Nicholas Harris Nicolas GCMG KH (1799 - 1848)

Born 10 Mar 1799 in Dartmouth, Devon, England

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Davidson) Nicolas — married 28 Mar 1822 in Camden, St Pancras, London, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 3 Aug 1848 at age 49 in Capécure, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France

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Biography

Nicholas Nicolas GCMG KH is Notable.

He was married on March 29 1822 to Sarah Davidson ^[1]

Saint James's Chronicle - Saturday 12 August 1848 DEATH OF SIR HARRIS NICOLAS, K.H., G.C.M.G. —Our obituary has already recorded the lamented death of Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas, which took place at Boulogne, on the 3d inst., after only 24 hours' illness, the unfortunate cause being congestion of the brain, produced by intense labour in his literary pursuits. He had been working hard of late in bringing out the third volume of "The History of the Navy from its earliest Commencement," and also in editing the life of Sir Hudson Lowe. Sir Harris Nicolas was a younger brother of Captain Toup Nicolas, C.B., superintendent of the Royal William victualling-yard, and was himself a lieutenant in the navy, having earned his commission in 1815 by active service as midshipman in the boats of the Pilot, brig, which his brother commanded, at the capture of several armed vessels and convoys on the coast of Calabria. The general peace having deprived Sir Harris, as well as so many other brave and gallant officers, of his occupation, he indulged the bent of his inclinations towards literary pursuits, more especially towards chivalric history, and the foundation and progress of his own glorious profession. Practised in arms, however, and skilled in letters, he added to his qualifications for prosecuting his antiquarian researches the study of the law, and was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1825. He thus became known to the world as the author of several works on the history and peerage of England, particularly valuable for the extent of their legal, historical, and antiquarian information. It was this gallant and learned officer and gentleman who rescued the history of the various orders of knighthood from oblivion by an elaborate review of their origin, uses, and advantages; but for him "the most distinguished order of St. Michael and St. George," of which the Sovereign is the Queen, and the grand master and principal is the Duke of Cambridge, would have almost lapsed Into desuetude. For the services he had rendered to this order, he was appointed chancellor and senior knight commander, and in 1840 he was elevated to the grand cross. Sir Harry Nicolas was no less a naval than he was an antiquarian authority; and his name will be for ever identified with the deathless hero of the Nile and Trafalgar in many editions, which he so ably suited, of the "Nelson Letters and dispatches." The gallant deceased, we have stated above, was the brother of Captain Toup Nicholas, whose father was Captain John Harris Nicholas, R N., of East Looe, Cornwall. Sir Harris married, in 1822, the daughter of John Davison, Esq., of Loughton, Essex, but we believe has no surviving issue.

Belfast Protestant Journal - Saturday 26 August 1848 "Sir Nicholas Harris Nicholas, a very eminent English antiquary—a much greater man than Stukely, or Strutt, or Douce, or Peck, or Hearne —died Boulogne, on the 3d instant, of congestion of the brain. He was the fourth son of John Harris Nicholas, of East Looe, in Cornwall, a Captain in the Royal Navy, and was born on the 10th of March, 1790. He entered the Navy on the 27th of October 1838—served under his brother, Captain J. Toup Nicolas, C. B.—and was frequently engaged at the capture and destruction of armed vessels and convoys the Calabrian coast. He was made lieutenant on the 20th September, 1815; but, proving unsuccessful in his efforts obtain employment, he retired on his half pay, took to the study of English antiquities and English law, married 28th March, 1822, published his first work in 1823, and May, 1825, was called to the Bar by the Society of the Inner Temple."

Research notes

A peerage lawyer.

An "eager and aggressive controversialist".

Works

This list is extracted from the DNB article.

1. ‘Index to the Heralds' Visitations in the British Museum’ [anon.], 1823; 2nd edit. 1825.
2. ‘Life of William Davison, Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth,’ 1823. [1]
3. ‘Notitia Historica: Miscellaneous Information for Historians, Antiquaries, and the Legal Profession,’ 1824; an improved edition, called ‘The Chronology of History,’ was included in 1833 in Lardner's ‘Cabinet Cyclopædia,’ vol. xliv., and a second edition of this revised issue appeared in 1838.
4. ‘Synopsis of the Peerage of England,’ 1825; a new edition, entitled ‘The Historic Peerage of England,’ and revised, corrected, and continued by William Courthope, was published in 1857.
5. ‘Testamenta Vetusta: illustrations from Wills of Ancient Manners, Customs, &c., from Henry II to Accession of Queen Elizabeth,’ 1826, 2 vols.
6. ‘Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey,’ 1825.
7. ‘History of Town and School of Rugby,’ 1826; left unfinished.
8. ‘Poetical Rhapsody of Francis Davison,’ 1826, 2 vols; portions of this, consisting of ‘Psalms translated by Francis and Christopher Davison’ and of ‘Biographical Notices of Contributors to the “Poetical Rhapsody,”’ were issued for private circulation in the same year.
9. ‘Flagellum Parliamentarium: Sarcastic Notices of 200 Members of Parliament, 1661–78,’ 1827.
10. ‘Memoir of Augustine Vincent, Windsor Herald,’ 1827.
11. ‘History of the Battle of Agincourt, and of the Expedition of Henry V into France,’ 1827; 2nd edit. 1832; 3rd edit. 1833.
12. ‘Chronicle of London, 1089–1483,’ 1827, edited by Nicolas and Edward Tyrrel, the city remembrancer.
13. ‘Privy Purse Expenses of Henry VIII from November 1529 to December 1532,’ 1827.
14. ‘Private Memoirs of Sir Kenelm Digby,’ 1827; the ‘Castrations’ from these ‘Memoirs’ were printed for private circulation in the same year.
15. ‘Journal of one of the Suite of Thomas Beckington, afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells, on an Embassy to the Count of Armagnac, 1442,’ 1828; this was adversely criticised by the Rev. George Williams in ‘Official Correspondence of Bekynton,’ Rolls Ser., 1872.
16. ‘The Siege of Carlaverock, 1300’ 1828.
17. ‘Roll of Arms of Peers and Knights in Reign of Edward II,’ 1828.
18. ‘Statutes of Order of the Guelphs,’ 1828; only one hundred copies printed, and not for sale.
19. ‘Statutes of Order of the Thistle,’ 1828; limited to fifty copies, not for sale.
20. ‘Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe,’ 1829.
21. ‘Roll of Arms of Reigns of Henry III and Edward III,’ 1829; fifty copies printed.
22. ‘Report of Proceedings on Claims to the Barony of L'Isle,’ 1829.
23. ‘Letter to the Duke of Wellington on creating Peers for Life’ (anon.), 1830, for private circulation only; 2nd edit. (anon.), 1830; 3rd edit., by Sir Harris Nicolas, 1834.
24. ‘Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York, with Memoir of her,’ 1830.
25. ‘Report of Proceedings on Claims to Earldom of Devon,’ 1832.
26. ‘The Scrope and Grosvenor Controversy,’ 1832; a magnificent work of 150 copies only, privately printed at the expense of an association of noblemen and gentlemen. The first volume contained the controversy between Ricardus le Scrope and Robertus Grosvenor, milites, and the second included a history of the Scropes and of the deponents in their favour; the third volume, to contain notices of the Grosvenor deponents, was never published.
27. ‘Letters of Joseph Ritson,’ 1833, 2 vols.
28. ‘Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England, 1386–1542,’ 1834–7, 7 vols. His remuneration for this work was 150l. per volume. It contained a mass of valuable matter, and after an interval of more than fifty years the labour has been resumed by Mr. J. R. Dasent.
29. ‘Treatise on Law of Adulterine Bastardy,’ discussing the claim of William Knollys to be Earl of Banbury, 1836; 2nd edit. 1838.
30. ‘The Complete Angler of Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton,’ with drawings by Stothard and Inskipp, 1836, 2 vols.; a magnificent work. The lives were issued separately in 1837, and the whole work was reprinted in 1875.
31. ‘History of Orders of Knighthood of the British Empire and of the Guelphs of Hanover,’ 1841–2, 4 vols.
32. ‘History of Earldoms of Strathern, Monteith, and Airth, with Report of Proceedings of Claim of R. B. Allardice to Earldom of Airth,’ 1842.
33. ‘Statement on Mr. Babbage's Calculating Engines,’ 1843; reprinted in Babbage's ‘Life of a Philosopher,’ pp. 68–96.
34. ‘Despatches and Letters of Lord Nelson,’ 1844–6, 7 vols.; another issue began in 1845, but only one volume came out.
35. ‘Court of Queen Victoria, or Portraits of British Ladies,’ 1845; only three parts were published.
36. ‘History of Royal Navy,’ 1847, 2 vols.; incomplete, extending only to reign of Henry V.
37. ‘Memoirs of Sir Christopher Hatton,’ 1847.

Other writings mentioned

• The ‘Carcanet’ (1828 and 1839) and the ‘Cynosure’ (1837), both containing select passages from the most distinguished English writers
• In conjunction with Henry Southern, edited the two volumes (1827 and 1828) of the second series of the ‘Retrospective Review.’
• An elaborate analysis of the writings of Junius, some part of which appeared in Wade's edition of ‘Junius’ (Bohn's Standard Library, vols. 119 and 120), and the whole manuscript was ultimately sold to Joseph Parkes.
• For Pickering's Aldine edition of the poets, contributed lives of Thomson, Collins, the Earl of Surrey and Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Kirke White, Burns, Cowper, and Chaucer, the last being especially valuable through his investigations in contemporary documents. These memoirs have been inserted in the subsequent issues of that series. It was his intention to have superintended an edition of Thomson's poems, and Lord Lyttelton furnished him with considerable information on the subject.
• To the ‘Archæologia’ and the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ he contributed numerous antiquarian papers, most of them in the latter periodical being signed ‘Clionas,’ and relating to the Cornish families with which he was connected. He also wrote the long preface to its hundredth volume.
• Contributed occasionally to the ‘Westminster Review,’ ‘Quarterly Review,’ ‘Spectator,’ ‘Athenæum,’ and ‘Naval and Military Magazine’ etc.
• Gave assistance to

  Dallaway and Cartwright's ‘History of Sussex,’

  Cotman's ‘Sepulchral Brasses in Norfolk and Suffolk,’

  Samuel Bentley's ‘Excerpta Historica,’

  Emma Roberts's ‘Rival Houses of York and Lancaster.’

• Sorted and arranged the voluminous papers of Sir Hudson Lowe on Napoleon's captivity at St. Helena, and at the time of his death a mass of documents to September 1817 had been set up in type. They were reduced in matter by William Forsyth, Q.C., and published in three volumes in 1853.
• Edited in 1836 the poetical remains of his friend Sir T. E. Croft
• Compiled in 1842 a history of ‘The Cornish Club,’ with a list of its members, which was reprinted and supplemented by Mr. Henry Paull in 1877.
• Letters by him are in Nichols's ‘Illustrations of Literary History,’ vol. viii. pp. xlvi–xlvii, and the ‘Memoir of Augustus de Morgan,’ pp. 70–3.
• Several of his manuscripts and letters are in the British Museum (Addit. MSS. 6525, 19704–8, 28847, 24872, and 28894, and Egerton MS. 2241).
• Several others were dispersed in the sale of Sir C. Young's collections December 1871.

• Works on archive.org.

• "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQJ7-73F : 30 October 2015), Nicholas Nicolas, St George Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

Works on archive.org.

Sources

1. ↑ London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 for Nicholes Harris Nicolas ,Camden, St Pancras Parish Chapel 1816-1822 https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1623/images/31280_195009-00460?treeid=&personid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=bcb284&_phstart=successSource&pId=2288104 (Accessed July 29 2020)

See also:

• Wikipedia: Nicholas Harris Nicolas

• Wikidata: Item Q7025516, en:Wikipedia

• DNB.