The recent discussion of Captain Francis Sinclair prompted me to track down
the Ida von Holt book, "Stories of Long Ago." Fascinating story. I suspect
the book is not widely available, but I found a copy at the Kamehameha
Schools in Honolulu.
I was interested to see a passage concerning Captain Sinclair's son, Francis,
concerning the search for a new Earl of Caithness in the 1880s [would that be
number 17, that was talked about a few months back?]. In any event, Ida
wrote:
"In 1883 my uncle, Francis Sinclair, who was then living at his
beautiful home "The Pines" on Mt. Eden in Auckland, New Zealand, heard of the
death without heir of the reigning earl. Though he knew he was next of kin,
he did not let hemself be known, even though the English and Scotch papers
advertised widely for an heir to come forward. He had previously been up in
the north of Scotland, and seen the estate near Aberdeen. As the fine castle
Dunbeath was going to ruin, and he had no children, he did not wish to assume
the responsibilities of the title, and make his home in that part of
Scotland. A cousin of the late earl, a barrister in London, was found and
proved next of kin and took the title. he died in 1920 in Hollywood,
California without heirs, and was the last Earl of Caithness of our immediate
Sinclair Clan. My mother, Anne Sinclair Knudson, who was living in Hollywood
at that time, went to the funeral and put flowers on his grave."
Does this story match with what others know about the situation? Is the
gentleman described the person who had lived in North Dakota and later
Balboa, California?
Given that Captain Francis Sinclair , born in Edinburgh, was the son of Sir
George Sinclair, does anyone know if he had siblings? If so, are their names
available?
Chris Melahn
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