John Sinclair
- Name : Sinclair
- Born : 1754
- Died : 1835
- Category : Famous Historical Figures
- Finest Moment : Publication of the first Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791-8
Born in 1754, in Thurso Castle, of a branch of the Sinclair Earls of Caithness and Orkney, Sinclair was educated at Edinburgh High School, then the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Oxford. He was called to both the English and Scottish Bars, and inherited considerable property in Caithness, where he was MP, sitting almost continuously from 1780-1811.
He is best known as an agricultural improver, of which he was very enthusiastic. He conducted trials in drainage, crop rotation and introduced the Cheviot sheep to Scotland in 1792. This breed is relatively large-bodied, with good wool, and thrives well in the far north and the Borders. What exempts Sinclair from immediate criticism with regards to sheep is the fact that he was always extremely thoughtful when it came to his tenants, and he would have been distressed had he known of the landowners who used sheep as an excuse to evict tenants.
Sinclair's other claim to fame was as a statistician. He was undertaking research into land assessment, and in 1784 he had published History of the Public Revenue. These formed the basis of a 20-volume county by county survey, the first Statistical Account of Scotland, published between 1791-8. This grand ouvre was based on reports from local ministers; Sinclair being a lay member of the General Assembly helped.
A renaissance man, Sinclair also studied and wrote about military strategy, politics, science, medicine, tartan trews versus the kilt, and just about anything which interested him in fact. In 1793 he proposed the setting up of a Board of Agriculture, sitting as its first President from 1793-8.
His improvements swallowed up much of his fortune. He planned the new town of Thurso, and is honoured there with a statue in its central garden. He died in 1835.