John Sinclair (archdeacon of Middlesex)

6 Charlotte Square, now known as Bute House, and now the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland

The Rev John Sinclair[1] FRSE (20 August 1797 - 22 May 1875)[2] was a religious author and amateur biologist, He served as Archdeacon of Middlesex[3] from 1844[4] until his death.[5]

Life

Old St Pauls Edinburgh

He was the son of Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet of Ulbster,[6] and his second wife, Diana Macdonald, daughter of Alexander Macdonald, 1st Baron Macdonald. He was born at 9 Charlotte Square in Edinburgh but the family moved to 6 Charlotte Square around 1810.[7]

He studied Divinity at Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating BA in 1819.[8] There he was one of the founders of the Rhetorical Society.[9] He was made a Deacon in 1820 and ordained as a priest in 1821 and spent one year at Sutterby in Lincolnshire. In 1822 he joined his parents in Edinburgh and took a post of Incumbent at Old St Paul's Church on Jeffrey Street.

In 1829 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (for his contributions to biology). His proposer was Archibald Alison. In 1839 he left Old St Paul's to be Secretary of the National Bible Society of Scotland.[10]

In Edinburgh he lived at his late father's house at 133 George Street.[11]

He was appointed Vicar of Kensington[12] in 1842,[13] a post he held while also archdeacon.[14]

His private secretary in later life was George Charles Silk (b. 1822), a close friend of Alfred Russel Wallace.[15]

He died in Kensington on 22 May 1875.[16]

Family

He was unmarried and had no children

His sister was the author Catherine Sinclair.[17]

Publications

• Dissertation Vindicating the Church of England (1836)
• The Life and Times of the Right Hon John Sinclair (1837) a biography of his father

Notes

1. National Archives
2. "We regret to announce the death of the Archdeacon of Middlesex after a short and sharp illness", The Times (London, England), 24 May 1875, p. 10.
3. Janus
4. "Church News", The Morning Post (London, England), 9 January 1844.
5. "Death of Archdeacon Sinclair", The Morning Post (London, England), 24 May 1875, p. 5.
6. "The Able Ulbsters" Archived 2016-04-07 at the Wayback Machine
7. Edinburgh Post Office Directories 1800-1810.
8. Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Sinclair, John" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
9. "Sinclair, John Lang, 1879-1947 - Social Networks and Archival Context". Archived from the original on 29 June 2018.
10. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
11. Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1838.
12. The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Volume 13 (1865) Burkhardt, F. (ed), p. 463: Cambridge, CUP, 2002 ISBN 0521824133
13. 'Memorials of Twickenham: parochial and topographical' Cobbett,R.S. p33: London, Smith Elder & Co, 1872.
14. "A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Middlesex at the Visitation, held at St Paul's Covent Garden, Ware, Dunmow and Halstead, April 26 & 30th, and May 1 & 2, 1844", Sinclair, J., London Francis & John Rivington, 1844.
15. Alfred Russel Wallace (ed. John van Wyhe and Kees Rookmaaker) Letters from the Malay Archipelago (OUP, 2013) p. xxiv.
16. "Letters of Rev. John Sinclair (1797-1875) - Archives Hub".
17. Bayne, T.W. "Sinclair, Catherine" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 52. p. 290.

Church of England titles
Preceded by John Lonsdale	Archdeacon of Middlesex 1844–1875	Succeeded by James Hessey