Bert Sincock - Early Years

Early Years

Sincock was born in September 1887 at Barkerville, British Columbia, a boomtown developed during the Cariboo Gold Rush. His father, Samuel John Sincock, was an immigrant from Cornwall, England, who originally settled in the Copper Country of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and moved to British Columbia in 1877, where he engaged in prospecting and placer mining. Samuel was listed in the 1887 Barkerville Directory as a miner. For a time during the gold rush, Barkerville was the largest North American city located west of Chicago and north of San Francisco. At the time of the 1891 Census of Canada, Sincock was living with his parents, Samuel J. Sincock and Mary (Higgins) Sincock, in Richfield, Cariboo, British Columbia, where his father was recorded as being employed as a gold miner. Herbert was the youngest of six children identified in the census record.

By the time of the 1900 United States Census, Sincock was living in Laurium, Calumet Township, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula with his mother Mary, five siblings, and grandfather William Higgins. A biographical profile of Samuel Sincock indicates he moved to Okanogan County, Washington, in 1893, though no indication is given as to whether he was divorced from Herbert's mother, Mary Sincock.