Henry Sinclair (died 1513) was a Scottish noble and the 4th

Lord Sinclair Lord Sinclair is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. According to James Balfour Paul's ''The Scots Peerage'', volume VII published in 1910, the first person to be styled Lord Sinclair was William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney and 1st Earl of Cai ...

. In ''

The Scots Peerage ''The Scots Peerage'' is a nine-volume book series of the Scottish nobility compiled and edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, published in Edinburgh from 1904 to 1914. The full title is ''The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Rober ...

'' by

James Balfour Paul Sir James Balfour Paul (16 November 1846 – 15 September 1931) was the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the officer responsible for heraldry in Scotland, from 1890 until the end of 1926. Life James Balfour Paul was educated at Royal High School, Edinbur ...

he is designated as the 3rd Lord Sinclair, but historian Roland Saint-Clair designates him the 4th Lord Sinclair and references this to an Act of the Scottish Parliament in which he was made Lord Sinclair based on his descent from his great-grandfather,

Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney (c. 1375 – c. 1420) was the Jarl (Earl) of Orkney, 10th Baron of Roslin and Pantler of Scotland. According to Roland Saint-Clair writing in the late 19th century, Henry Sinclair was also the first of his ...

, the first Lord Sinclair.

Bernard Burke Sir John Bernard Burke, (5 January 1814 – 12 December 1892) was a British genealogist and Ulster King of Arms, who helped publish ''Burke's Peerage''. Personal life Burke, of Irish descent, was born at London and was educated in London an ...

, in his a ''Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire'', agrees with Roland Saint-Clair and says that Henry Sinclair was "in reality" the fourth holder of the title of Lord Sinclair.

Early life

He was the son of William Sinclair, 3rd Lord Sinclair and Christian Leslie, daughter of

George Leslie, 1st Earl of Rothes George Leslie, 1st Earl of Rothes (c. 1406/1417 – 1490) was a Scottish nobleman and the first to hold the title of "Earl of Rothes", a hereditary title of the ruler of Leslie, Fife and the lands belonging to the Earl of Rothes. Family Georg ...

. Immediately after the death of his father, an Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament in his favour and which recognised him as "Chief of yat blude" and willing "yarfor that he be callit Lord Saintclair in tyme to cum", dated 26 January 1488–89. This Act was only a recognition of the Barony of St. Clair existing in the person of his ancestor,

and did not constitute a new creation.

Notable offices

Henry Sinclair, 4th Lord Sinclair sat as a Baron of Parliament on 14 January 1488. On 4 December 1488,

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

issued to him and his wife Margaret, the lands of

Cousland Cousland is a village in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located east of Dalkeith and west of Ormiston, on a hill between the Rivers Tyne and Esk. History Cousland was a possession of the Sinclair family of Roslin from the late 12th century, and ...

, house and fortalice, and

Ravenscraig Ravenscraig is a housing development and historic village located in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, north-east of central Motherwell. Ravenscraig was formerly the site of Ravenscraig steelworks; once the largest hot strip steel mill in western E ...

with the adjacent lands of Woolston, Carberry and Dubbo. Lord Sinclair is mentioned with frequent involvement in the

Orcadian Orcadian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Orkney ** Orcadians Orcadians, also known as Orkneymen, are an ethnic group native to the Orkney Islands, who speak an Orcadian dialect of the Scots language, a West Germanic language ...

dominions. As the

Tacksman A tacksman (, meaning "supporting man"; most common Scots spelling: ''takisman'') was a landholder of intermediate legal and social status in Scottish Highland society. Tenant and landlord Although a tacksman generally paid a yearly rent for th ...

of the Isles he granted an annuity to the

Bishop of Orkney The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics of Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. The ...

on 6 August 1485. On 28 May 1489 Lord Sinclair received several grants including a 13-year lease of

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

and

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

, the custody of

Kirkwall Castle Kirkwall Castle, also known as King's Castle, was located in Kirkwall, the main settlement in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. Built in the 14th century, it was deliberately destroyed in 1614. The last ruins were cleared in the 19th century. The cas ...

with the fortalices, and the Justicary, Folderie and Balliatus for 13 years. It is also likely that through his influence an Act of the Scottish Parliament was passed in 1503 for the

annulment Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning alm ...

of all foreign laws within that realm and to spare the native laws of Orkney and Shetland. In 1503, he had

sasine Sasine in Scots law is the delivery of Feudalism, feudal property, typically land. Feudal property means immovable property, and includes everything that naturally goes with the property. For land, that would include such things as buildings, tre ...

of the lands of

Newburgh Newburgh (''"new"'' + the English/Scots word ''"burgh"'') may refer to: Places Scotland *Newburgh, Fife, a former royal burgh *Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, a village England *Newburgh, Lancashire, a village * Newburgh, North Yorkshire, a village ...

. Lord Sinclair was made Master of the Artillery on 13 March 1510, for a fee of £100 a year, deducted from his Orkney accounts. His main residence was at

Ravenscraig Castle Ravenscraig Castle is a ruined castle located in Kirkcaldy which dates from around 1460. The castle is an early example of artillery defence in Scotland. History The construction of Ravenscraig Castle by the mason Henry Merlion and the master c ...

. He was on bad terms with the inhabitants of Dysart as shown by a complaint made against him by John Wynde, burgess of Dysart. In 1512, he was the captain of the Scottish flagship, the ''

Great Michael ''Michael'', popularly known as ''Great Michael'', was a carrack or great ship of the Royal Scottish Navy. She was the largest ship built by King James IV of Scotland as part of his policy of building a strong Scottish navy. She was ordere ...

''. Shortly before his death his sold eight pieces of ordance to the King for £100 which was paid to his widow. He was killed at the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland and resulted in an English victory ...

on 9 September 1513.

Family

Henry Sinclair, 4th Lord Sinclair, married Margaret, daughter of

Adam Hepburn, Master of Hailes Adam Hepburn, Master of Hailes (after 1432 – 1479) was Sheriff of Berwickshire in April 1467, and had a charter of confirmation of Dunsyre in the sheriffdom of Lanarkshire, dated 13 October 1475, being thereafter designated 'of Dunsyre'. Family ...

and sister of

Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell (died 18 October 1508) was Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He rose to political prominence after supporting James IV against his father, and was proxy at the King's marriage. Career Patrick was the son of Ad ...

. They had the following children: # William Sinclair, 5th Lord Sinclair, heir and successor. #Catherine Sinclair, who in 1512 married Sir David Wemyss of Wemyss, ancestor of the

Earls of Wemyss Earl of Wemyss ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1633. The Scottish Wemyss family had possessed the lands of Wemyss in Fife since the 12th century. Since 1823 the earldom has been held with the Earldom of March, created in 1 ...

. #Helen Sinclair, who married James Ogilvy, 4th Lord Ogilvy of Airlie. #Jean Sinclair, who married Sir Alexander Lindsay, Master of Crawford and son of

David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford (died 27 November 1542) was the son of Alexander Lindsay, 7th Earl of Crawford. He was a member of Clan Lindsay, a Scottish Lowland clan. He married Elizabeth Hay, daughter of William Hay, 3rd Earl of Erroll. ...

. #Agnes Sinclair, who married

Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell (1512 – September 1556) was the son of Adam Hepburn, Lord Hailes, who died at the Battle of Flodden the year after Patrick's birth. Hepburn was known as the ''Fair Earl''. He owed this more to his look ...

. #William Sinclair, a natural son who was legitimised on 20 February 1539–40. He was Chaplain, Rector of

Olrig Olrig is a parish in Caithness, Scotland. The main settlement in the parish is Castletown. Prior to the 19th century, the parish was sub-divided into ten townlands or "fermlands". Townland boundaries were mostly disregarded and lost during the a ...

and later Vicar of

Latheron Latheron () is a small village and civil parish in Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Henry Sinclair, 4th Lord 1513 deaths People from Kirkcaldy Nobility from Fife Lords Sinclair Clan Sinclair

Early life

Notable offices

Family

See also

References