Obituaries Australia

Sir Colin Sinclair, n.d.

from Pastoral Review and Graziers' Record, 16 April 1956

Sir Colin Archibald Sinclair, K.B.E., B.A., LL.B., one of the best known and most highly respected men in rural, business, social, and political spheres in Australia, and particularly in New South Wales, died in Sydney last month.

He was born at Fraser's Creek, Inverell, N.S.W., in 1876 and was educated at Armidale and at Sydney University, where he graduated in Arts and Law. His father owned Waterloo, a grazing property near Glen Innes, N.S.W., and the family at various periods owned half a dozen other grazing properties in New South Wales, some of which were subsequently subdivided for soldier settlement.

The greater part of the late Sir Colin Sinclair's life was devoted to public service in one form or another. At Sydney University he was a delegate on the Cricket Association of N.S.W., later being appointed to the executive committee and made a delegate to the Australian Board of Cricket Control. He was elected to the council of the Royal Agricultural Society of N.S.W. in 1934 and was president from 1943 to 1954, when he resigned because of ill health. In his capacity as president of the R.A.S., he did a magnificent job during some of the most difficult years of the society's history.

The late Sir Colin Sinclair was for many years an active member of the Graziers' Association of New South Wales, of which he was at one time a vice-president. He represented the Country Party for Namoi in the State Assembly from 1932 to 1941, and was Honorary Minister in 1937-38 and Minister for Lands from 1938-1940. He had been a director of the Bank of New South Wales since 1946 and was president of the board in 1953, when he was knighted. Although he subsequently relinquished the presidency he retained his seat on the board.

A director of the Australian, Mercantile, Land and Finance Co. Ltd. since 1939, Sir Colin Sinclair was also at different periods a director and vice-chairman of the Union Trustee Co., and a director of the McGarvie Smith Institute. He was on the council of the Fairbridge Home, at Molong, N.S.W., the N.S.W. Flying Doctor Service, and Scots College, Sydney.

Although in latter years he experienced difficulty in concealing his impatience with inefficiency, Sir Colin Sinclair was always gracious and understanding, and at all times accessible to those who sought his counsel. He was in indifferent health in recent years, but while his public appearances were less frequent he always retained his air of cheerfulness and expressed great confidence in the future of Australia.

The late Sir Colin Sinclair is survived by Lady Sinclair.