William Sinclair, Able Seaman aboard HMS Terror

When I began researching genealogy for men who died as part of the Franklin expedition, the first person I seriously looked into was steward William Gibson. From research articles written about him, I knew his family had moved to Australia, and I was able to trace a maternal line from his sister Charlotte Donaldson Gibson to a handful of living descendants in Australia and New Zealand. In the end, my research didn’t amount to anything – it turns out the study already had a DNA profile for a Gibson descendant – but it did give me experience in working with Australian and New Zealand records. I felt comfortable with them, and I wanted to stay within that domain if I could.

 

One of the things I found when looking into Charlotte Donaldson Gibson was that her obituary actually mentioned that she had a brother who died sailing with Sir John Franklin. Seeing that, it made me wonder if other obituaries might mention having relatives who died on the expedition. Australia and New Zealand both have great websites that archive historical newspapers, Trove and Papers Past, respectively, so I did a search in both and found the obituary of a Mary Isabella Smith (nee Young). It states she was the niece of the late John Sinclair of the Sir John Franklin expedition. 

 

A complication: there is no John Sinclair of the Franklin expedition.

 

The Age (Melbourne), 1 Jun 1932.

 

There was a Robert Sinclair and a William Sinclair, but no John. However, I didn’t think her family would have invented a connection to the expedition whole cloth and publish it if there wasn’t anything there, so I started digging.

The obituary is fairly generous with details. It mentions parents John and Mary Young, an uncle named Lawrence Sinclair, and a cousin named David Dalgleish in Scalloway, Scotland. 

The cousin immediately caught my eye. The muster books list William Sinclair’s birthplace as “Sallaway” Scotland, which is not a real place. His birthplace was commonly corrected to Galloway – it was listed as such in Wikipedia at the time – and only rarely corrected to Scalloway, but given the obituary’s mention of Scalloway this connection made me look closer at William Sinclair specifically.

William Sinclair’s entry in the muster book lists him as an AB, or able-bodied seaman, on Terror. He was 30 years old in 1845, so born sometime around 1815.

Scalloway is part of the Shetland Islands and is within the civil parish of Tingwall. A William Sinclair was baptized in 1815 in Scalloway. The record gives his birth as 4 Jun 1815 and his parents as Arthur Sinclair and Barbara Leask (also sometimes spelled Leisk). There were several William Sinclairs baptized in Scotland around 1815, but I am confident this is the right one because of a later census document, which we’ll get to in a minute.

 

Baptism of William Sinclair, 1815.

Arthur and Barbara Sinclair had several other children, including daughters Mary Sinclair and Margaret Sinclair, and a son named Laurence.

In the 1841 census, Mary and Margaret are both living with their mother. At this point, Mary has married a man named John Young and had a daughter named Williamina, and Margaret has married a man named William Dalgleish and had two children, David and Barbara Dalgleish.

 

1841 Scottish census, page 1.

1841 Scottish census, page 2.

 

So we have a family that perfectly matches the obituary, with the exception of the mistaken name. We have parents Mary and John Young, cousin David Dalgleish, uncle Laurence Sinclair, and another uncle whose details match up with a man who died on the Franklin expedition, though the name differs. 

If that wasn’t enough proof, in the 1851 census William’s mother Barbara Sinclair kindly confirmed that her son was indeed the same William Sinclair as the one on the expedition. We can see her, now age 63, living in Scalloway, with her occupation being listed as Annuitant (Franklin’s Expedition). Household members are her daughter Margaret Dalgliesh (nee Sinclair), granddaughter Barbara Dalgliesh, and grandson David Dalgliesh. Mary Young and her daughter Williamina have moved out at this point, and immigrated to Australia a few years later.

 

1851 Scottish census.

 

Why did the obituary give the name John and not William? Well, Mary Isabella Young was born 23 Nov 1852 onboard a ship called Tancreed as her family immigrated to Australia, so she never actually met her uncle William, who had likely died several years earlier in the Arctic. Her obituary was presumably written by her husband or children, who were doubly removed from him. It’s likely that whoever wrote the obituary just misremembered the name.

William Sinclair’s Family

 

His father was a fisherman named Arthur Sinclair (1782 - ?). His mother was Barbara Leask (1789 - 1866). They married 18 Feb 1807 in Tingwall.

I’ve attributed five siblings to William:

• Laurence (1808 - ?). Laurence is the eldest child I found. He was born in 1808 and likely died young, as his parents re-used his name in 1819.
• Margaret (1811 - 1886). Married William Dalgleish on 4 Dec 1834 in Scalloway. Her maternal line made it until 2006 before ending. 
• Mary (1812 - 1878). Married John Young on 26 Nov 1835 in Tingwall. She has living maternal descendants.
• Laurence (1819 - ?). According to his niece's obituary, he was a captain.
• Arthur (1819 - ?). He and Laurence appear to be twins. 

One curious fact: As I mentioned before, his mother's 1851 census record gave her occupation as being an annuitant of the Franklin expedition. However, she's not listed in the allotment books as being one. I don't know enough about naval history to know how that happened.

 

Mary Sinclair’s Maternal Line

 

Overview

I'm trying to assist in identifying the remains of men from the Franklin expedition by contacting qualifying descendants and pointing them towards a DNA study being done by the University of Waterloo. Qualifying people must be descended from a common ancestor in an unbroken maternal or paternal line. I decided to focus on a maternal line for William Sinclair, as Mary Sinclair's daughter's obituary made it possible for me to skip decades forward and start my genealogy in the 1900s. 

I was able to find qualifying descendants in Australia and one agreed to participate in the study. Typically as a third party I'm not informed of the results of the DNA test. That's true in this case, I don't definitively know the results for William Sinclair, but it's been almost a year since the test was done so it was likely not a match for any remains.

 

I’ve created a tree on Ancestry.com for William Sinclair and his maternal descendants. A summary of the same information is outlined below. 

 

Details on anyone born after 1925 have been censored. Since I was looking for living descendants in an unbroken maternal line, I did not do much research on women without children or men. Men are not listed in this tree. 

 

For birth, marriage, and death records in Scotland, I included what I believe is the correct reference number for the full record at Scotlandspeople.gov.uk. For records from Victoria, Australia, I included what I believe is the correct registration number for their equivalent service.

 

Mary Young (nee Sinclair) (1812 - 1878)

• Wilhelmina Thomson (nee Young) (1836 - 1888)
• Mary Elizabeth Thomson (1858 - 1890)
• Margaret Thomson (1866 - 1888)
• Janet Willamina Thomson (1870 - 1875)
• Ann Wilson Thomson (1872 - 1890)
• Minnie Boon (nee Thomson) (1877 - 1952)
• Jessie Evelyn Thomson (1880 - 1905)
• Mary Isabella Smith (nee Young) (1852 - 1931)
• Isabella Mary Walters (nee Smith) (1875 - 1948)
• Annie Wilson (nee Smith) (1876 - 1939)
• Florence Isabel McDaid Bartlett (nee Wilson) (1906 - 1973)
• Living descendants
• May Sinclair Howard (nee Smith) (1884 - 1937)
• Marjorie Isabell Warren (nee Howard) (1909 - 1983)
• Living descendants
• Florence Newton Meyer (formerly Couch) (nee Smith) (1891 - 1975)
• Irene May Hall (nee Couch) (1921 - ?)
• ?

 

More Information

 

Mary Sinclair

Born: 16 Aug 1812 in Tingwall, Scotland [20 / 327]

Married: 26 Nov 1835 to John Young in Tingwall, Scotland [20 / 76]

Died: 1878 in Victoria, Australia [5847/1878]

 

In 1841, the first Scottish census, she and her 5 year old daughter Wilhelmina were living with her mother and sister. In 1851 she had moved out with a now 16 year old Wilhelmina. Around 1852 the family immigrated to Australia, and she gave birth while at sea to daughter Mary Isabella. She had three children: Wilhelmina, Mary Isabella, and Robert.

 

Baptism of Mary Sinclair.

 

1. Wilhelmina Young

Born: 7 Aug 1836 in Scalloway, Scotland [20 / 366]

Married: 1857 to William Thomson in Victoria [67 / 1857]

Died: 1888 in South Melbourne, Victoria [2698 / 1888]

She lived with her parents in Scotland before immigrating to Australia around 1852. She had 12 children, 6 of them girls, but only one daughter lived to be married and none appear to have had children. Sometimes her name was spelt Williamina.

 

A. Mary Elizabeth Thomson

Born: 1858

Died: 1890

 

B. Margaret Thomson

Born: 1866

Died: 1888

  

C. Janet Willamina Thomson

Born: 1870

Died: 1875

 

D. Ann Wilson Thomson

Born: 1872

Died: 1890

E. Minnie Thomson

Born: 1877 in Maryborough, Victoria [10114 / 1877]

Married: 1908 to Albert Robert John Boon in Victoria [2598/1908]

Died: 13 Jul 1952 in Mooroopna, Victoria [21496/1952]

 

Her marriage is mentioned in her brother John’s obituary. The marriage was covered by the Shepparton Advisor. No children mentioned in her obituary or her husband’s obituary. As per the electoral rolls she and her husband lived with her in-laws.

  
F. Jessie Evelyn Thomson

Born: 1880

Died: 1905

2. Mary Isabella Young

Born: 23 Nov 1852 on board Tancreed

Married: 1874 to Frederick Edward Smith in Victoria [902/1874] 

Died: 28 May 1931 in Fairfield, Victoria [5433/1932]

 

Her birth was at sea but registered in South Australia. Her obituary claims her uncle is a member of the Franklin Expedition. She and her husband had four daughters.

Smith-Young Marriage, 1874.

A. Isabella Mary Smith

Born: 1875 in Maryborough, Victoria [3547/1875]

Married: 1915 to Frederick Charles Walters in Victoria [11764 / 1915]

Died: 4 Sep 1948 in Victoria [10239 / 1948] [grave]

 

She's mentioned in both her mother’s obituary and her sister’s obituary. Both her and her husband’s obituary do not mention any children. 

 

B.  Annie Smith

Born: 1876 in Maryborough, Victoria [17549 / 1876]

Married: 1905 to James Michael Wilson in Victoria [4563 / 1905]

Died: 5 Aug 1939 in Werribee, Victoria [17839 / 1939]

 

She's mentioned in both her mother’s obituary and her sister’s obituary. She had one daughter and three sons.

i. Florence Isabel McDaid “Daidee” Wilson 

Born: 1906 in Northcote, Victoria [21000 / 1906]

Married: 1928 to Reginald Vincent Bartlett in Victoria [3378 / 1928]

Died: 20 December 1973 in Parkville, Victoria [110 / 1974] [grave]

She's mentioned in her mother’s obituary. She died at the end of December 1973, so her death record is for 1974. She has living descendants.

 

C. May Sinclair Smith

Born: 1884 in Maryborough, Victoria [10796/1884]

Married: 1907 Thomas Joseph Howard in Victoria [4141 / 1907]

Died: September 12, 1937 in Fitzroy North, Victoria [8268 / 1937]

 

She's mentioned in her mother’s obituary. I've attributed two children to her, one son and one daughter. Fun fact: Her son's name was John Franklin.

i. Marjorie Isabell Howard

Born: 1909 in Northcote, Victoria [21704 / 1909]

Married: 1938 to Patrick Lawrence Warren in Victoria [1131 / 1938]

Died: Oct 14 1983 in South Australia [grave]

 

She's mentioned in her mother’s obituary. Her middle name is sometimes spelt Isobel. At some point she and her husband moved to South Australia. She has living descendants.

 

 

D. Florence Newton Smith 

Born: 1891 in Northcote, Victoria [35857/1891]

Married: 1917 to Robert George Couch in Victoria [5510 / 1917]

Married: 1948 to Percy Meyer in Victoria [7975 / 1948]

Death: March 6, 1975 in Queensland [1975/B/58314] [grave]

 

She's mentioned in both her mother’s obituary and her sister’s obituary. She was a typist. She had a son and a daughter with her first husband.

 

i. Irene May Couch

Born: Jan 2, 1921 in Carlton, Victoria [1755 / 1921]

Married: ? to Ernest Priday Hall 

Died: ?

 

She’s mentioned in her father’s obituary. She served in the Royal Australian Air Force in WW2, Service Number 95704. In 1942 she lived with her mother Florence, according to electoral rolls. Sometime before 1963 she married Ernest Priday Hall and began living with him. Sometime before 1968 her mother moved in with them. In 1980, the last public electoral roll accessible outside of Australia, Irene May and Ernest were still living together. Ernest passed away in 2007. I found no evidence of children, though I can’t discount it. I also found no obituary.