Napoleon alive and well... in a Fife village

Famous Bonaparte name lives on in Scottish family

Napoleon Bonaparte is alive and well – and enjoying retirement in a small Fife village.

And he plans to mark the 200th anniversary of French defeat at Waterloo by working on his garden in Torryburn.

The 68-year old is the fourth – and last – member of his family to be given the unusual name, a tradition which began with a family row in 1886.

The retired electrical engineer, full name Napoleon Bonaparte Sinclair Smith, is even 5ft 6ins, exactly the same height as the First Emperor of France.

Napoleon, known by friends and family as Nap, once made a pilgrimage to Napoleon’s tomb. The unusual monicker has also resulted in him receiving preferential treatment during holidays in France and Spain.

Nap’s great-grandparents came from the tiny hamlet of Quatre Bras in Lybster, Caithness, which was named after a battle in the Napoleonic wars.

The place name may have inspired George Sinclair’s decision to christen Nap’s grandfather the first Scottish Napoleon in 1886. The name was used by two subsequent generations.

Nap said: “My name didn’t really bother me. When you know it’s your grandfather’s name you don’t really bother.

“I visited Napoleon’s tomb in Paris about 20 years ago, my brother-in-law said: ‘You need to go, you look just like him’.”

Despite the major events to mark the anniversary, Nap will be keeping things low key today.

“I won’t be celebrating the anniversary,” he said. “We’re sorting the garden putting slabs down so we’ll be concentrating on that.”

Nap, left, and his great-grandfather, George Sinclair, with wife Elizabeth.