Andrew Sinclair (botanist)
Encyclopedia
Andrew Sinclair was a British surgeon
who was notable for his botanical collections. He served as New Zealand
's second Colonial Secretary
.
, Renfrewshire
, Scotland
on 13 April 1794 into a middle class family. He was the son of John Sinclair, a weaver, and of Agnes Renfrew. He studied medicine at Glasgow University College
from 1814 to 1816 and then trained as a surgeon for a year at Hôpital de la Charité
in Paris
. He completed his tertiary education at the University of Edinburgh
, from where he graduated as Doctor of Medicine
(M.D.) in 1818.
and in the Mediterranean Sea
. Much of his spare time was taken up with collecting botanical
and zoological
samples, many of which he sent to the British Museum
.
He took further lectures in medicine and in 1835 joined the on a surveying expedition to the South American coast, under the command of Captain Frederick William Beechey
, and afterwards of Sir Edward Belcher
. Sinclair collected plants in California
, Mexico
, Central America
and Brazil
, which he continued to send to the British Museum or the Kew Gardens
. During this period, he gained a reputation as an important collector. He returned to England in 1839 because of declining health.
s to Australia
and had opportunities of collecting at several Australian ports. In 1841, he visited the Bay of Islands
on , arriving on 26 October. He met the party of Captain James Clark Ross
who were on their way to their to an Antarctic expedition. He joined missionary William Colenso
(himself an avid botanist) and Joseph Dalton Hooker
(assistant surgeon for Ross and one of the founders of geographical botany) on several botanical expeditions in the Bay of Islands. He presented a fine collection of shells and insects to the British Museum so that staff were encouraged to start the first systematic catalogue. He returned to Scotland in 1842.
Sinclair arrived in September 1843 in Tasmania
on the convict ship Asiatic. On his return journey, he took his discharge in Sydney
, as this was the end of his term. There he met Robert FitzRoy
, who was on his way to New Zealand
as Governor
elect. The two men struck a rapport and FitzRoy offered Sinclair a free journey to Auckland
, then the capital of New Zealand, where they arrived on 23 December 1843.
, more conflict was brewing in the Bay of Islands, settlers had lost trust in the Government, and discontent amongst Māori was common. FitzRoy immediately summarily dismissed Willoughby Shortland
, who as Colonial Secretary
had been acting Governor since William Hobson
's death in September 1842.
FitzRoy did not want to appoint anybody connected to any political faction to the position of Colonial Secretary and urged Sinclair to take on that role, who at first declined quoting his inexperience in administrative matters, but eventually agreed to save the Governor from an embarrassing situation. Sinclair was appointed as Colonial Secretary on 6 January 1844, and was called to the Legislative Council
on 8 January.
Sinclair served as Colonial Secretary under FitzRoy (until 18 November 1845), George Grey
(18 November 1845 – 3 January 1854), acting Governor Robert Wynyard
(3 January 1854 – 6 September 1855) and Thomas Gore Browne
(from 6 September 1855). His post ended after twelve years when New Zealand obtained responsible government
and the first Premier
Henry Sewell
took on the role of Colonial Secretary himself on 7 May 1856. During his term, he struggled with the tension between settlers and the Governor. He is credited with training staff who formed the core of an effective civil service for New Zealand. Sinclair was regarded as 'honest, upright, scrupulous and laborious'. His political career is described as unremarkable.
, Thomas Henry Huxley and Richard Owen
. He became a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1857. He returned to New Zealand in 1859 to collect in the South Island
and on Stewart Island material for a supplement to Hooker's Handbook of the New Zealand flora. He made arrangements with Sir Julius von Haast
to explore Mount Cook, but was drowned on 26 March 1861 endeavouring to cross the flooded Rangitata River
. Richard Stringer and Sinclair had one horse between them. Their plan was to ride the horse through the river and send the horse back to the second man. Sinclair rode to an island in the middle of the river and tried to send the horse back, but it carried on to the opposite side. Sinclair swam after it, but drowned. He was buried at Samuel Butler
's Mesopotamia Station nearby. Sinclair had never married.
His zoological specimens, chiefly sponges and zoophyte
s, were mostly presented to the British Museum, and his plants to Sir William Jackson Hooker
, who commemorated him in the tropical American genus of Asteraceae
, Sinclairia
. His plants were mainly described in Hooker and Arnott
's Botany of Beechey's Voyage and Bentham's Botany of the Voyage of the Sulphur. 16 New Zealand plants were named to commemorate Sinclair including Meryta sinclairii, which is a popular street tree in coastal areas.
He contributed Remarks on Physalia pelagica to the Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science, Vol. i (1842), and a letter On the Vegetation of Auckland to Hooker's Journal of Botany, Vol. iii (1851).
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
who was notable for his botanical collections. He served as New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's second Colonial Secretary
Colonial Secretary (New Zealand)
The Colonial Secretary of New Zealand was an office established in 1840 and abolished in 1907. The position should not be confused with the Colonial Secretary of the former Colonial Office of the United Kingdom....
.
Early life
Sinclair was born in PaisleyPaisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
, Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
on 13 April 1794 into a middle class family. He was the son of John Sinclair, a weaver, and of Agnes Renfrew. He studied medicine at Glasgow University College
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
from 1814 to 1816 and then trained as a surgeon for a year at Hôpital de la Charité
Hôpital de la Charité
Hôpital de la Charité was a hospital in Paris founded in the 17th century and closed in 1935.-History:In 1606, Marie de Médicis invited the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God to come to France. The Abbot of Saint-Germain-des-Prés granted them the use of its former Saint-Père chapel, which...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He completed his tertiary education at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, from where he graduated as Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
(M.D.) in 1818.
Royal Navy
Sinclair entered the navy as an assistant surgeon in 1822 and became a surgeon in 1829. Between 1823 and 1833, he served on the , stationed mainly at the Cape of Good HopeCape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
and in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. Much of his spare time was taken up with collecting botanical
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and zoological
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
samples, many of which he sent to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
He took further lectures in medicine and in 1835 joined the on a surveying expedition to the South American coast, under the command of Captain Frederick William Beechey
Frederick William Beechey
Frederick William Beechey was an English naval officer and geographer. He was the son of Sir William Beechey, RA., and was born in London.-Career:...
, and afterwards of Sir Edward Belcher
Edward Belcher
Admiral Sir Edward Belcher, KCB , was a British naval officer and explorer. He was the great-grandson of Governor Jonathan Belcher. His wife, Diana Jolliffe, was the stepdaughter of Captain Peter Heywood.-Early life:...
. Sinclair collected plants in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, which he continued to send to the British Museum or the Kew Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
. During this period, he gained a reputation as an important collector. He returned to England in 1839 because of declining health.
Convict ships
When Sinclair regained his health, he started work as a surgeon on convict shipConvict ship
The term convict ship is a colloquial term used to describe any ship engaged on a voyage to carry convicted felons under sentence of penal transportation from their place of conviction to their place of exile.-Colonial practice:...
s to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and had opportunities of collecting at several Australian ports. In 1841, he visited the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
on , arriving on 26 October. He met the party of Captain James Clark Ross
James Clark Ross
Sir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...
who were on their way to their to an Antarctic expedition. He joined missionary William Colenso
William Colenso
William Colenso was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician.-Life:Born in Penzance, Cornwall, he was the cousin of John William Colenso, Bishop of Natal...
(himself an avid botanist) and Joseph Dalton Hooker
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
(assistant surgeon for Ross and one of the founders of geographical botany) on several botanical expeditions in the Bay of Islands. He presented a fine collection of shells and insects to the British Museum so that staff were encouraged to start the first systematic catalogue. He returned to Scotland in 1842.
Sinclair arrived in September 1843 in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
on the convict ship Asiatic. On his return journey, he took his discharge in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, as this was the end of his term. There he met Robert FitzRoy
Robert FitzRoy
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy RN achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, and as a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate weather forecasting a reality...
, who was on his way to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
as Governor
Governor-General of New Zealand
The Governor-General of New Zealand is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand . The Governor-General acts as the Queen's vice-regal representative in New Zealand and is often viewed as the de facto head of state....
elect. The two men struck a rapport and FitzRoy offered Sinclair a free journey to Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, then the capital of New Zealand, where they arrived on 23 December 1843.
Colonial Secretary of New Zealand
The affairs in New Zealand were in a much worse state than FitzRoy had been led to believe. The colony was bankrupt, it had just experienced its first settler-Māori conflictWairau Affray
In New Zealand history, the Wairau Affray on 17 June 1843 was the first serious clash of arms between Māori and the British settlers after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the only one to take place in the South Island...
, more conflict was brewing in the Bay of Islands, settlers had lost trust in the Government, and discontent amongst Māori was common. FitzRoy immediately summarily dismissed Willoughby Shortland
Willoughby Shortland
Commander Willoughby Shortland RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He was New Zealand's first Colonial Secretary from 1841, after having arrived in New Zealand with Lieutenant Governor William Hobson in January 1840...
, who as Colonial Secretary
Colonial Secretary (New Zealand)
The Colonial Secretary of New Zealand was an office established in 1840 and abolished in 1907. The position should not be confused with the Colonial Secretary of the former Colonial Office of the United Kingdom....
had been acting Governor since William Hobson
William Hobson
Captain William Hobson RN was the first Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.-Early life:...
's death in September 1842.
FitzRoy did not want to appoint anybody connected to any political faction to the position of Colonial Secretary and urged Sinclair to take on that role, who at first declined quoting his inexperience in administrative matters, but eventually agreed to save the Governor from an embarrassing situation. Sinclair was appointed as Colonial Secretary on 6 January 1844, and was called to the Legislative Council
New Zealand Legislative Council
The Legislative Council of New Zealand was the upper house of the New Zealand Parliament from 1853 until 1951. Unlike the lower house, the New Zealand House of Representatives, the Legislative Council was appointed.-Role:...
on 8 January.
Sinclair served as Colonial Secretary under FitzRoy (until 18 November 1845), George Grey
George Grey
George Grey may refer to:*Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet , British politician*George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent *Sir George Grey , Governor of Cape Colony, South Australia and New Zealand...
(18 November 1845 – 3 January 1854), acting Governor Robert Wynyard
Robert Wynyard
Sir Robert Henry Wynyard was a New Zealand colonial administrator, serving at various times as Lieutenant Governor of New Ulster Province, Administrator of the Government, and was the first Superintendent of Auckland Province.-Lieutenant Governor of New Ulster:From 26 April 1851 to 7 March 1853,...
(3 January 1854 – 6 September 1855) and Thomas Gore Browne
Thomas Gore Browne
Colonel Sir Thomas Robert Gore Browne KCMG CB was a British colonial administrator, who was Governor of St Helena, Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Tasmania and Governor of Bermuda.-Early life:...
(from 6 September 1855). His post ended after twelve years when New Zealand obtained responsible government
Responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...
and the first Premier
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
Henry Sewell
Henry Sewell
Henry Sewell was a prominent 19th century New Zealand politician. He was a notable campaigner for New Zealand self-government, and is generally regarded as having been the country's first Premier, having led the Sewell Ministry in 1856.-Early life:Sewell was born on 7 September 1807 in the town of...
took on the role of Colonial Secretary himself on 7 May 1856. During his term, he struggled with the tension between settlers and the Governor. He is credited with training staff who formed the core of an effective civil service for New Zealand. Sinclair was regarded as 'honest, upright, scrupulous and laborious'. His political career is described as unremarkable.
Later life
Sinclair retired on a pension to Scotland and also spent time in Europe. He held discussions on scientific issues with Charles DarwinCharles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, Thomas Henry Huxley and Richard Owen
Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen, FRS KCB was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist.Owen is probably best remembered today for coining the word Dinosauria and for his outspoken opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
. He became a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1857. He returned to New Zealand in 1859 to collect in the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
and on Stewart Island material for a supplement to Hooker's Handbook of the New Zealand flora. He made arrangements with Sir Julius von Haast
Julius von Haast
Sir Johann Franz "Julius" von Haast was a German geologist. He founded Canterbury Museum at Christchurch.-Biography:...
to explore Mount Cook, but was drowned on 26 March 1861 endeavouring to cross the flooded Rangitata River
Rangitata River
The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for 120 kilometres from the Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean 30 kilometres northeast of Timaru...
. Richard Stringer and Sinclair had one horse between them. Their plan was to ride the horse through the river and send the horse back to the second man. Sinclair rode to an island in the middle of the river and tried to send the horse back, but it carried on to the opposite side. Sinclair swam after it, but drowned. He was buried at Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler (novelist)
Samuel Butler was an iconoclastic Victorian author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh...
's Mesopotamia Station nearby. Sinclair had never married.
His zoological specimens, chiefly sponges and zoophyte
Zoophyte
A zoophyte is an animal that visually resembles a plant. An example is a sea anemone. The name is obsolete in modern science.Zoophytes are common in medieval and renaissance era herbals, notable examples including the Tartar Lamb, a plant which grew sheep as fruit...
s, were mostly presented to the British Museum, and his plants to Sir William Jackson Hooker
William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker, FRS was an English systematic botanist and organiser. He held the post of Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University, and was the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He enjoyed the friendship and support of Sir Joseph Banks for his exploring,...
, who commemorated him in the tropical American genus of Asteraceae
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
, Sinclairia
Sinclairia
Sinclairia is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family....
. His plants were mainly described in Hooker and Arnott
George Arnott Walker-Arnott
George Arnott Walker-Arnott was a Scottish botanist.He studied law in Edinburgh though later became a botanist, holding the position of Regius Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow. He studied the botany of North America with Sir William Hooker and collaborated with Robert Wight in...
's Botany of Beechey's Voyage and Bentham's Botany of the Voyage of the Sulphur. 16 New Zealand plants were named to commemorate Sinclair including Meryta sinclairii, which is a popular street tree in coastal areas.
He contributed Remarks on Physalia pelagica to the Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science, Vol. i (1842), and a letter On the Vegetation of Auckland to Hooker's Journal of Botany, Vol. iii (1851).