Re: Sinclairs in New Zealand

[Coqnord@cs.com]

Niven and Jenny have turned on a little light above my head with their 
discussion of Captain Francis Sinclair and the New Zealand-to-Niihau saga of 
his family.  20 years ago, Jeanne and I were very active in the Sinclair Clan 
Commissioner business, and one of the places we went to several times was 
Honolulu, for their Scottish Games and to visit Bob, our youngest son.  He 
was a student at U of Hawaii, and married a girl from Chicago who was 
attending there at the time.  Their two children were a strong draw for this 
grandpa and grandma of course, so we got over there quite a bit.  I found 
that one of David Bouschor's nephews was listed as the Hawaii Commissioner 
and so tried to find him.  I that process, I heard the interesting story of 
Niihau and the Scots sea captain who arranged with King Kamehameha I of 
Hawaiian fame to purchase the island.  He was lost at sea but his widow 
(Elizabeth McCutcheon Sinclair) carried out this agreement and the family did 
operate a plantation there, in conjunction with the Gay family, with whom 
they were joined in marriage.

I those years and more recently, I have read several books on the subject of 
the Sinclairs and Niihau.   One was written by one of the grandsons of 
Francis and Elizabeth, but the most recent and complete account of  the 
history of the family is contained in this book:  Ni'ihau   The Last Hawaiian 
Island, by Ruth dM. Tabrah, published in 1987 by Press Pacifica in Hawaii.  I 
believe that copies may be obtained from their office at PO Box 47, Kailua, 
HI 96734. While it is known that Francis was born in Edinburgh, very few 
details are available in this or other books on the subject, the main 
interest of the authors was the life and times of this family in New Zealand 
and Hawaii.   This book above is a fascinating story of the people and 
especially the island "kingdom" they created in the early days of European 
involvement in the Polynesian areas of the Pacific.

I have a special interest in these Sinclairs, so if anyone does get more 
details on how they fit in to Midlothian life in the 16-1700's, please post.

Best of luck and happiness    Ray Lower
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