I'm looking for a 2009 discussion regarding George Sinclair and May Heron who came to Dunedin, New Zealand in 1857 on the ship "George Canning". One of their daughters, Mary, married John Wallace in Dunedin in 1861. George was the 1st cousin of my great great grandfather George Hepburn (ex Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire)
Much of this discussion was focused on the question of George Sinclair's marital history. I have gone through the records time and again and have been in touch with the descendants of a George Sinclair who lived in Leith at one time and married Mary Temple in Edinburgh in 1826. 15 years on I'm still not entirely convinced that George Sinclair who married May Heron (spellings vary in the records) in Leslie in 1833 was the same man. The following notes from my database may be of interest to the participants in the 2009 discussion if they are still interested:
"The marriage record for George and Margery Herron is actually an entry in the Leslie Parish Money Register which reads: "Sep 1 To Proclamation Money, George Sinclair and Mary Herron."
"There is considerable doubt as to whether or not George had a first marriage to Mary Temple. Some researchers think there were two George Sinclairs, both grocers, in Leslie at the same time. There is no certainty, as shown in various records held by the author (me), that the George Sinclair who came to NZ in 1857 was ever married to Mary Temple. Nevertheless, census records for Scotland show that Mary Temple was still alive in 1851 living with her 3 sons, but her George was not in the household. The marriage dates for Mary Temple and Margery Heron and the births of their children are entirely compatible with a possible conclusion that George and Mary may have parted before he married Margery."
Whatever the case, George and May / Margery and children were accompanied on the George Canning by his 1st cousin Andrew Hepburn & wife (ex Leslie and Wemyss), 1st cousin once removed William Hepburn (my great grandfather) who was returning to Dunedin following a visit to Scotland, probably to accompany his ageing paternal grandfather James Paterson and crippled uncle David Paterson on the long journey to join William's parents George Hepburn and Rachel Paterson (ex Kirkcaldy) in Otago.
George Sinclair and family initially stayed with their Hepburn relations at Halfway Bush, Dunedin and then went to the Hepburn property "Brooklands" in North Otago which was run by James Paterson Hepburn, son of George and Rachel and brother of William.
In 1861 George's daughter Mary Sinclair (b.1836 in Leslie) married John Wallace. They had 6 children between 1867 and 1880. I have some BDM details of these people.
In 1864 George's daughter Agnes Sinclair (b.1838 in Leslie, bapt in Kirkcaldy) married Henry Green whose family had emigrated to Otago from Hayes, Middlesex in 1856. They had 2 children George and Henry Corbett Green. I have BDM data for this family and descendants.
In the course of all my extensive research, the NZ descendants and relations of George Sinclair and May Heron have provided no evidence that he was ever married earlier to a Mary Temple. However, this is not to say that he wasn't. He may have separated from Mary and married May. Mary was clearly still alive when he married May in 1833. Mary was apparently a solo mother with sons Alexander Temple, Charles Hope and Moncrieff in 1841 (Census). One could conjecture that George and May never mentioned his possible earlier marriage with Mary to their children.
If the participants in the 2009 discussion wish, I'll be happy to continue with it.
E&OE
Don Hutton
Family Historian
Christchurch, New Zealand
