#52AncestorsIn52Weeks Week32/52 Peter SINCLAIR 1802?-1887

 

Ahnentafel Number  62

Context for discovery:

This biography was written as part of the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks exercise devised by Amy Johnson Crow.  You can join in too here. The theme for this week is "At the Library"

Amy says:

One of my favorite things to do when I was little was go to the library. (It still is!) It's really no surprise that I ended up getting my Masters degree in library science. This week's theme is "At the Library." Do you have any librarians in your family? What about fond memories of going to the library or help that you've received from a librarian? 

Peter Sinclair was my 3^rd great-grandfather on my mother’s side. 

This blog post is a compilation of several blog posts I previously wrote about my great-grandfather. You will have to read quite a bit before you find the library connection :)

Childhood

Birth Date/Place:

It is not clear exactly when Peter was born.  

He died aged 84 in 1887 which indicates he was born 1803.  From Peter’s death certificate, his parents are recorded as Donald Sinclair and Margaret (formerly Bell).  But we all know how unreliable death certificates can be, so we take this with a grain of salt.

Just to confuse things, in the 1841 Census there is a Donald Bell living with Peter and his wife Isabella Sinclair. I suspect Donald may have been his uncle (i.e. his mother’s brother) who was perhaps like a father to him.

In the 1841 Census, Peter is recorded as being 30 years old.  According to these explanatory notes on FindMyPast this could mean that Peter was as old as 34 as ages were rounded down so it could mean he was born anywhere between 1807 and 1811. If in fact he was 38 or 39 years old, why would he say he was 30 years old? This needs further investigation.

Based on the naming of Peter’s children below Peter’s parents’ names could have been Margaret and James John.

A birth was found for Peter Sinclair in Glasgow in 1802 of Margaret Bell and John Sinclair.[i]  These parents names match the names of the parents of his supposed older brother John referred to in this blog post. I cannot however find a baptism for this John.

The only other sibling I could find born to Margaret and John was:

Malcolm baptised 23 April 1800 Glasgow[ii]

Baptism Date/Place:

6^th February 1802 Glasgow, John Sinclair Clothlapper & Margaret Bell, a L. Son, Peter born 7^th. Witnesses: John Bell & John McCallum[iii]

I wonder what if any other records we could find of Peter's childhood? School? apprenticeship records?  What would life have been like in Glasgow in the early 1800s and how did Peter end up in Inverary? This requires further research

Married Life

Marriage Dates/Places:

Civil marriage registration didn’t start in Scotland until 1855 so we can only find a church register entry for his marriage.  Peter married Isabella Birrell on 18 September 1838 in Argyle, Inverary, Scotland.[iv]

Unfortunately, there is no record of Peter’s or Isabella’s ages or parents’ names.

Based on the naming of their children below Isabella’s parents’ names would have been Isabella and Peter Birrell and Peter’s parents’ names would have been Margaret and James John.

Children’s Birth Dates/Places:

My father did some research at the LDS library back in 1992 and found the following.[v]

1.    Isabella born 3rd March and baptised 8th March1839[vi], father Peter merchant of Inveraray (supposedly named after maternal grandmother)

2.    Margaret born 23rd March and baptised 25th May1841[vii] father Peter merchant of Inveraray (supposedly named after paternal grandmother)

3.    Agnes or Anna born 26th July and baptised 20th December 1842, father Peter fish curer of Inveraray [viii] (supposedly named after mother)

4.    James John born 15 October and baptised 9th December 1845[ix],father Peter fish curer of Inveraray (supposedly named after paternal grandfather)

5.    Ann born 1846[x]

6.    Helen born 5th September and baptised 10th September1848[xi], father Peter fish curer of Inveraray

7.    Peter born 12th December and baptised 29th December 1850[xii], father Peter fish curer of Inveraray (supposedly named after maternal grandfather)

8.   Emma Maria born 26th July and baptised 15th August 1853, father Peter Sinclair fish curer of Inveraray[xiii]

 

Life in Scotland

Fellow researcher Mary Sinclair advised me in a message that:

“Peter Sinclair the fish curer vociferously objected to the design of the new pier in Inveraray between 1835-1837. “

Mary advised she has records of letters from him to the Fishery Board suggesting alterations to the design.  She states that:

 "he also shows up in the Fishery Board records in 1831 having had a fish barrel seized for being made of fir (apparently the wrong wood to use!)."

1841 Census 

The Sinclair household in Relief Main Street, Inveraray, Argyllshire, Scotland is as follows: 

·         Peter aged 30 born Scotland, merchant (born circa 1811) 

·         Isabella aged 25 born Argyllshire 

·         Isabella aged 2 born Argyllshire 

·         Margaret baby born Argyllshire 

·         Jean Brown aged 20 born Argyllshire 

·         Donald Bell aged 70 born Argyllshire – Shoe Manufacturer (we have to assume that this is Peter’s maternal grandfather)

 I have highlighted shoe manufacturer because if you read about the Clan Birrell on this site here, you will note that Henry Birrell of Fifeshire was a shoemaker so I do wonder if the Birrells did move from Fifeshire to Argyl.  Further research is required here.

Mary Sinclair further advised that on 22nd April 1842 Peter was declared bankrupt. 

"A creditors meeting was advertised in the Caledonian Mercury 19 April 1852  Legal documents related to this show he had a brother Malcolm and a younger brother John and an aunt Mrs Govan."

I have been able to locate these newspaper articles.

 

24 February 1842 Perthshire Courier from British Newspaper Archives

 

2nd August 1848 Page 3 The Scotchman from British Newspaper Archives

 

I found the most amazing book online called The Harvest of the Sea: A contribution to the natural and economic history of the British food fishes by James Glass Bertram. He gives some insight into the tricky business of commerce in herring which he describes as follows: 

 

"The way of dealing in herring is pretty much as follows:—Owners of boats are engaged to fish by curers, the bargains being usually that the curer will take two hundred crans of herring—and a cran, it may be stated, is forty-five gallons of ungutted fish; for these two hundred crans a certain sum per cran is paid according to arrangement, the bargain including as well a definite sum of ready money by way of bounty, perhaps also an allowance of spirits, and the use of ground for the drying of the nets. On the other hand, the boat-owner provides a boat, nets, buoys, and all the apparatus of the fishery, and engages a crew to fish; his crew may, perhaps, be relatives and part-owners sharing the venture with him, but usually the crew consists of hired men who get so much wages at the end of the season, and have no risk or profit. This is the plan followed by free and independent fishermen who are really owners of their own boats and apparatus. It will thus be seen that the curer is bargaining for two hundred crans of fish months before he knows that a single herring will be captured; for the bargain of next season is always made at the close of the present one, and he has to pay out at once a large sum by way of bounty, and provide barrels, salt, and other necessaries for the cure before he knows even if the catch of the season just expiring will all be sold, or how the markets will pulsate next year. On the other hand, the fisherman has received his pay for his season’s fish, and very likely pocketed a sum of from ten to thirty pounds as earnest-money for next year’s work. Then, again, a certain number of curers who are men of capital will advance money to young fishermen in order that they may purchase a boat and the necessary quantity of netting to enable them to engage in the fishery—thus thirling the boat to their service, very probably fixing an advantageous price per cran for the herrings to be fished and supplied. Curers, again, who are not capitalists, have to borrow from the buyers, because to compete with their fellows they must be able to lend money for the purchase of boats and nets, or to advance sums by way of bounty to the free boats; and thus a rotten unwholesome system goes the round—fishermen, boat-builders, curers, and merchants all hanging on each other, and evidencing that there is as much gambling in herring-fishing as in horse-racing."

 

 

View of a Curing Yard from the book

The Harvest of the Sea:A contribution to the natural and economic history of the British food fishes Author: James Glass Bertram

 

LONDON

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET

1865

 1851 Census[xiv] – 

• Isabella aged 35 is living at Inveraray, Argyllshire, Scotland, wife of Peter Sinclair, writer       
• 12 year old daughter Isabella          
• 10 year old daughter Margaret 
• 8 year old daughter Anna 
• 6 year old son James John 
• 4 year old daughter Helen 
• Baby Peter Sinclair and 
• Unmarried 18 year old female servant Effy McKellar 

 

On the Scotland's People website, I found Peter Sinclair on the Valuation roll for the Burgh of Inveraray as a tenant, living in a house owned by the Duke and paying 10 pounds per annum. He was recorded as a Clerk.  On the same page I found Isabella's mother Mrs Margaret Birrell listed as renting a house for 9 pounds per annum.[xv]

 

 

Life in Australia

The family emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1857.[xvi]This was right in the middle of the gold rush period. To give an idea of the time here is a quote from Basil Lubbock's book (available on the Gutenberg Library) The Colonial Clippers:

 

"In the year 1852 102,000 people arrived in the Colony of Victoria, and in the 18 months following the discovery of Ballarat the population of Melbourne sprang from 23,000 to 70,000, and that of Geelong from 8000 to 20,000.

 

In the five years 1852-7, during which the rush to the diggings was at its height, 100,000 Englishmen, 60,000 Irish, 50,000 Scots, 4000 Welsh, 8000 Germans, 1500 French, 3000 Americans, and no less than 25,000 Chinese—not to speak of the other nationalities of the world, all of whom were represented—landed on the shores of Port Phillip."

On the shipping list, Peter is described as 50 years of age and a fish curer.  Wife Isabella is 38 years old, daughter Isabella 16, Margaret 14, Ann, 11, James 9, Ellen 7 and Emma 4.

One can only imagine what it must have been like moving from a small fishing town like Inveraray with a population of maybe 1000 people to the bustling metropolis of Melbourne.  But it seems like there would have been a friendly face waiting to greet the family when they arrived. 

Newly discovered cousin Jessica has alerted me to the fact that John Sinclair, a builder and contractor was in business with a Peter Steel Sinclair at that time and living in Melbourne.  John was born 1807 in Inveraray and we are pretty confident he was Peter Sinclair Senior’s brother.  She supplied a death certificate for John who died in Healesville in 1890 aged 83. The certificate shows his father as being John and his mother Margaret (nee Bell).[xvii]

Jessica supplied a small biography obtained from the Victorian Trades Hall Council and it states John Sinclair was the first contractor for the Melbourne University Building, took a great interest in the labour question, as well as being President of the Eight Hours League.  He was MLA for Norther Melbourne October 1859-August 1864. I found an obituary in Trove to support these assertions.[xviii]

The Library Connection!

Peter Sinclair Senior worked in the Parliamentary Library as per my blog post here. I am now starting to understand how Peter ended up working here.  I still wonder if he had a bookshop in Edinburgh as I did find an article about a Peter Sinclair in Edinburgh who was bankrupt and had a bookshop.

 

Greenham Studios. (1901). Victorian Parliament House, Federal Parliamentary Library, Melbourne, [1920?] Retrieved January 30, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136761356

In my research for this post I found the following newspaper article which I thinks proves John and Peter were brothers.

 

1859 09 12 Page 2 Ovens and Murray Advertiser Beechworth Vic Electioneering Revelations

 

From the Rate Books in Victoria we find that Peter is paying the rates on Marion Street Fitzroy, a property which John owns. (Public Record Office Victoria; North Melbourne, Australia; Series Title: 2336/P Microfilm copy of Rate Books, City of Fitzroy [copy of VPRS 4301] [1858-1901])

 

In 1859 Peter and Isabella's daughter Margaret marries John's son Peter Steel Sinclair.

 

In 1861 Isabella Junior marries George Ellis.

According to the Blue Book of 1867 which I found online, Peter was appointed to the position of Clerk on 24 June 1861.  His annual salary was £250. 

He still seems to have been clerk according to a directory in 1871 at the age of 69.  So he would have worked for Librarians Charles Ridgway and James Smith.  I wonder how he obtained this position.  Previously, on his daughter Isabella's marriage certificate he was described as a contractor.  That could mean anything really yes?

A bit more digging on Trove and I found a couple of articles which indicated how the position might have become available.  It seems that there was a young book-sewer by the name of Jessie Gallie who fell pregnant with the assistance of Alfred Britter, a clerk in the Parliamentary Library. According to the morals of the time, she lost her job due to her condition and was forced, through destitution, to take him to court for maintenance.  If you want to get a sense of the times  this article and this article  will enlighten you.  I suspect Mr Britter didn't suffer too much though and that he was just moved sideways into the Post Office according to this article - sigh.  

What would it have been like working in the Parliamentary Library I wonder? 

This article gives us some idea.

 

 

MELBOURNE. (1862, December 12). Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved February 4, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87904272

 

Sue Reynolds in her paper Libraries, Librarians and Librarianship in the Colony of Victoriaquotes Patrick Gregory who wrote a history of the Library as saying:

 

 "that the true work of the library was performed by the Committee, with Ridgway (the Librarian) the "fetcher and carrier" who had "little to do with the development of the collection, a task that fell to the Committee and its London agents...his work consisted more of checking the inventories against the contents of ever-increasing number of creates, cataloguing the unpacked books and doling them out to members."

Dr. Diane Heriot's paper Integrated Library and Research Services in the Australian Parliament here quotes Biskup and Goodman:

 

"Parliamentary libraries grew up in the nineteenth century tradition of the cultured gentlemen’s library and were, for many years, little more than well-appointed clubs where members could read their favourite newspapers and find the occasional literary allusion or quotation for speeches."

 

If you are interested in the history of the Parliamentary Library in Melbourne, click here and here.

From about 1867[xix] there is a Peter Sinclair living in Napier Street Fitzroy (numbers 44 and 54) and he seems to move to Best Street in about 1884.[xx]

Senior Years

Date and place of Death

Peter died on 30th December 1887.[xxi] Peter was described as a Gentleman - 84 years old.  He died of Senile Decay.  His father is described as Donald Sinclair. There is something written in brackets after his name which says occupation not known and his mother is described as Margaret Sinclair formerly Bell.  The record states he was born in Glasgow coming to Victoria about 30 years before.  The informant was Charles Stuart, authorized agent, 178 Fitroy Street Fitzroy.  I do not know how he was related, if at all, to Peter.  The certificiated recorded that Peter was married at Inverness about 40 years before to Bella Birrell and his children were listed as follows:

 

Bella 43

Anne 40

James 38

Helen 36

Emma 32

 

Date and Place of Burial:

He was buried on 31st December at Melbourne Cemetery[xxii] in Section N Grave Number 115/116 – Religion Presbyterian.  The transcription reads:

Erected by his wife in the memory of Peter SINCLAIR late of Inverary Argyleshire Scotland who died at North Fitzroy 30 Dec 1887 Isabella wife of the above who died 14 Jan 1891 also James John dearly loved son of the above who entered into rest 2 Dec 1895 also their beloved daughters Ann beloved wife of Peter Steel SINCLAIR who died 8 Jan 1922 Helen who died 16 Feb 1922 both dearly loved Emma ROACH who died 9 Oct 1933.

Estate

I tracked down Peter's will and probate on the PRO site.[xxiii]  Peter basically left everything to his wife and then in the event of her death, it was to go to his unmarried daughters and son.  Son James died in 1895.  Wife Isabella died in 1891.  Daughter Helen Sinclair applied to the Supreme Court to administer the estate in 1901 declaring that the only persons entitled to a share in the distribution of the estate were sisters Anna and Emma.  Their eldest sister Isabella was still alive at that time but perhaps they considered she was well provided for.

Conclusion

This has taken me quite a while to write and post.  I am very behind in my posts at the moment.  It has been a very busy month for me and I am hoping to do a lot of catching up this weekend. 

 

I have spent quite a few $ on Scotland's People trying to find Peter in the 1851 census - no joy so far. It is a bit of a mystery.  Isabella appears in the 1851 Census and is referred to as the wife of Peter, writer, which I think is a term to describe a clerk in the law.  I'll keep plugging away and hope to find him.  

 

As mentioned before, I can't find brother John's birth either in 1807.  His father, John Sinclair Snr on his death certificate is described as a merchant too.  I need to look for deaths of John Sinclair Merchant after 1807.  Also on John Jnr's death certificate, it is recorded that he married Emma Steele in Liverpool, England at the age of 24 i.e. in 1831.  Maybe that is another clue.  Onwards and upwards.

References

---

[i] Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

[ii] Scotlands People 23/04/1800 SINCLAIR, MALCOLM (Old Parish Registers Births 644/1 200 17 Glasgow) Page 17 of 564

[iii] Scotlands People 07/02/1802 SINCLAIR, PETER (Old Parish Registers Births 644/1 200 91 Glasgow) Page 91 of 564

[iv] Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Scotland, Marriages, 1561-1910. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

[v] LDS Roll No. 1041067

[vi] Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

[vii] Ancestry.com. 1851 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Scotland. 1851 Scotland Census. Reels 1-217. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland.

[viii] Ancestry.com 1851 Scotland Census Parish: Inveraray; ED: 1; Page: 16; Line: 5; Roll: CSSCT1851_109; Year: 1851

[ix] Ancestry.com Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950

[x] Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Death Index Victoria 1921-1985

[xi] Ancestry.com, Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

[xii] Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

[xiii] Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

[xiv] Ancestry.com, 1851 Scotland Census, Parish: Inveraray; ED: 1; Page: 16; Line: 2; Roll: CSSCT1851_109; Year: 1851 Ancestry.com Operations Inc 2006

[xv] Scotland's People - Valuation Rolls VR004000001-/2, INVERARAY BURGH Page 2 of 25 1855 SINCLAIR, PETER

[xvi] Inward Overseas Passenger Lists (see Microfiche Copies: VPRS 7666 United Kingdom Ports; VPRS 7667 Foreign Ports; VPRS 13439 New Zealand Ports)VPRS 947/P0000, Oct - Dec 1857 https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3B0750BA-F96C-11E9-AE98-19084F8A768F?image=314

[xvii] Email from Jessica Prestedge to Alex Daw 1/11/2021

[xviii] DEATH OF AN EIGHT HOURS PIONEER. (1890, December 8). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196976870

[xix] Ancestry.com, Australia, City Directories, 1845-1948, Melbourne Directory (Sands) 1867 and Victoria, Australia, Rate Books, 1855-1963 City of Fitzroy page

[xx] Ancestry.com, Australia, City Directories, 1845-1948, Melbourne Directory (Sands) 1884, p 132

[xxi] Death Certificate Peter Sinclair, 30th December 1887 but registered 1888, District of North Fitzroy, Colony of Victoria No. 2820, Australia, 87/36441

[xxii] Ancestry.com, Victoria, Australia, Cemetery Records and Headstone Transcriptions, 1844-1997 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

[xxiii] Public Record Office of Victoria, 78/981 Peter Sinclair: Grant of administration,Probate and Administration Files ( 28 ),VPRS 28/P0000, 78/981,https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/D168EC07-F1CB-11E9-AE98-BF1388C10E75?image=1