Sir James Sinclair of Sanday

SIR JAMES SINCLAIR OF SANDAY (formerly JAMES SINCLAIR OF BRECKS)

Sometime Justice of Orkney

Sir James Sinclair (perhaps the legatee in Sir David's will), elected Governor of Kirkwall Castle [in 1515], who having in 1529 defeated the invasion of his Scottish kindred, was knighted by King James V, received Letters of Legitimation [Letters of Legitimation do not confer legitimacy on the grantee. The object of their issue is to confer a status upon persons born out of wedlock, enabling them to devise and bequeath property personally acquired] and in 1535 obtained from the Scottish king a feudal grant of Sanday and Eday upon, it is said, misrepresenting those islands as infertile holms. Hearing of King James' intended visit to Orkney, Sir James, anticipating exposure, sought refuge in death by self-precipitation from the Gloup of Linkness. The previous instances of royal favour which Sir James had received are to be attributed to his powerful connections at court. On the 18th April 1539, a Royal letter passed the Privy Seal at Stirling, vesting his lands, etc., in his widow, who married secondly McLeod, Breve [officer of authority] of the Lewis. He married Lady Barbara Stewart, daughter of Lord Avondale, the Lord Chancellor, and sister-in-law to Margaret Tudor, the Queen dowager, by whom he had issue an only child, Margaret, who married Magnus Halcro. The Saint-Clairs of the Isles: The Sinclairs of Warsetter, p. 138-39

Marriage

Sir James Stewart of Sanday married Barbara Stewart Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, 1513-1546, charter number 1479 on pp. 327-28

Children

Margaret Sinclair is identified as the daughter and heir of the deceased Sir James Sinclair of Sanday in two protocols recorded in the protocol book of Gilbert Grote, on 30 October 1562 and 27 March 1563. Protocol Book of Mr. Gilbert Grote, 1552-1572 (Scottish Record Society, Edinburgh, 1914), protocols numbered 228 and 229 on pp, 53-4

Evidence from the Records of the Earldom of Orkney

                   1

20 June 1535: Charter by which James V, King of Scots, acting as Earl of Orkney, confirms that he has given the islands of Sanda and Stronsay to Sir James Sinclair of Sanda and his wife Barbara Stewart. Records of the Earldom of Orkney, charter number CXIV on pp. 219-20

                   2

7 April 1548: Charter by which Marion Ness, daughter of the deceased John Ness and his wife Jonet Magnus daughter, confirms that she has agreed to exchange her heritage land in Ness for 10 rigs of land at Linxness belonging to Dame Barbara Stewart, lady of Lewis, widow of Sir James Sinclair of Sanda. Records of the Earldom of Orkney, charter number CXXV on pp. 235-36

                   3

16 November 1550: Charter by which Robert Reidm bishop of Orkney, conforms that he has given a nineteen year lease for various islands and lands in Orkney to Dame Barbara Stewart, lady of Lewis, and her daughter Margaret Sinclair, and Margaret's future husband James Tulloch, and their heirs. Records of the Earldom of Orkney, charter number CXXXI on p. 243

                   4

26 August 1566: Instrument of Sasine in favour of Dame Barbara Stewart and Margaret Sinclair , her daughter by the deceased Sir James Sinclair of Sanda. Records of the Earldom of Orkney, charter number CLXVII on pp. 284-85

Genealogy

1. The St. Clairs of the Isles: The Sinclairs of Warsetter, pp. 138-39
2. Fiona's Finding Service: The Sinclairs of Warsetter
3. Records of the Earldom of Orkney, drop-line pedigree chart on page 468