Sir Keith Sinclair further papers.

Sir Keith Sinclair (1922-1993) was a New Zealand historian, university academic and poet. He is regarded as having pioneered a style of historical scholarship that reflected a distinctly New Zealandview of the country and its people.

Sinclair was born in Herne Bay, Auckland, on 5 December, 1922, the eldest of ten children. His parents, Ernest Sinclair and Florence Kennedy, who did not marry until 1939, initially lived in boarding houses. The family’s first home was in Ellerslie, followed later by a more permanent move to Point Chevalier, a location and community that would provide inspiration for Sinclair’s writing.

Sinclair’s schooling was at Point Chevalier Primary and Mt Albert Grammar School. In late 1941 he was accepted for Teachers’ Training College and, around the same time, was called up for Territorial military training, which he unsuccessfully appealed. From 1941-1945 he served in the New Zealand Army at home and then in the Royal New Zealand Navy in Britain. During this time he managed to continue his teacher-training, and, while in the Navy, to study extramurally through Auckland University College.

After the war, in 1947, Sinclair accepted a position as Lecturer in History at Auckland University College. He remained in the History Department, becoming Professor of History in 1962 and Emeritus Professor upon retirement in 1987. In a departure from academic life, but in line with a long-held interest in politics, Sinclair stood for Labour in Auckland’s Eden electorate in the 1969 general election. He initially won the seat, but this result was overturned when postal votes were counted. Documents pertaining to this campaign are held at MSS & Archives Vault 60

During his career, Sinclair held numerous positions on boards, committees and trusts. He also received various fellowships, prizes and awards, most notable of which were a CBE in 1983 for services to literature and Knight Bachelor in 1985 for services to historical research and literature.

Papers in this collection reveal that Sinclair developed a precocious interest in literature during childhood. As an adult he published in two main fields: history and poetry. He wrote and edited numerous publications on aspects of New Zealand history, placing importance on the use of primary sources in Maori as well as English language in his research; something he felt was lacking in past scholarship. Noteworthy amongst these are his biographies of politicians William Pember Reeves and Walter Nash, A history of the University of Auckland, 1883-1993 (NZP 378.95 S61), The origins of the Maori wars (NZP 995.025 S616) and History of New Zealand (NZP 995 S616h), which has appeared in several editions over four decades, the last of which was a revision by his wife and colleague, Dr Raewyn Dalziel, in 2000.

Aside from contributions in periodicals and anthologies, his poems have been published in five works, and draft material for some of these is found in Series 6. He also published a children’s fiction book, Reefs of fire (NZP 821.91 S61r), which drew on Sinclair’s childhood in Point Chevalier.

In 1947, Sinclair married Mary Land and they lived briefly in Wellington and then in Mangere East, Auckland. In the early 1950s, research opportunities arose that enabled the couple to spend periods of time travelling and living overseas. They had four sons and settled in Takapuna. Keith and Mary Sinclair divorced and, in 1976, Sinclair married Raewyn Dalziel.

Sir Keith Sinclair died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage in June 1993 while visiting a son in Canada and just prior to the release of his autobiography, Halfway round the harbour : an autobiography (NZP 995 S616Yh). He was brought back to New Zealand for a funeral at the University of Auckland’s Waipapa Marae. A Chair in History at the University of Auckland was named in his honour in 2003.