This portrait of James Sinclair, 12th Earl of Caithness, hangs in the Town Hall in Wick. It was painted in 1790.
James Sinclair of Mey 12th Earl of Caithness
SINCLAIR, son of Sir John 6th Baronet of
Mey SINCLAIR and Charlotte Catherine
SUTHERLAND was born on 31 Oct 1766 in
Barrogill Castle, Caithness, Scotland. He died
on 16 Jul 1823 in Barrogill Castle, Mey, Canisbay,
Caithness, Scotland. He married Jean (Jane)
CAMPBELL, daughter of Colonel Alexander of
Barcaldine CAMPBELL and Helen SINCLAIR on
02 Jan 1784 in Thurso Castle, Caithness, Scotland.
She was born in 1769 in Archattaw, Argyleshire,
Scotland. She died on 02 Apr 1853 in Edinburgh,
Midlothian, Scotland.
James SINCLAIR 12th Earl of Caithness 1st of Assery and Jean (Jane) CAMPBELL Lady had the following children:
1. HELEN2 SINCLAIR was born on 23 Sep 1786 in Barrogill Castle, Canisbay,
Caithness, Scotland. She died on 01 Oct 1803 in Barrogill Castle, Canisbay,
Caithness, Scotland (Barrogill Castle, Mey, Canisbay, Caithness, Scotland).
2. JOHN LORD BERRIEDALE SINCLAIR was born on 20 Jul 1788 in Canisbay,
Caithness, Scotland (Barrogill Castle, Mey, Canisbay, Caithness, Scotland).
He died on 01 Jun 1802 in Barrogill Castle, Caithness, Scotland (Barrogill
Castle, Caithness, Scotland).
2.
3. ESTHER SINCLAIR was born in 1789 in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland. She died
on 29 Jan 1829 in Earltown, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada. She married
Donald MACDONALD, son of Andrew MACDONALD OF SHONA and
Isabella MACDONALD in Caithness, Scotland. He was born in 1784 in
Spean Bridge, Inverness-shire, Scotland. He died on 27 Jan 1857 in East
Earltown, Nova Scotia, Canada (Son William lived in Canada, briefly, after
leaving Scotland. It may have been in the company of his parents.).
4. ALEXANDER CAMPBELL SINCLAIR 13TH EARL OF CAITHNESS was born on 24 Jul
1790 in Barrogill Castle, Caithness, Scotland (Barrogill Castle, Caithness, ,
Scotland). He died on 24 Dec 1855 (17 Rutland Square, Edinburgh,
Midlothian, Scotland/17 Rutland Square, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland).
He married Frances Harriet LEIGH Countess Caithness, daughter of William
LEIGH Very Rev. on 22 Nov 1813 in Canisbay, Caithness, Scotland. She was
born about 1788 in Norfolk, England. She died on 23 Aug 1854 in Edinburgh,
Midlothian, Scotland (17 Rutland Square, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland).
4.
5. CHARLOTTE ANN SINCLAIR was born on 11 Mar 1792 in Barrogill Castle,
Canisbay, Caithness, Scotland (Barrogill Castle). She died on 07 Apr 1854 in
Portobello, Midlothian, Scotland (Died at No 5, Brighton Cres, Portobello).
She married Alexander Murray MACGREGOR (Major General 4th Ceylon),
son of Alexander Murray MACGREGOR (Colonel of the Royal Clan-Alpin
Fencibles) and Frances PASCAL on 21 May 1810 in Edinburgh, Midlothian,
Scotland. He was born on 27 Nov 1778 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.
He died on 27 Feb 1827 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland (As per the Naval
& Military Magazine Vol 3 - Death 27 Feb 1827 - Maj Gen Alex Murray
Macgregor late of 4th Ceylon Regiment).
5.
6. LT COL JAMES SINCLAIR was born on 15 Oct 1797 in Thurso, Caithness,
Scotland (Barrogate Castle, Caithness, Scotland). He died on 18 Jan 1856 in
Midlothian, Scotland. He married Elizabeth TRITTON on 16 Mar 1819 (All
Saints, Wandsworth, England). She was born on 05 Jan 1798 in Westhill,
Yorkshire, England. She died in Jan 1856.
7. PATRICK CAMPBELL SINCLAIR was born on 19 Aug 1801 in Barrogill Castle,
Canisbay, Caithness, Scotland (Barrogill Castle, Mey, Canisbay, Caithness,
Scotland). He died on 13 Mar 1834. He married Isabella Dunbar
MACGREGOR on 11 Mar 1822 in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
8. ERIC GEORGE SINCLAIR was born on 19 Aug 1801 in Barrogill Castle,
Canisbay, Caithness, Scotland. He died on 26 Sep 1829.
9. JOHN SINCLAIR was born on 04 Jul 1808 in Barrogill Castle, Canisbay,
Caithness, Scotland (Barrogill Castle, Mey, Canisbay, Caithness, Scotland).
He died on 08 Jan 1861. He married Maria Petronella CHURCH, daughter of
John CHURCH and Henrietta ANN on 22 Oct 1833 in Mamhead, Devon,
England. She was born on 14 Feb 1802 in Gujarat, India. She died on 26
Feb 1878 in Lambeth, London, England.
6.
10. LADY JANET SINCLAIR was born on 24 Feb 1867 in Thurso, Caithness,
Scotland. She died on 21 Dec 1860 in Scotland. She married James
BUCHANAN of Craigend Castle, son of Andrew BUCHANAN of Blairvadack
and Jane DENNISTOUN on 10 May 1805 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
He was born on 26 Jan 1776 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He died on
21 Dec 1860 (Craigend Castle, Lanark, Scotland).
11. ELIZABETH SINCLAIR. She died in 1811.
The family of St.Clair came into England with
William the Conqueror; and this branch, with
that of Herdmanstoun, paternal ancestors of Lord
Sinclair, settled in Scotland in the 12th century.
The Earl of Caithness is a title that has been
created several times in the Peerage of Scotland,
and has a very complex history. Its first grant,
in the modern sense as to have been counted
in strict lists of peerages, is now generally held
to have taken place in favour of Maol .osa V,
Earl of Strathearn, in 1334, although in the true
circumstances of 14th century, this presumably
was just a recognition of his hereditary right to the
ancient earldom/mormaership of Caithness. The
next year, however, all of his titles were declared
forfeit for treason.
Earlier, Caithness had been intermittently held,
presumably always as fief of Scotland, by the
Norse Earls of Orkney, at least since the days
of the childhood of Thorfinn Sigurdsson in
c 1020, but possibly already several decades
before. The modern reconstruction of holders of
peerage earldoms do not usually include those
of Mormaerdom of Caithness, although there
is no essential difference between them and, for
example, those of mormaers of Lennox, mormaers
of Strathearn and mormaers of Angus.
The next grant after Maol .osa was to David
Stewart, a younger son of Robert II of Scotland.
His heiress, Euphemia, resigned the title in 1390
in favour of her uncle Walter, 1st Earl of Atholl.
Walter himself resigned the title in 1428, in favour
of his son Allan, but he retained the earldom of
Atholl for himself. Upon Allan’s death, Walter
again came to hold both earldoms.
However, both
were lost when he was executed for high treason in
1437, his titles being forfeit.
The third creation of the title was for Sir George
Crichton in 1452, but he surrendered the title in
the same year.
The final creation of the earldom
was made in 1455 for William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of
Orkney. He surrendered the Orkney title and all
associated lands to James III in 1470, in return for
the Castle of Ravenscraig, in Fife. James III had in
1469 received the rights of the king of Norway to
Orkney territories as pledge of dowry of his wife
Margaret of Denmark. In this way, the Scottish
crown tightened its grip to Orkney and Shetland,
a hitherto Norwegian territory, by moving all
other important holders away.
Six years later, Earl
William wished to disinherit his eldest son, who
was known as “The Waster.” Therefore, so that his earldom would not pass to him, he resigned the
title in favour of his younger son, another William.
General Arthur St. Clair was reportedly descended
from the 4th Earl of Caithness.
George, sixth Earl of the Sinclair line, was the
last Earl to cause a disturbance in the normal
succession of the title. In 1672, he agreed that, at
his death, all of his lands and titles would pass to
Sir John Campbell, who was his creditor. In 1677,
the sixth Earl died, and King Charles II granted
him a patent creating him Earl of Caithness.
Later, however, the sixth Earl’s heir, also named
George, was confirmed in his titles by the law.
Therefore, in order to compensate for the loss of
the earldom, Charles II created Campbell Earl of
Breadalbane and Holland.
Thereafter, the earldom
of Caithness has passed solely within the Sinclair
family, without any further resignations or other
irregularities.
The Earl of Caithness also holds the title of Lord
Berriedale, which was created in the Peerage of
Scotland in 1455. That title is used as a courtesy
title for the Earl’s eldest son and heir.