F. G. (Frederick Granville) Sinclair

Frederick Granville Sinclair, often published earlier as F. G. Heathcote, was a Scottish zoologist born in 1857 and died in 1914. He is remembered both for his scientific work and for a striking change in identity: after inheriting the Castle of Mey from George Sinclair, 15th Earl of Caithness, he legally took the name Frederick Granville Sinclair.

His research centered on zoology, especially myriapods such as centipedes and millipedes. Records from the Royal Society and biodiversity collections show him working on detailed studies of development and classification, including papers on Julus terrestris and on myriapods collected during the Skeat Expedition to the Malay Peninsula. He also helped with zoological publishing, including work connected with The Cambridge Natural History and English editions of zoology textbooks.

Because the surviving web sources focus much more on his scientific record than on his personal life, many biographical details remain thin. What does come through clearly is a picture of a serious late-Victorian naturalist: careful, specialized, and deeply engaged with the close observation of animal life.