William Sinclair Last Earl of Orkney, and First Earl of Caithness 1
- Born: 1410
- Marriage (1): Lady Elizabeth Douglas
- Marriage (2): Marjory Sutherland in 1456
- Died: 1484 at age 74
General Notes:
William Sinclair was married three times: firstly to Lady Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas; secondly to Marjory Sutherland (married 1456), daughter of Alexander Sutherland of Dunbeath; and thirdly to Janet Yeman.[4]
By Lady Elizabeth Douglas he had the following children:
William Sinclair, 2nd Lord St. Clair was, in the opinion of the father, a wastrel, wherefore he was disinherited. His family received only the Castle of Ravenscraig in Fife.
Lady Catherine Sinclair, who married Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany.
(second daughter, name not recorded)
By Marjory Sutherland he had the following children:
Sir Oliver Sinclair
William Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Caithness (b. 1460 - d. 1513)
Alexander Sinclair (c. 1454)
George Sinclair (c. 1453)
Robert Sinclair (1447)
Arthur Sinclair (c. 1452)
Lady Eleanor Sinclair (b. 1457- d. 1518), who married John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl.
Lady Elizabeth Sinclair (b. c. 1455 - d. 1498), who married the Laird of Houston.
Lady Margaret Sinclair (c. 1450), who married David Boswell of Balmuto.
Lady Katherine Sinclair (b. 1440 - d. 1479)
Lady Susan Sinclair (c. 1451)
Lady Marjory Sinclair (1455\endash 80)
Lady Mariota Sinclair (c. 1455)
Lady Euphemia Sinclair (c. 1470), who married John Kincaid Laird of Warriston.
Illegitimate:
Sir David Sinclair of Sumburgh, died 1507.[5]
The earl's second son of his second marriage, William Sinclair, became the designated heir of the Earldom of Caithness, and continued that title. The Barony of Roslin went to his first son by that marriage, Sir Oliver Sinclair.
All in all, the Sinclair ancestry is well and thoroughly represented in Scottish and British high nobility, thanks to the 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 of Scotland. Lord Henry Darnley and his son, King James VI of Scotland, descended from Eleanor, and through them, many Royal houses of Europe. His other daughter by this marriage, Katherine Sinclair, married Alexander Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, a nephew of the 1st Earl of Atholl.
William married Lady Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of Archibald Douglas 4th Earl of Douglas and Princess Margaret Stewart Countess of Douglas.
William next married Marjory Sutherland in 1456.
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