, the medals of William G McSparron who perished in the battle. William's gravestone is illustrated on our In Memory page. As noted on this same page, William's brother Archibald had been killed two years earlier in France.

Clan Donald in the USA are undertaking a project to map the DNA of individuals around the world to determine their genetic ancestry. They have over 2000 participants so far, making it the largest family based genetic project in the world. If you would like to find if you are descended from Somerled, visit the project website. It has already been shown that the Illinois McSparins are related to the Pennsylvania McSparrans, albeit six or eight generations ago.

The Clan MacSporran Association ceased to operate as a formal organisation in 2002 after 27 years in which it organised annual gatherings, issued newsletters and held council meetings. Although the closure was due to diminishing interest in clan matters, this website continues in an attempt to keep clanfolk up to date with whatever newsworthy snippets can be found. The following table illustrates the flow of visitors to this website since 2008.

Did you know?
There is a village called McSparren in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Its zipcode is 17563. [google map]
Also sometimes spelt McSparran, it is possibly named after an early manager of the post office there

Until recently there was a street called McSparran Road in Croy near Glasgow. Its postcode was G65 9HN though this now appears to have been renamed Hillside. [google map] According to this page, the road was named after Rev. Archibald McSparran who was priest at Holy Cross Church in Croy from 1930 to 1933.

There is also a McSparren Road in Pittsburg, Illinois where its zipcode is 62974. The road extends into Thompsonville and it becomes zipcode 62890. [google map]

The McSparran Avenue in Midfield, Texas is zipcode 77458. [google map] (also spelt Mc Sparron Avenue by openstreetmap.org)

MacSparran Hill can be found in South Kingston, Rhode Island. It is named after Reverend James MacSparran who served in the area between 1721 and 1757. [google map]

And in the southern hemisphere there's a McSporran Crescent in Port Augusta, South Australia 5700. [google map]
A correspondent in Australia informs us that this is named after Morrice McSporran who was an early resident of this area. Morrice was the first licensee of the Standpipe Hotel on the western side of Port Augusta, a watering hole for the bullock teams at that time.

Also in Australia, there's a McSparron Road in Greens Creek, Victoria 3381.

Do you know of any more? Can you shed any light on the origin of these names? Let me know.

Suggestions and indeed contributions for this page are welcome. Send any comments to me, John W McSparron

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