The Sinclairs of Bryandrum and Markethill
George Sinclair leased farmland in Bryandrum from 1775 and rented a tenement in Markethill in 1787 when it appears he died. It was probably this George who signed the ‘Declaration of Loyalty by Members of the Congregation of First Markethill Presbyterian Church’ in 1763. John Sinclair, who also signed, may have been his brother because his grandson John was only born in 1781. Courtesy https://www.cotyroneireland.com/churchrecord/markethill.html.
We, the under-named Subscribers, Members of the Protestant Dissenting Congregation of Markethill in the County of Armagh, having observed, with the utmost affliction, the desperate and wicked attempts made by a number of our countrymen, of all denominations, to throw this County into anarchy and confusion, by audaciously preferring to trample underfoot the Laws of the Realm, do, in the inert Solemn Manner, declare our abhorrence of their unjustifiable proceedings, and take this opportunity of making it known, that we are truly sensible of the ineffable happiness we enjoy under the best of Kings, and the innumerable blessings which have attended this Nation and we also make this further Declaration, that we will to continue to pay every mark of duty to his most Sacred Majesty, his Laws, Magistrates and inferior officers, and, to the utmost of our power, aid and assist in preserving the peace of our native Country and opposing all such as shall wickedly and traitorously attempt to dissuade the same.
Although no definitive proof has been found, it is possible that the Sinclairs of Lisnalee and Newry were descendants of Abraham (see the third generation below), according to Adrian Sinclair, who researched this family in the late 1960s.
The identification of more recent generations is down to the hard work of Eddie Brittain, who has provided details about his grandfather Abraham. This Abraham established Messrs Sinclair & Company, a wholesale Indian tea merchant at 43 Great Victoria Street, Belfast, about 1885. Abraham was a Presbyterian and his wife Grace Megahy a Quaker. They moved to Bangor about 1904, where Abraham died.
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