The Family
Burying Place
of M' Spread
of Forest
A D 1791
The name on the headstone of M' Spread may be Mr Spread. In the Landed Estates Database it is stated that in 1750 a William Spread lived at Forest and in the 1770s and 1780s Spread Esq is recorded as resident at Forest. At the time of Griffith's Valuation, around 1850, a John Spread held an estate in the parishes of Cannaway and Matehy. He was landlord of Coolnasoon townland. Forrest was later owned by T. Gollock (Griffith's Valuation). It was burned in July 1921, just before the War of Independence, when it was the property of James Gollock.
According to Cheryl Murray (California), a direct decendent of the Spreads of Forrest, the first known member of the family living in Forrest was William Spread who married Barbara Wilson in 1729 at Innishannon. Both William and Barbara died before 1763. Their son John Spread (1730--Jan 1792) also lived at Forrest and married Anstace (1732--1789), youngest daughter of Christopher Earbery of Shandangan House. John and Anstace's son, John Mathias Spread married Agnes Hayes. He was commander in the Royal Navy and died at Kinsale in 1847. Their son John William Spread moved to Kensingston in 1860s and died in 1898. His son John Mathias Spread married Mary Elizabeth O'Callaghan and moved to Australia.
John Spread, Forrest, died January, 1792, according to the newspaper, but though the headstone is dated 1791 it is most likely he is the one commerated.