This series of family history articles by Ian C. Sinclair
was originally written for Girnigoe magazine.
Ian C. Sinclair
is a retired solicitor who specialized in water and
environmental law; he now runs Sinclair Consultancy Services.
He and his wife Janet live in Solihull, in the West Midlands,
England, but travel extensively — click here for details.
(Photo: William Penny)
Sinclairs of Glasgow
In my previous article Sinclairs of
South Leith, I wrote about some of the Sinclairs
who lived in Leith in the 17th, 18th and early 19th
Centuries. I have told the story of the second son
of Adam Sinclair, Robert, who was born on 1 August
and baptised on 13 August 1827, in my further article Sinclairs of Kelso .
In this article, I want to deal with the story
of Andrew Sinclair and his descendents, and how they
fared in the 19th and early 20th Centuries.
Adam Sinclair was always so called, but, after much
difficulty, we established that he was in fact christened
Eadie Sinclair. It is believed that this may be
the Gaelic form of Adam. Eadie Sinclair was born, not
in South Leith, but in Perth, on 14 August 1786.
We have established that, on 18 January 1822, in
South Leith Parish, County of Midlothian, Adam Sinclair,
shoemaker, married Elizabeth Cameron, "residing
in Leith and daughter of Robert Cameron, late wright
of the Parish of Dull, after proclamation of banns,
by the Revd Dr Dickson".
A first child was soon born to Adam and Elizabeth
– Agnes, born 20 October, and baptised on
3 November 1822 in the presence of the congregation.
She died in 1824. Her two younger brothers, Andrew and
Robert, were the first to move away from Leith to other
parts of Scotland, no doubt to find work, and this travel
was made possible by the improved state of transport,
primarily by the railways, but also by improved roads.
The first son was born on 28 January 1825,
and baptised in the presence of the congregation on
13 February 1825. He was named Andrew, no doubt
after his grandfather Andrew who had died on
29 December 1812.
In the early part of the 19th Century, Leith was
growing in size and importance. In 1745, it was estimated
that the population of North Leith was only about 1,400,
and according to the Statistical
Accounts of Scotland (which was compiled 1791–99
by Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, Caithness), the population was only "about 2,400".
But South Leith was much larger, as according to that
same source, "in this parish are 5142 heads of families,
2439 male children, 2432 female children, 484 male servants,
935 female servants, in all 11,432 individuals and 2,893
families". Thus in 1791, the estimated population
was 13,841. However, according to Vol I
– List of Parishes – Edinburgh of "The New
Statistical Account of Scotland" published in 1845
by William Blackwood and Sons: in 1801, the population of
Leith was 15,272; in 1821, 26,000; in 1831, 25,855, and
in 1841, 26,026 — divided between South Leith, as
to 19,776, and North Leith, as to 8,492.
These growing numbers were reflected in the growing
importance and independence of Leith. In 1827 a Municipal Act
was obtained by which the jurisdiction of the burgh
was modified and improved, and in 1832 the Parliamentary
Reform Bill bestowed on Leith the privilege of sending a Member to Parliament. The Burgh Reform Act of 1833
conferred on Leith a separate and independent magistracy.
The name Leith is derived from an old Scots
or Gaelic word which signifies the "mouth of the
water", namely where the river reaches the sea. Thus its
importance arises from the fact that it was the sea-port of
Edinburgh.
Andrew (son of Adam Sinclair) was married at the age of 21
on 12 February 1846 in the Parish of South Leith
by Revd David Thorburn. The entry reads, "Andrew
Sinclair, Rope and Sail maker, residing at No 16 Kirkgate,
Leith, parish of South Leith to Matilda Reid, residing at
the same place, daughter of the late Warrender Reid, Seaman,
Leith". We are told they were "three times proclaimed
in Order to Marriage in the Parish Church of South Leith on
8 February 1846 and No Objections Offered were married
at Leith on 12th February".
With Andrew’s description as rope and sail maker, it is
quite possible that he was employed at the Edinburgh Rope
and Sailcloth Manufactory, which was then of Links Place and
James Place, South Leith – just to the north of Leith
Links and to the east of Leith Walk and Constitution Street.
On her death certificate, when she died in Glasgow on
25 January, 1922, Matilda was described as "daughter
of Alexander Reid, Seaman (deceased) and Jemima Reid, Maiden
Surname, McLaren (deceased)". Her parents were Warrender
Alexander Reid and Jemima McLaren.
The first child of Andrew and Matilda was a daughter,
Jemina, born in 1846 or 1847. A second daughter, Elisabeth,
on 5 November 1848 was followed by a third daughter, Ann,
on 11 August 1850, baptised on 19 August by Revd David Thorburn, who had married them four years before. On this entry,
Andrew is described as a seaman and not as a rope and
sail maker.
In the 1851 Census for Leith, we find those mentioned
as living there were:
- Adam Sinclair, aged 60,shoemaker
- Andrew Sinclair, son, aged 26, rope-maker
- Matilda, wife, aged 25
- Jemina, daughter, aged 4, scholar, presumably called after
her maternal grandmother, Jemima Reid, née McLaren
- Betsy , daughter, aged 2, presumably the Elizabeth who
was born on 5 November 1848
- Ann, daughter, aged 8 months –the daughter
born on 11 August 1850)
The 1881 British Census shows that there have been, in
the 30 year intervening period, significant changes in
the family of Andrew and Matilda Sinclair since the 1851 Census.
In that period the family had moved to 12 North Coburg
Street, Govan, Lanark. The family is listed as follows:
- Andrew Sinclair, Head, Sailmaker, married, aged 56, male,
born in Leith;
- Matilda Sinclair, wife, sailmaker’s wife, married, aged 56,
female, born in Leith;
- Andrew Sinclair, son, letter press printer, unmarried, 22,
male, born Glasgow;
- Janet Sinclair, daughter, dressmaker, unmarried, aged 19,
female, born Glasgow;
- Jeannie Sinclair, daughter, formerly mantle maker, unmarried,
aged 19, female, born Glasgow;
- Maggie* (presumably Margaret) Sinclair, daughter, machinist,
unmarried, aged 16, female, born Glasgow;
- Elizabeth Sinclair**, daughter, dressmaker,
aged 15, female, born Glasgow.
*This Maggie had a sad and short life,
like many of her sisters. In 1884, in Glasgow, she married
Robert Douglas Morgan, a mercantile worker, and then she died
in 1887. In 1890, the widower Robert Douglas Morgan
re-married, to Mary Gibson. Fortunately that marriage lasted
much longer, as he died in 1961, when he was described
as the widower of Mary Gibson — the informant being
his niece, Margaret Smith of 48 Reston Drive, Glasgow.
**This Elizabeth would have been born
in 1867, and so she had been so named to "replace"
the previous daughter called Betsy who had been born in 1848
and who had apparently died before 1867.
Three years after the 1881 Census, on 31 December 1884,
there is a family marriage between two cousins: Andrew, the son
of Andrew, to Elizabeth, the daughter of Robert. The wedding
takes place at the home of Robert and Charlotte Sinclair,
at 7 Forestfield, Kelso, according to the Rites of
the Free Church of Scotland. Andrew Sinclair, then aged 25 years,
described as "Bachelor, Printer, 51 St James
Street, Glasgow. Son of Andrew Sinclair, Sailmaker (Journeyman)
and of Matilda Sinclair, Maiden Surname Reid" married
his cousin, Elizabeth Sinclair, aged 23, "Spinster, Domestic
Servant, 7 Forest Field, Kelso. Daughter of Robert Sinclair, Candlemaker (Journeyman) and Charlotte Bruce Sinclair,
Maiden Surname Rickets". From these entries, we learn
that Andrew must have been born in 1859, and that, by this time,
his parents had moved to Glasgow, where he was born.
By the 1891 Census, we find that the family was living at
23 Paterson Street, Govan, Glasgow, when the occupants
were:
- Andrew Sinclair, Head, aged 66, born in Leith, Midlothian;
- Matilda Sinclair, wife, also aged 66 and also born in Leith;
- Elizabeth, daughter, aged 25, Dressmaker, born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire. (If this age is correct she was presumably born in 1866 or 1867.)
Thus, we can deduce that the family must have moved from
Leith to Glasgow between 1851 and 1856, and that, by 1891,
their three other daughters — the older Elizabeth, Jemima
and Ann (who was born in 1848) — had already died.
This move would also explain why, when Adam Sinclair died on
2 May, 1856, aged 67, he died in South Leith Workhouse.
It is probable that the family was passing through difficult times
in the early 1850s, and presumably Andrew moved from the port
of Leith to Govan on the Clyde, another port, where he must
have hoped work and jobs would have been better.
In the 1901 Census for 23 Paterson Street, Govan, we find
that there are only two residents, namely:
- Matilda Sinclair, Head, Widow, aged 76, born in Leith, Edinburghshire;
- Elizabeth Sinclair, daughter, unmarried, aged 34, Dressmaker.
The reason for this two-women household was that Andrew Sinclair
died at "2.20 a.m. at 23 Paterson Street, Glasgow, on
6 March, 1900". He was aged 75 years, a sail maker, married
to Matilda Reid, and was the son of Adam Sinclair (shoemaker) (deceased) and Elizabeth Sinclair, Maiden Surname, Cameron (deceased).
The interesting new information [from Andrew's death registration] is that the informant was his son, Andrew Sinclair,
of 17 Bromar Road, Dulwich (Camberwell) London SE 5.
Matilda Sinclair, widow of Andrew Sinclair, was to live for another
22 years, still staying in Glasgow, until she died aged
97 years at 2.10 am (almost the same time of day as her
husband) at 152 Calder Street, Govanhill, Glasgow. The details
of parentage given confirm the information given previously.
The informant was her daughter Elizabeth, who was present at
the death.
The information in this article was compiled by Ian Sinclair and
Alan Sinclair, both great grandsons of Adam Sinclair. The initial
contact was as a result of Alan responding to a message put
by Ian on an Ancestry.com message-board.
Ian C. Sinclair
ianc@clansinclaircanada.ca
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