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1. William Sinclair,
Chancellor, grandson of Henry Sinclair, the forst of that name, Earl
Orkney, was
invested with the Earldom if Caithness in 1455.
2. William, second son of the Chancellor - his father
having resigned the earldom in his favour - became
Earl in 1476. He fell at Flodden in 1513 and was
succeeded by his son John.
3. John was killed at the battle of Summerdale, in Orkney in the
year 1529, and was succeeded by his son
George.
4. George died in 1583, and was succeeded by his grandson, George,
son of John, Master of Caithness,
who died in prison at Girnigoe in 1576
5. George, having survived both his son and his grandson, died
in1643, and was succeeded by his great-
grandson George.
6. This George, being encumbered with debt, and having no male
issue, sold his title and estatesto John
Campbell of Glenorchy. He died in 1676The title was
disputed by George Sinclair of Keiss, a
descendant of the fifth Earl by his second son, who
ultimately obtained the earldom.
7. George of Keiss, now Earl of Caithness, died unmarried in 1698and
was succeeded by his second
cousin, Sir John Sinclair of Murkle1
8. John, died in 1766 without male heir, and was
succeeded by William Sinclair of Rattar, who was lineally
descended from Sir John Sinclair of Greenland and Rattar,
second brother of the fifth Earl.
10.William of Rattar, died in 1782, and was succeeded by his son
John, Lord of Berriedale, a major in
the army.
11.John, died unmarried in 1789, and was succeeded by Sir James
Sinclair of Mey, the ninth in lineal
descent from George Sinclair of Mey, youngest son of
the fourth Earl.
12.James, died in 1855, and was succeeded by his son Alexander.
13.Alexander, died in 1855, and was succeeded by his son James, the
present Earl, and the fourteenth of
the Sinclair family who have inherited the earldom of
Caithness. His Lordship was elected i=one of the
Representative Peers of Scotland in 1858.
1. The lands of Murkle appear to
have been the first bestowed on James Sinclair, second son of John,
Master of Caithness. His son Sir James was created a baronet
of Scotland and Nova Scotia in 1636. sir James' eldest son
John (afterwards Earl of Caithness) left four sons - Alexander (who
succeeded him), John, Francis and Archibald. John studied law,
and became a judge of the Court of Session, with the title of Lord
Murkle. The fist James Sinclair married Elizabeth Stewart,
daughter of the Earl of Orkney, and their son James, the baronet,
married Jean, daughter of Stewart of Mains and Burray also in
Orkney. ARMORIAL
BEARINGS OF THE EARLS OF CAITHNESS
Quarterly - 1st azure, a ship at anchor, her oars erected in
saltyre within a double tressure counterfloured, or; 2nd and 3rd or,
a lion rampant, gules; 4th azure, a ship under sail, or. and over
all a cross engrailled, dividing the four quarters, salt.
Crest on a wreath, a cock proper, two griffins armed and beaked, or.
Motto - "Commit Thyself To God." |