SINCLAIR, VILHELM [SSNE 3519]
- Surname
- SINCLAIR, SINCLAIRE, SENCHLER, SINCLAR
- First name
- VILHELM, WILLIAM, WILHELM
- Title/rank
- BARON
- Nationality
- SCOT
- Region
- GOTHENBURG
- Social status
- NOBILITY
Text source
Baron William Sinclair was the son of David Sinclair [SSNE 3503] and Catherine Maclean [SSNE 5436], daughter of John Maclean [SSNE 1631]. He was born in 1655. In 1673 William became a musketeer in the Östgöta infantry regiment. The following year he served as an ensign in Grubbenhielm's Skåne infantry regiment. With the same rank he moved to the Stralsund fort regiment in 1675. He was a lieutenant in Ture Oxenstierna's, later his uncle Peter Maclean's [SSNE 3027], recruited infantry regiment in 1676. He transferred as a captain to his other uncle Gustav Maclean's [SSNE 4690] recruited infantry regiment 1682 which placed him in the Gothenburg area. He was also captain in Prince Karl's Lifregiment in the same year. Sinclair commanded a company of soldiers in Marstrand in 1694 and was recommended for a major's position in Colonel Saltzburg's regiment in 1698. It is not clear if he got it, but by 1700 he became a major in the Älvsborg regiment and a lieutenant colonel for a battalion of mountain soldiers the following year. He had been a godparent to David Maclean's [SSNE 3023] son Jacob Ludwig [SSNE 6956] on 14 June 1697. He had previously stood-in as a godparent in place of Colonel Maclean for ship's captain Kuhl's son in 1693. Sinclair had also attended as godparent to Hinrich Wedinhusen's daughter in 1688; to Johan Thellin's son in 1689, to Abraham Bex' daughter in 1690; to Daniel Crocket's [SSNE ] son in 1693; to Paulin's daughter in 1694. Sinclair became colonel of the Västgöta 'femmänings' infantry regiment in 1705 and served as a commandant at Malmö in 1711. In 1713 he became major general of the infantry. He was ennobled and made a baron in 1714, although he was never introduced as he died on 2 February 1715. Sinclair was married to Catharina Hamilton [SSNE 6426] first (daughter of Commander Elias Hamilton [SSNE 6427]), and then after 1690 to Maria de Moucheron, of Swedish nobility. His son Malcolm was a major who was murdered in Silesia in 1738. There is a portrait of William in Sweden and a well-known Swedish song has been written about him.
Swedish Riksarkiv, P. Sondén, Militärachefer i svenska arméen och deras skrivelser; Swedish Riksarkiv, Biographica Microcard E01819 5/8; Swedish Krigsarkiv, Muster Roll, 1676/16; 1678/16; 1682/1,5; 1683/16,19; 1684/1; 1685/19; 1689/8; 1690/1,6,8; 1694/1,15; Göteborg Landsarkiv (GLA) Förteckning över Landshövdingens i Göteborg och Bohus Län - Skrivelser till Kungl. Maj:t 1657-1840 - 27/12/1694, 19/01/1696, 02/08/1698; Swedish Riksarkiv, Drottning Hedvig Eleonoras Livgedningsakter Arkiv: Skrivelser till general guvernör Gustaf Soop och Carl Gyllenstierna från enskilda personer: B. Till Carl Gyllenstierna - Wilhelm Sinclair, 1701, 1713, K823, 95; G. Elgenstierna, Svenska Adelns Ättartavlor, vol. 7, p.273; B. Schlegel and C. A. Klingspor, Den med sköldebref förlänade men ej å Riddarhuset introducerad Svenska Adelns Ättar-taflor (Stockholm, 1875) p.269; H. Marryat, One Year in Sweden, including a visit to the isle of Gotland (London, 1862), p.496; A. Lewenhaupt, Karl XII:s Officerare Biografiska anteckningar (2 vols., Stockholm, 1920), II, p.630; W. Berg, Samlingar till Göteborgs historiaChristina Kyrkas böcker, (Gothenburg, 1890), vol.1, pp.201, 221, 226, 233, 255, 256, 260, 278. With thanks to Angus Fowler for corrections.
Service record
- SWEDEN, PETER MAKELEER, GOTHENBURG
- Arrived 1676-01-01, as LIEUTENANT
- Departed 1713-03-24, as MAJOR GENERAL
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- SWEDEN, MARSTRAND
- Arrived 1694-12-27, as CAPTAIN
- Departed 1696-12-31, as CAPTAIN
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- SWEDEN, MALMÖ
- Arrived 1705-03-06, as COMMANDANT
- Capacity COMMANDANT, purpose MILITARY