Christian (Sinclair) Mackay (abt. 1534 - abt. 1580)

Born about 1534 in Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1580 at about age 46 in Scotland

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Biography

Christian (Sinclair) Mackay is a member of Clan Sinclair.

Christian was born about 1534. She is said to be a daughter of Sinclair of Dun.^[1]

• Balfour Paul does not mention which Sinclair of Dun. In his study of the family of Sinclair of Caithness,^[2] he provides that John Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Caithness, had a natural son, David. David is described in 1556 as brother to George, Earl of Caithness, and bailie to the Bishop. He is also referred to at the same time as David Sinclair of Dun,^[3] and was the ancestor of the Sinclairs of Dun by his wife, Margaret Calder, heiress of Dun. If this is correct, and given the dates, then Christian must have been his daughter, although not mentioned amongst his children in Balfour Paul, a list which he acknowledges is not complete. Hence the parents of Christian must have been David Sinclair and his wife Margaret Calder, heiress of Dun.

• In a study on the family^[4] the historian mentions that the estate of Dun is in the parish of Watten (Watten is a small village in Caithness) and there is difficulty in determining with certainty the origin of the Sinclairs of Dun, but they are believed to be cadets of the Caithness family. The historian further notes that it is certain that in 1508, and even at a much later period, the lands of Dun were possessed by the Caldells or Calders, and there is no trace of a "Sinclair of Dun" sooner than 1540, supporting Balfour Paul in regards to the marriage to the heiress, strangely not noted by the historian.

• It seems likely, given the dates of birth of her children, that she married about 1555 and when very young. The Sinclair historian^[5] adds further by saying "About the middle of the sixteenth century, and probably not later than 1557 or 1558, George, the fourth Earl, arranged a marriage between Y (often used for Iye) McKay of Farr, and Christian Sinclair". Sir Robert Gordon in his study of the house of Sutherland, notoriously inaccurate, provides that she was "daughter to the laird of Dun, and cousin to the Earl" (page 152). Robert Mackay in his work provides " (The Mackay) was allied to the Earl of Caithness (John Sinclair), having married his cousin, Christian Sinclair, daughter of William Sinclair, laird of Dun".^[6] While John Sinclair did have an illegitimate brother, William, the dates do not support that Christian was a daughter to him.

• The key to the lineage is in the marriage to the Heiress of Dun. The Sinclair family did not own Dun until after the marriage to Margaret Calder. This was known to have been David Sinclair. Given the dates Christian must have been a daughter of that marriage.

• The family historian makes this point further: "In the above-mentioned charter granted to David Sinclair of Dun, in 1560, the Earl of Sutherland gives to him in liferent, and to "his sons", William, Alexander, and Henry, in succession, and to the "heirs-male of their bodies lawfully begotten", in fee, the lands of Forss and Baillie. It appears that in 1586 a Henry Sinclair, who unquestionably was the brother of Christian, the laird of Dun's daughter, was killed in a fight with the Clan Gunn, then under command of Hutcheon McKay, who was a son of Christian Sinclair, and therefore Henry's own nephew. As no other Henry Sinclair is mentioned about the same period, except Henry, the son of David of Dun, it may be that. Christian Sinclair's brother was the same Henry Sinclair who is named in the charter, and thus that she was a daughter of David Sinclair of Dun. If so, as she was "cousin to the Earl of Caithness", so must her father also have been connected with that family."

Sources

1. ↑ #S-1 Balfour Paul; Vol 7, page 165
2. ↑ #S-1 Balfour Paul; Vol 2, page 338
3. ↑ Reg. Mag. Sig., 18 Dec. 1556. Balfour Paul notes that David Sinclair of Dun has been asserted to be a son of Sinclair of Warsetter, but the evidence is not satisfactory or complete.
4. ↑ Sinclairs of Dun
5. ↑ Sinclairs of Dun
6. ↑ #S-2 Mackay; page 132

• http://www.thepeerage.com/p55725.htm#i557242

• BP2003 volume 3, page 3301. BP2003.

• Source S-1Sir James Balfour Paul, Editor. The Scots peerage, founded on Wood's edition of Sir Robert Douglas's peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom. Vol. VII. Edinburgh: D Douglas, 1904. archive.org

• Source S-2Robert Mackay. History of the house and clan of Mackay ...... Vol. I. Edinburgh: A Jack, 1829. archive.org

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to Dana Jones for starting this profile.

• Thank you to R Bain for creating WikiTree profile Sinclair-1357 (now merged) through the import of BAINRobert4WikiTreeJul2013.ged on Jul 13, 2013.