Everything about William Sinclair 1st Earl Of Caithness totally explained
William Sinclair (
1410–
1484),
1st Earl of Caithness (1455–1476),
3rd Earl of Orkney (1455–1470),
Baron of Roslin was a
Scottish nobleman and the builder of
Rosslyn Chapel, in
Midlothian.
He was the grandson of the explorer
Henry Sinclair, 1st Earl of Orkney and son of
Henry Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Orkney, for a time protector of the young James Stuart, the later
James I of Scotland. He was
Lord High Admiral of Scotland, and was
Lord Chancellor of Scotland from
1454 to
1456. He was
First Lord St. Clair in Scotland 1449.
King James III gained the
Earldom of Orkney for
the Scottish Crown in 1470 (see
History of Orkney), and William Sinclair was thereafter
Earl of Caithness alone until he resigned the Earldom in favour of his son
William in 1476.
In 1471 James bestowed the castle and lands of Ravenscraig in
Fife on William Sinclair, in exchange for all his rights to the earldom of Orkney, which, by an
Act of the
Parliament of Scotland, passed on
February 20,
1472, was annexed to the Scottish
crown.
Family
He was married three times, first to Lady Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas; secondly to Marjory Sutherland, daughter of Alexander Sutherland, and lastly to Janet Yeman.
He fathered two known children with Lady Elizabeth Douglas. Their son (William Sinclair, 2nd Lord St. Clair) was, in the opinion of the father, a wastrel, whereby he was disinherited consequently. His family received only the Castle of
Ravenscraig. Their daughter (Elizabeth Sinclair) would marry Andrew Leslie, Master of Rothes.
He fathered four known children with Marjory Sutherland; Eleanor Sinclair, Catherine Sinclair, Sir Oliver Sinclair, and William Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Caithness.
The earl's third son (William Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Caithness), of his second marriage became the designated heir of the Earldom of Caithness, and continued that title. The Barony of
Roslin went to his second son (Sir Oliver Sinclair).
All in all, the Sinclair ancestry is well represented in Scottish and British high nobility, thanks to marriages of his daughters and other descendants.
William's daughter of his second marriage, Lady Eleanor Sinclair, married
John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl, a relative of the kings. Lord Henry Darnley and his son
James I of England descend from Eleanor, and through them, quite a many royal house of Europe. His other daughter by this marriage, Catherine Sinclair, married
Alexander Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany.
Further Information
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