We know quite a bit about the Sinclair siblings, but very little about George, the youngest brother. Laurence, the oldest brother, is probably best known because of his role in the discovery of the Norseman goldfields and we also know quite a bit about James, who was to have a career in the post and telegraph industry in the southeast of Western Australia, as well as sister Margaret, who helped establish the Noondoonia pastoral station. We also know something about sister Jessie, who was to remain single and by her mother’s side for much of her life and younger sisters Mary and Julia, who were both to die young. But George remains something of a mystery. He and Laurence prospected together in the Norseman area and shared in the proceeds of the gold lease there, but then he fades from view, his later life largely unknown.
George was born George Thomas Sinclair on the 17th of March 1867 at the Greenmount convict station east of Perth, Western Australia. His given names were a combination of his father’s and paternal grandfather’s name. It was also the name he shared with his cousin, who was born 9 years before him and who was the son of his father’s brother Laurence, the first of the Sinclairs to migrate to Western Australia.
A year after George was born his father died, leaving the family with no long term source of income. His mother Mary was given an allowance by his father’s employer, the Convict Department, for six months, but then had to find the means to feed and clothe the family by herself. The family lived in Guildford for several years and it is likely that George went to school and grew up there. George’s oldest brother Laurence found a job with the Dempsters in Northam and helped them establish their sheep station at Esperance. His other brother James began work as a messenger with the Post and Telegraph Department in Guildford in 1874, the same year that his Margaret married John Cook.
After a few years George’s mother and sisters Jessie and Mary went to Albany where they opened a boarding house. It is likely that George went with them and there is a photograph of him with his mother standing outside the boarding house.
George must have made his way to Esperance to join his brothers Laurence, who was working at the Dempster staion, and James, who had been transferred there by the Post and Telegraph Department. It’s not clear whether he got to Esperance before Laurence got married or when he returned from South Australia, where he had gone with his family in the late 1870s. By the 1890s, however, George was working alongside Laurence and the pair were later to register the Norseman lease together, with their friend John Alsopp.
After Norseman, George’s movements are not known for certain. There are entries in the electoral registers and postal directories which may relate to him, but nothing is definitely known. By the first decades of the 20th century there were a number of people with the surname Sinclair in Western Australia and it is often not possible to say whether a record relates to George or not. With that uncertain status in mind, we can speculate about some possibilities.
— goldfields records
One fact we can be certain about is that when war broke out, George enlisted in the Australian Army. There is a record of his enlistment document online and it is clear that it is him because he identifies his sister, Jessie Mainland Sinclair, as his next of kin. The document notes that he was born near Guildford and that his parents were dead. His father had died when George was an infant and Mary had died in July 1915, the month before his enlistment. His occupation was given as miner, which matches with his work history. The only inconsistency is the age. He was said to be 35 years and 5 months on enlistment, but in fact he would have been 48 years and 5 months old. The discrepancy of 13 years is hard to reconcile and is either a mistake on the form or an attempt by George to meet requirements by lying about his age.
I can find no record of any service. Margret Sinclair says he became ill after he enlisted and was probably discharged
[TBC]
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