SINCLAIR til SINKLARSHOLM, CHRISTIAN [SSNE 1579]
- Surname
- SINCLAIR til SINKLARSHOLM
- First name
- CHRISTIAN, KRISTIAN
- Nationality
- SCOT
- Region
- SINKLARSHOLM
- Social status
- NOBILITY
- Education
- UNIVERSITY
Text source
Christian Sinclair til Sinklarsholm (1607-1645) was the son of Andrew Sinclair of Ravenscraig and Sinklarsholm. Promised admittance to the school at Soro on 14/5/1618. He thereafter studied and travelled abroad, between 1622-4 to Germany, 1624-5 to the Netherlands and France, 1626-9 to England and France. In Orleans he contracted debts and could not leave before payment in 1629. Sinclair attended the funerals of the Queen Mother Sophia 1631 and of Princess Anna Catherina 1633 as well as Prince Christian's wedding 1634 and Ebbe Ulfeldt's wedding with the king's daughter Hedvig in 1642. After all his travel, Christian eventually became a Secretary in the Chancery between 1634-9 for which service he became lensmand of Hørje in Scania on 7/11/1639 until 1644. When war broke out between Denmark-Norway and Sweden in 1643, Christian was comissioned into the army where he served as a major. On 13 May 1644, Laholm was taken by the Swedish commander, Gustaf Horn. The Danish commander, Bjorn Ulfeldt, retired to Halmstad, whereas Major Christian Sinclair and 500 men who had also been in the fortress retired to Christiansstad. Sinclair married Elisabeth Clausdatter Below in 1639. None of their three children survived them.
Source: C.F. Bricka and J.A. Fredericia (eds.), Kong Christian den Fjerdes Egenhaendige Breve (8 vols., Copenhagen, 1878-1947), V, p.479; E. Marquard (ed.), Prins Christian (V)s Brev (Copenhagen, 1952), p.483. 16 January 1641, pass for Ejler Bulow to Christian Sinklar's gaard; T. Riis, Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (Odense, 1988), II, p.75.
Gerald Toomer kindly provided the following additional information on Christian Sinclair:
In the biography of Christianus Ravius published by J. C. Becmanus, Notitia Universitatis Francofurtanæ(Frankfurt on the Oder, 1707), pp. 267-70, he records that Ravius was taken up at Copenhagen and made much of by Christianus Sinclarus, Assessor at the Danish Chancery. His precise words are:
"Christianus Suiclerus, Cancellariæ, ut vocant, Danicæ Assessor, quo non alter eorundem magis amore studiorum accensus erat, quique tantopere illum complexus est, ut quicquid possideret vel librorum vel divitiarum, hoc omne illius usibus juberet inservire",
where "Suiclerus" must be a mistake for "Sinclarus" in Becmann’s source, the [now lost] 1677 Funeral Programme of Ravius. This is proven (if there were any need) by Ravius himself, in a letter written from Copenhagen on May 16, 1637 to Johannes Meursius at Sorø (Meursius, Opera Omnia, Vol. XI [Florence 1763], col. 611), saying that he has been living with Christianus Sinclarus ("quicum adhuc vixisse datum est, Christianus Sinclarus").
Service record
- DENMARK-NORWAY, SORO
- Arrived 1618-05-14
- Departed 1618-12-31
- Capacity STUDENT, purpose ACADEMIC
- DENMARK-NORWAY, GERMANY
- Arrived 1622-01-01
- Departed 1624-09-30
- Capacity STUDENT, purpose ACADEMIC
- DENMARK-NORWAY, THE DUTCH REPUBLIC
- Arrived 1624-10-01
- Departed 1625-12-31
- Capacity STUDENT, purpose ACADEMIC
- DENMARK-NORWAY, SANDBYGAARD IN SKAANE
- Arrived 1625-01-01
- Departed 1645-12-31
- Capacity ESTATE OWNER, purpose CIVIC
- DENMARK-NORWAY, STUART KINGDOMS
- Arrived 1626-01-01
- Departed 1628-12-31
- Capacity STUDENT, purpose ACADEMIC
- DENMARK-NORWAY, ORLEANS
- Arrived 1629-01-01
- Departed 1629-12-31
- Capacity STUDENT, purpose ACADEMIC
- DENMARK-NORWAY,
- Arrived 1634-01-01
- Departed 1639-11-07
- Capacity SECRETARY, CHANCERY, purpose CIVIL SERVICE
- DENMARK-NORWAY, HORJE
- Arrived 1639-11-07
- Departed 1642-12-31
- Capacity LENSMAND, GOVERNOR, purpose CIVIC
- DENMARK-NORWAY, LAHOLM GARRISON, CHRISTIANSSTAD GARRISON
- Arrived 1644-01-01, as MAJOR
- Departed 1645-12-31, as MAJOR
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY