View Sinclair genealogical haplotree
About the Sinclar family
Said to have been of Norman origin, there were at one time thought to have been two main branches of the Sinclair (St Clair) family, the Roslin branch and the Herdmanston branch. It has now been established conclusively, through DNA testing, that these families are unrelated in historical times. Genetically, the Roslin Sinclairs are part of the R1b genetic group.
Otherwise, few conclusions can be drawn at this stage of genetic genealogy research into the Sinclairs of Roslin and these conclusions are provisional.
Since SNP FGC15254 is the earliest identified SNP distinct to the surname Sinclair, it was probably formed at some point soon after the name became a fixed surname, perhaps in the late 12th century. Because SNP FGC35613 is known to be more recent, it is likely to indicate a descent from Henry Sinclair of Roslin, d bet 1330-1336, a ‘signatory’ of the Declaration of Arbroath.