Thomas Sinclair

Thomas Sinclair (23 September 1838 – 14 February 1914), was an Ulster-Scots businessman and politician who drafted the Ulster Covenant.

Early life and family Thomas Sinclair was born in Belfast on 23 September 1838. His parents were Thomas (1811–1867), merchant and shipowner, and Sarah Sinclair (1800–1849) (née Archer). Sinclair's father went into business with his brother John (1808–1856), setting up a provisions and general merchant store at 5–11, Tomb Street, Belfast. John married Eliza Pirrie, the relative of the prominent ship builder William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie. After the death of his father, Sinclair inherited £35,000 as his mother, brother and sister were all deceased. She died in 1879. He married Elizabeth Richardson in 1882. She was the niece of John Grubb Richardson and the widow of Sinclair's cousin, John M. Sinclair. They had three sons and two daughters.

Role in politics

Despite numerous requests, Sinclair never stood for parliament, instead he served as Deputy lieutenant, Justice of the peace, president of the Ulster chamber of commerce in 1876 and 1902, and privy councillor in 1896. Having been a supporter of William Ewart Gladstone, Sinclair joined the Ulster Liberal Party in 1868, supporting the land acts of 1870 and 1881. Following the home rule bill of 1886, he convened a meeting in the Ulster Hall of liberals on 30 April 1886 which passed a resolution in condemnation of the bill. Forming the Ulster Liberal Unionist Association, of which he was chair, he organised the Ulster Convention in Belfast. Held on 17 June 1892, it saw 11,879 Ulster unionists meet to protest home rule. 9 months after the convention, Sinclair was appointed to the executive committee of the new unionist clubs, which were founded to protect the union. The defeat of the British Liberal party in 1895 significantly decreased the threat of home rule, leading to the unionists clubs being suspended, and Sinclair returning to his activities in liberal reform. He was the leading Ulster member of the recess committee from 1895, which was founded by Horace Plunkett. He supported Plunkett's backing of T. P. Gill as secretary of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society in 1899, in the face of strong protest by conservative unionists.

Despite his unionist politics, Sinclair was non-sectarian, and during his time as chairman of the convocation of the Queen's University he defended the core non-sectarian principles of the institution, and refused to allow any form of denominational teaching. Through his work with the recess committee, he ensured that the new Department of Agriculture's vocational and technical education would remain secular. A memorial window at Church House, the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church, was unveiled in Sinclair's memory on 8 June 1915, and there is a Sinclair Memorial Hall opened in his honour on 10 September 1915. A blue plaque was erected to Sinclair on the Duncairn Centre.