Sir George Sinclair, 2nd Baronet

Sir George Sinclair, 2nd Baronet (28 August 1790 – 1868), was a Scottish politician and author.

Sinclair, the eldest son of Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet of Ulbster, and Diana, only daughter of Alexander Macdonald, 1st Baron Macdonald, was born in Edinburgh. His siblings were John, William and Catherine Sinclair. He entered Harrow School, under Dr. Drury, at the age of ten, having for fellow scholars Lord Byron and Sir Robert Peel. Byron described Sinclair as "the prodigy of our school-days. He made exercises for half the school (literally), verses at will, and themes without it. He was a friend of mine, and in the same remove." At the age of sixteen Sinclair quit Harrow and went to Göttingen. Arrested as a spy, he was brought before Napoleon, who examined him and ordered his release. In 1826 Sinclair issued a privately printed Narrative of the interview (Edinburgh, 1826, 8vo).

Sinclair returned to England, and in 1811 succeeded his father in the whig interest as Member of Parliament (MP) for the county of Caithness, which he represented at intervals for many years. On the invitation of Spencer Perceval he moved the reply to the address from the throne during his first session, and soon achieved success as a speaker. He was re-elected to parliament in 1818. In the House of Commons Sinclair formed a close friendship with Joseph Hume and Sir Francis Burdett. He strenuously advocated catholic emancipation and the emancipation of the West India slaves, and he severely criticised the pension list. While a member of parliament Sinclair found time to attend the Edinburgh lectures of Dr. Hope on chemistry, of Dr. Knox and Dr. Monro on anatomy, and also a course on botany. He took a great interest in the misfortunes of Charles X of France, and had numerous interviews with the royal exile when resident in Holyrood. One of these he described in a racy pamphlet, Comme Charles X, 1848.

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