Malcolm Sinclair, 20th Earl of Caithness

Sinclair was born in 1948, the only son of Roderick Sinclair, 19th Earl of Caithness and his second wife Madeline Gabrielle Ormerod (née de Pury). Sinclair's mother was possibly descended from the de Pury family of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, who were members of the Prussian nobility.

He was educated at Blairmore School, Aberdeenshire, at Marlborough College and at the Royal Agricultural College (now Royal Agricultural University), Cirencester.

Sinclair succeeded to the earldom of Caithness and its subsidiary titles upon the death of his father in 1965.

Lord Caithness served as a House of Lords government-whip under Margaret Thatcher from 1984 to 1985. He then moved to the Department of Transport as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, serving until 1986, the year when he became Minister of State at the Home Office. In 1988, he was once appointed Minister of State at the Department of Environment. In 1989, he became Paymaster General and a Minister of State in the Treasury.Mosley, Charles (ed.) Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, volume 1 (Wilmington, DE: Burke's Peerage, 2003) page 641.

In 1990, Caithness was appointed Minister of State at the Foreign Office, and then, in 1992, back to the Department of Transport. He was made a privy counsellor in 1990.

With the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, Caithness, along with most other hereditary peers, lost his automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. He was, however, elected as one of the 90 representative peers designed under the provisions of the act to remain in the House of Lords. According to the Electoral Reform Society, he has since blocked further reform of the Lords, tabling 'wrecking' amendments to a draft Bill to abolish by-elections for hereditary peers, proposed by Lord Grocott in 2018.{{cite web|last1=Garland|first1=Jessica|title=A handful of hereditary peers are trying to stifle reform – they are on the wrong side of history|url=https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/a-handful-of-hereditary-peers-are-trying-to-stifle-reform-they-are-on-the-wrong-side-of-history/|website=Electoral Reform Society}}

Caithness is an opponent of fractional-reserve banking.[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldhansrd/text/90205-0003.htm#09020540000096/ House of Lords record, February 2009], Hansard archives

Caithness was a trustee of Queen Elizabeth Castle of Mey Trust, from its inception in 1996 until 2016. In 1999, he helped found a heritage charity, the Clan Sinclair Trust, the aim of which is the preservation and conservation of Castle Sinclair Girnigoe, near Wick in Caithness. He serves as chief executive and has been responsible for getting the castle listed by the World Monuments Fund in its Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World in 2002, the fundraising and overseeing the remedial works which has allowed the castle to be accessible and open to the public.

Caithness was married firstly on 9 January 1975 to Diana Caroline Coke. They had two children:Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 641

• Lady Iona Alexandra Sinclair (born 18 February 1978)
• Alexander James Richard Sinclair, Lord Berriedale (born 26 March 1981), heir apparent to the earldom.

In January 1994, Caithness resigned from his post at the Ministry of Transport, following the suicide of his wife.Sinclair, Robert (2013) The Sinclairs of Scotland, AuthorHouse, 12 June 2013, {{ISBN|978-1481795708}} In November 2004 he married secondly Leila Cassel Jenkins, whom he had met at Ascot, in Rosslyn Chapel.{{cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/earl-of-caithness-marries-american-businesswoman-1-562067|title=Earl of Caithness marries American businesswoman|newspaper=The Scotsman|date=15 November 2004|access-date=22 August 2010|location=Edinburgh|first=Louise|last=Ward}} He filed for divorce a year later. They had no children.

There are Clan Sinclair associations in the UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, and the USA.

Malcolm Sinclair has organized the first Clan Sinclair International Gathering in Caithness in 2000, and then again in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 (in Norway), and 2015.{{Cite web|title=International Gatherings – Clan Sinclair Australia|url=https://clansinclairaustralia.com/international-gatherings/|access-date=2021-07-07}}

In 2009, Sinclair, referring to the role of Clan Chiefs, said "I do not believe there is an obligation towards the clan in any formal sense. For many years I took no interest in the Clan because I was too busy earning a living and bringing up the family...If a chief can give the time, particularly to the Diaspora, then there are huge rewards for everyone and I would hope that most chiefs can do that".{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120310080743/http://www.panalba.com/articles/view/p/chief-to-chief-malcolm-sinclair-the-earl-of-caithness/ Chief to Chief – Malcolm Sinclair, The Earl of Caithness]}}, Jamie Sempill, 15 July 2009

{{Reflist}}

• {{Hansard-contribs | mr-malcolm-sinclair | the Earl of Caithness }}
• [http://sinclair.quarterman.org/chief.html Hereditary Chief, Clan Sinclair, Caithness]

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Category:1948 births

Category:Living people

Category:People educated at Blairmore School

Category:People educated at Marlborough College

Category:Alumni of the Royal Agricultural University

Category:Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting

Malcolm

Category:Scottish clan chiefs

Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Malcolm

Category:Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act 1999