THE SINCLAIRS OF STEMSTER AND DUNBEATH

The estate of Stemster is in the parish of Bower.
In 2002 it was owned by Richard Palmer.
Dunbeath Castle and the estate of Dunbeath are in the parish of Latheron.
In 2002 it was owned by Stuart W.M. Threipland
Its website is www.dunbeath.co.uk

The first of this family was ALEXANDER, second son of William II, 40th Earl of Caithness, by his wife Mary, daughter of Sir William Keith of Inverugie. In 1507 Alexander Sinclair obtained a Crown charter of Stemster, He married Elizabeth Innes, evidently from what follows, of the family of Innes of Innes, whose chief had possession of Dunbeath in 1507, but on the resignation of Alexander Innes in 1529 a Crown charter was granted in favour of Alexander Sinclair of Stemster erecting Dunbeath, Reay and Sandside into a barony. The charter contains the following clause of some antiquarian interest: - "Cum mulierum merchetis, cum furca, fossa, sok, sak, thole, thieme, infangthief, outfanfthief, pit et gallows". The "mercheta mulierum " was (it seems) the right of levying a fine from a serf, or villain, on the marriage of his daughter.

I. ALEXANDER SINCLAIR had two sons and a daughter:

2. WILLIAM, his successor.
3. OLIVER, frequently mentioned as brother-german [full brother] to William Sinclair of Dunbeath. He was probably named after his grand-uncle, Sir Oliver of Roslyn, and in The Maister of Elphinston' letter [Forbes " Family of Innes"] he occurs as Oliephare Syncklare, brother to William Syncklare of Dunbeytht.

1. ISABEL, married Gilbert Gordon of Gartay, uncle to John, 5th Earl of Sutherland. In 1567 she poisoned the Earl and Countess of Sutherland for the purpose of opening the way for her own son's succession

II WILLIAM SINCLAIR, SECOND OF DUNBEATH, was apparently a minor and unmarried when his father died, for in 1541, Oliver Sinclair of Pitcairn, styled also of Solway Moss, obtained a grant of his casualty of marriage, nor was he infeft as heir to his father till 1557.

In 1547 Dunbeath obtained from William Gordon, Treasurer of Caithness, and Rector and Parson of St.Magnus' Hospital at Spittal, a charter of Mybster and Spittal, confirmed by Queen Mary in 1565. In 1562 and 1564 he got from Adam, Bishop of Orkney, charters of Dounreay, Brubster, Thura, and other lands, for which a Crown charter of confirmation issued in 1557 (sic).

Dunbeath was twice married, first to Beatrix Gordon, daughter of either Alexander, Master [heir apparent] of Sutherland, or his son, Earl John, and secondly to Margaret, sole heiress of Alexander Innes of Innes and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John, Lord Forbes. By these marriages William Sinclair had five sons, William, Richard and George usually stated as of the first marriage with Lady Beatrix Gordon, and Henry and David by Margaret Innes. It is, however, certain that William was a son of the latter.

In 1540 Margaret Innes had got from her natural brother; James Innes of Elrick, the lands of Over and Nether Monbeens; and in 1575 a precept was granted by her and her husband for infefting therein "William Sinclair of Stemster". Forbes in noticing this precept mentions him as the eldest son and heir of Dunbeath and Margaret Innes. Whether any of the other sons were certainly of the first marriage is uncertain.

William Sinclair of Dunbeath, who led a long and active life, was much harassed in his old age by his relation the Earl of Caithness. Among other acts of violence the Earl "wasted Dunbeath by fire and sword, and besieged him in his house at Dounreay", until be at length retired to Morayshire; among his wife's friends, and there died in 1608.

In the register of Confirmed Testaments, 1606-13, there is an entry of the "Testament Testamentar, latter will and legacy and inventory of the goods and gear of the deceased honourable man, William Sinclair of Dunbeath".

In the Register of the Privy Council there is a sederunt at Holyrood of date 27th May 1574, dealing with the attempt of Beatrix Gordon to recover her estates as she repudiated her marriage with Dunbeath. She describes the possession for "seven years by-past" of all her property by William Sinclair, which has put her to "such utter wrack" that if she "were not supported she had been able to perish, being put to such miserable case". The rents of Fisherne were appointed to her by the Lords of Council till the marriage cause should be settled by the head Commissariet, that of Edinburgh. She had been previously married to Alexander Innes of Cromarty. [Notes by T. Sinclair]

His sons were:

1. WILLIAM of Stemster, heir to Dunbeath.
2. HENRY of Brubster and Brims, who in 1586 received it Crown charter of Ormlie and died without issue, about 1610.
3. DAVID of Thura, died without issue before 1620.
4. RICHARD, designed of Brims, 1610, received from his father in 1589 a charter of Mybster, Acalipster, and a twopenny land of Spittal. In 1569 he appears as son of William in contradistinction to the sons of Margaret Innes, who were minors in 1588. He is styled lawful son and put after Henry and David in 1598 when he is designed of Mybaster.
   In 1620 he was served heir to his brothers Henry and David, and is "of Brims". He seems not to have died before 1625. He had two sons and a daughter:
   1. ALEXANDER of Brims, married (1619) Anna, daughter of Hugh Mackay of Scourie and Farr by Lady Jane Sutherland, and, dying during the lifetime of his father, had -
      1. JOHN, served heir in Brims to his father Alexander and grandfather Richard. He married Anna Mackay, and had a daughter Elizabeth, "Mistress of Strathy", who married her cousin John McKay, 2nd of Strathy.
         In 1647 John Sinclair and Hugh McKay of Dirlot and Strathy executed a mutual entail. They were cousins-german. To this deed one of the witnesses was "James Sinclair of Gallowhill, brother-in-law to Brims, and keeper of a copy". In 1660 John Sinclair sold Brims to John Sinclair of Tannach.
         St.Clair of Brims was with Montrose at the defeat near Tain in 1650, and has been wrongly accused of having betrayed that gallant nobleman, the real traitor being Macleod of Assynt. This Brims lived at Ribigil, in Sutherland, and was the last of the Dunbeath family who resided at Brims Castle.
         In the Inqusitions-General a son John heirs his mother Christina Mein, spouse of John Sinclair of Ribigil, on 28th February 1691, but this was in Strathnaver, under their relatives the Reays. [Thomas Sinclair's Notes to Calder]
      2. WILLIAM, of whom no particulars have been learned.
   2. OLIVER, who in 1630 received from his nephew John of Brims a life-rent tack [lease] of Spittal. In 1631 he granted a bond for 500 merks as part of his sister's tocher [dower].
   3. A daughter. who married Alexander Bane of Clyth, son of Henry Bayne in Mybster, and a man of some mark in his time.
5. GEORGE, in Dounreay and Durran, who is not much noticed. In 1643 he renounced a bond over Brims in favour of his grandnephew John of Brims. He had issue:
   1. JOHN, perhaps hereafter of Brims and Ribigil.
   2. BARBARA, married in 1640 David Sinclair of Lybster, in Reay.

III WILLIAM SINCLAIR OF STEMSTER is supposed to have married the Lady Janet, eldest daughter of George II, 42nd Earl of Caithness, and dying during the lifetime of his father was succeeded by his son

IV GEORGE SINCLAIR OF DUNBEATH, who married Margaret, daughter of John, 8th Lord Forbes, by whom he had an only child Margaret, who apparently predeceased him unmarried. On the resignation of his grandfather in 1590 George Sinclair had received the estates of the Dunbeath barony, and in May 1591, obtained a Crown charter of confirmation. He was either facile or a spendthrift, for in 1602 he put himself under "Interdiction".

In 1610 he resigned the barony in favour of his brother-in-law Arthur, Lord Forbes, in supersession of a deed by which he had entailed the estates on his kinsman the Earl of Caithness. [From History of the Scottish Clans]. He then withdrew from Caithness owing to the harassing conduct of the Earl, who is even accused of having contemplated his death, and resided with Lord Forbes.

Dying in 1624, Alexander, Master [heir apparent] of Forbes, sold Dunbeath to John Sinclair of Geanies, son of George Sinclair of Mey. The remainder of the barony and the lands of Spittal and Mybster were acquired by Sir Donald Mackay, first Lord Reay, who, in 1624, was infeft on a charter by the Bishop of Orkney, in Thura, Borlum, Dounreay, and Brubster; and about the same time Sandside was purchased from Lord Forbes by William Innes, ancestor of the family of Innes of Sandside.