Swiss zoologist Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major named Sibree's dwarf lemur after him in 1896.

Son of a Congregational minister, he apprenticed as a civil engineer before travelling to Antananarivo, Madagascar in 1863 on assignment from the London Missionary Society (LMS) to oversee the construction of four churches.

[2] In 1863, he travelled to Antananarivo, Madagascar after being assigned by the London Missionary Society (LMS) to oversee the architecture of four large stone churches, each of which was dedicated as a memorial to a recent martyr.

[2] Upon his return, he studied for the Congregational ministry at Spring Hill College in the Moseley area of Birmingham, England from 1868 until 1870.

In 1874, he joined the LMS delegation on a trip to Antsihanaka province, and embarked on another mission-related journey to south-eastern Madagascar in 1876.

Preceding the French invasion of Madagascar in 1895, he was a vocal advocate of Malagasy independence,[2][3] insisting the LMS in England adopt the same stance.

[4] In addition to publishing many popular, detailed books about the flora and fauna of Madagascar, the country's general history, and the mission history on the island,[3] he also edited Register of Missionaries and Deputations of the LMS (1923) and wrote several works in the Malagasy language, as well as articles about Madagascar which were published in several editions of Encyclopædia Britannica and Chambers's Encyclopaedia.

In 1902, he became a member of the Malagasy Academy (l'Académie Malgache), and he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of St Andrews in 1913.

[2] Sibree's dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus sibreei) was named after him in 1896 by the Swiss zoologist Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major.