John Sinclair, a shoemaker of Barton, had certainly seen some of the world; he had fought on the Confederate side in the American Civil War (1861-1865). But if he is remembered at all it is for something despicable rather than any heroism he may have shown in battle on foreign shores. This is because Sinclair, forty-six at the time, tried very hard to knife his wife to death. He only failed to do so because the woman had friends to watch over her. If he had been a wandering adventurer, it did nothing to create anything noble in his character.
Sinclair had obviously been an absentee husband for some years, and his reasons for seeing combat are unclear. But the fact remains that when he came home, he was determined first to maim, and later to kill his wife. On several occasions he was thrown in gaol to keep him from the attempt. The affair came to a head when he set about her in a rage. The pair lived in Fleetgate and thankfully, Sinclair’s wife, Jane, had friends and neighbours around. One of these, a relative of Jane, protected her on the night in question. The night before the major confrontation, he had thrown Sinclair into the street, and the man came back again, armed with a knife.
Todd restrained him and threw him down again, but Sinclair was quickly up, knife in hand, and went for Jane with some alacrity. Todd held him again, this time pinning him down and holding his throat until help came. When William Coulam came in they could handle the madman, but there was blood on Jane and she was in distress.
When the doctor, John Morley arrived, he inspected Jane and as she lay on a sofa, he noted a deep wound on her left side; so severe that he stated that ‘fat was protruding from the lips of the wound.’ He cut her stays and started emergency treatment. The men had dragged Sinclair outside by this time. The worst was thankfully over.