SINCLAIR

Sinclair 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. He 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.