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[Page last updated 01 August 2011]
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 — click here
for a list of some 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.
Jimmy Sinclair attended the University of British Columbia,
and received a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford in 1928.
From 1940 to 1958, Sinclair represented North Vancouver
as a Liberal Member of Parliament; he was the only MP
on active service. 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.
Sinclair's grandson Justin Trudeau has been Liberal MP
for the Papineau district of Montreal, Quebec since 2008.
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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. Former CSAC President Bill Sinclair
and current 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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