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[Links last checked: 17 Apr 2005, page last updated 13 Jun 2009.]
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CSAC and Family History Research
Clan Sinclair Association Canada welcomes all those who share
an interest in furthering research into the family name of Sinclair.
This research is one of the major objectives
of our association.
The official CSAC genealogist is
Wanda Sinclair
of Rexdale Ontario, who has provided printable
forms
for members to get started on family history.
With other researchers, Wanda is also active on the Yahoo-based
Sinclair-Roots
email list. To join the list, you must be registered at Yahoo and have
a public profile there.
After gathering as much information as you can from your family,
and checking to see if others have researched the same lines, often
family history research involves checking through a lot of old records.
Many of these are now available online - see below
for a list of genealogy links.
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Sinclairs from Argyll
Many Canadian Sinclairs trace their family's ancestry back to Argyll in Scotland.
A particular focus of interest is the island of Islay, one of the inner Hebrides.
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Sinclairs from the Campsie Fells
The family of CSAC founders Roselma and Edward Sinclair
is descended from Sinclairs of Fintry in the Campsie Fells,
which is west of Stirling. Their third son, Rory, carried on
his father's search for family, and eventually got to know
an elderly Scottish cousin, Mary Sinclair. Read his editorial
from Summer 1996, Roots: A Small Tale
for more of the story.
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Sinclairs from Banffshire
One-time Canadian Fisheries Minister James Sinclair (1908-1984),
whose daughter Margaret married Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot
Trudeau, is descended from the Sinclairs of Banffshire.
Jimmy Sinclair was the son of Kathleen and James G. Sinclair, a teacher.
His papers are at the University
of British Columbia - he attended UBC, and received a Rhodes scholarship
in 1928. From 1940 to 1958, Sinclair represented North Vancouver as
a Liberal Member of Parliament. He was Fisheries Minister from 1952 to 1957;
a Fisheries vessel is named after him, as is the Sinclair Center at
Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver.
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The Sinclairs of Nova Scotia
The Prince Henry Sinclair Memorial
commemorating Sinclair's 1398 expedition is at Boylston Park
in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia.
Four hundred years after Prince Henry's stay, Sinclairs
arrived in Nova Scotia as settlers. CSAC Past President Bill Sinclair
and Western Canada President Jim Sinclair
are both descendants of the Sinclairs of Goshen, Guysborough County,
Nova Scotia. A 1901 book, The Sinclairs of Roslin, Caithness
and Goshen, by the Gaelic scholar Rev. Alexander
Maclean Sinclair, F.G.S.C., LL.D, has been re-issued by
the Association and may be purchased from the Clan Shop.
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The Sinclairs of the Hudson's Bay Company
William Sinclair from East-on-Quay in Harray on the Mainland
of Orkney joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1792, and was shipped
to York Factory on the north coast of North America.
Soon after establishing his first outpost at Nestoowyan, William
married a local girl, Nahovway - whose Cree name is now written Nahoway.
They had a large family, and their descendants have spread round
the world.
William Sinclair worked for the Hudson's Bay Company the rest
of his life, rising to chief factor. Most of Nahoway and William's
daughters married company men. Their oldest son, William Jr., also
rose to chief factor. Son Thomas was a councillor at Assiniboia,
and built the first steam grist mill in Manitoba. The youngest child,
Colin, became a merchant seaman.
Another of Nahoway and William's sons, James, was most famous
as a Red River-based free trader, but at times he also worked for
the Hudson's Bay Company. James was the Sinclair who, in 1841 and
1854, successfully led parties of emigrants from the present-day
Winnipeg area across the Rockies to settle in the Oregon territory.
In 1963, the University of Washington Press published D. Geneva
Lent's book, West of the Mountains: James Sinclair and the
Hudson's Bay Company, which gives some background about his
family.
The article on this family at Paul Sinclair's website kingcrest.com/sinclair is by Neil Ray,
a sixth-generation descendant, who publishes a newsletter
of particular interest to the descendants of Nahoway and William
Sinclair.
[Kingcrest.com not available, 17-Apr-2006.]
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The Sinclairs of South Leith
Through parish registers, Ian C. Sinclair of Solihull, England has
traced his Sinclair roots back to a John Sinclair, "Tayllor in the yeard
heads" whose son David was born 3rd March 1707 in the parish
of South Leith, Midlothian.
Click here to read more....
Photo: LeithHistory.co.uk
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Genealogy Links
- Family Search
- Searchable indexes of many UK parish records, also the 1881 Canada
census, and more. International Genealogical Index (IGI).
Wonderful online Search Research Guidance and Research Help, such
as the Scotland Research Outline.
All free!
- GENUKI
- UK and Ireland genealogy. Huge non-commercial collection for family
history researchers, including parish-by-parish records and maps. Many
links. Locate your ancestors' parish, and you may find photos of their
churches.
- Statistical Account of Scotland
- Comprehensive parish-by-parish accounts first compiled by Sir
John Sinclair of Ulbster, 1791-1799, then again in 1845. (Use the
open access login.) Hosted by the University of Edinburgh.
Fascinating reading!
- Cyndi's List
- Huge, legendary list of genealogy sites on the Internet,
by Cyndi Howells, author of Planting Your Family Tree
Online.
- Sinclair Family History page
- Paul Sinclair's history and genealogy site.
[Not available, 17-Apr-2006.]
- Scotlands People
- Fully-indexed old parish records, statutory (from 1855) Birth Marriage
and Death records, census records, and wills and testaments from the
General Register Office for Scotland. Also general information –
for their list of Scottish parishes and registration districts, click here. Online access and searches
are free, search results and images cost but may be kept in your online
account. Excellent value.
- ScottishHandwriting.com
- Online tutorials in reading Scottish handwriting.
- ScotsFind.org
- Scottish genealogy databases.
- Scots Origins
- Pay site, includes 1861 and 1871 Scotland census sighting.
- ScottishDocuments.com
- E-commerce site of the Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) and
the National Archives of Scotland (NAS).
- ArchiveGrid
- Index to historical documents, personal papers, and family histories
held in archives around the world."Open the door to history."
- UK Census Online
- The ongoing FreeCEN project is working to provide all UK census returns,
1841 to 1891, in a free searchable online database.
- Census Records Online
- Links to Canadian, US, and UK census records.
- Census Finder
- Directory of free online census records.
- Free BMD
- Civil Registration index of Birth, Marriage and Death (BMD) records
for England and Wales, which were kept from 1837. Databases still
incomplete. Free site, very busy.
- FindMyPast.com (formerly 1837online.com)
- Pay site offers the General Records Office (GRO) indexes to
England and Wales BMD records, also overseas BMDs,
military records, new transcriptions of the 1841, 1861, 1871
and 1891 censuses, and more. Order certificates
from the GRO here.
- FamilyRecords.gov.uk
- UK government official source for family records.
- Ancestry.com
- "The largest collection of family history records on the Web". Free newsletters,
a few free databases. Your library and/or local LDS Family History Centre may subscribe. Access to
the Ancestry World Tree is free.
- Surname Profiler
- University College of London project showing British surname frequency and distributions
in 1881 and 1998, also social demographics.
- GenClass.com
- Month-long online genealogy courses include a class website and regular chats.
Scottish Research class highly recommended.
- Federation of Family History Societies
- How to contact a family history society (FHS) that may help with your genealogical research.
- The Scottish Association of Family History Societies
- Patron is Robin Blair, LVO, WS, Lord Lyon
King of Arms. Online newsletter.
- Caithness Family History Society
- FHS for those with family origins in the county of Caithness in
north-east Scotland. Sells 1841 census returns for some parishes.
- Tracing Your Islay Ancestors
- Islay in Argyll, an Inner Hebrides island.
- Ancestral Orkney
- Find your Orkney ancestors. Excellent links list.
- BuyOrkney.com
- Commercial site includes biographies.
- Hudson's Bay Company Archives
- Online presence of "one of Canada's national treasures",
at the Archives of Manitoba.
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