Bertrand W. Sinclair

Who was Bertrand W. Sinclair?

Bertrand William Sinclair was a Canadian novelist known for a series of westerns set in the United States, and also for a series of novels set in his home province of British Columbia.

Sinclair was born 9 Jan 1881 in Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K. He was the son of George Bertrand and Robina Sinclair. His name at birth was William Brown Sinclair, but he changed it, adopting his father's middle name as his first name. He emigrated to Canada with his mother in 1889.

At age 14 Sinclair ran away to Montana and became a cowboy for the next seven years. In 1903 he left Montana for Seattle and San Francisco, but returned to Montana, living in Great Falls for the next three years. In 1905 he first published stories. Also in 1905, he married author Bertha M. Brown, better known under her pen name: B. M. Bower. Bower, a very prolific novelist, taught him to write "productively" and to employ a formula. Sinclair and B. M. Bower had one daughter.

By 1908 Sinclair and Bower had moved to Santa Cruz, California. They divorced in 1912. The same year, Sinclair married his first wife's cousin, Ruth Brown. They had a child in 1912, a daughter. The Sinclairs moved to Vancouver, B.C., ultimately settling in Pender Harbour. Sinclair lived in Pender Harbour until his death.