Sir William Robertson Nicoll (10 October 18514 May 1923) was a Scottish

Free Church A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions fr ...

minister, journalist, editor, and man of letters.

Biography

Nicoll was born in

Lumsden, Aberdeenshire Lumsden is an inland village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on the A97 road. Location It crowns a rising-ground above sea level amid a fertile district. It is situated around northwest of Alford and is near both the River Don and the upper cour ...

, the son of Rev. Harry Nicoll (1812–1891), a Free Church minister of Auchindoir, and his wife, Jane Robertson. He was educated at

Aberdeen Grammar School Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department. It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest grammar school ...

and graduated MA at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

in 1870, and studied for the ministry at the Free Church Divinity Hall there until 1874, when he was ordained minister of the Free Church at

Dufftown Dufftown ( gd, Baile Bhainidh ) is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. While the town is part of the historic Mortlach parish, the town was established and laid out in the early 19th century as part of a planned new town settlement. The town has severa ...

, Banffshire. Three years later he moved to Kelso where he met Jane T. Stoddart. He was to be a great influence on her life. In 1884 became he editor of ''

The Expositor ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' for

Hodder and Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...

, a position which he held until his death. In 1885, Nicoll was forced to retire from pastoral ministry after an attack of

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...

had badly damaged his lung. In 1886, he moved south to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. With the support of Hodder and Stoughton he founded the ''

British Weekly The ''British Weekly: A Journal of Social and Christian Progress'' was a significant publication from its founding in 1886 well into the 20th century. One of the most successful religious newspapers of its time, it was published by Hodder & Sto ...

'', a Nonconformist newspaper, which gained great influence over opinion in the "free churches" (i.e. those Christian denominations outside the established church). He had been working with Jane Stoddart on a project and in 1890 she left teaching to join him on a full time basis as his assistant. Nicoll secured many writers of exceptional talent for his paper (including Marcus Dods,

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

Ian Maclaren John Watson (3 November 1850 – 6 May 1907), was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He is remembered as an author of fiction, known by his pen name Ian Maclaren. Life The son of John Watson, a civil servant, he was born in Manningtre ...

Alexander Whyte ''For the British colonial administrator, see Alexander Frederick Whyte'' Rev Alexander Whyte D.D.,LL.D. (13 January 18366 January 1921) was a Scottish divine. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1898. ...

Alexander Maclaren Alexander Maclaren (11 February 1826 – 5 May 1910) was a Scottish Baptist minister. Biography Maclaren was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of David Maclaren, a merchant and Baptist lay preacher.Edwin Charles Dargan (1912) ''A History of ...

, Carnegie Simpson and James Denney), to which he added his own considerable talents as a contributor. He began a highly popular feature, "Correspondence of Claudius Clear", which enabled him to share his interests and his reading with his readers. He was also the founding editor of '' The Bookman'' from 1891, and acted as chief literary adviser to Hodder and Stoughton. Among his other enterprises were ''The Expositor's Bible'' (originally published by Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1896, but afterward reprinted in New York by A. C. Armstrong & Son) and ''The Theological Educator''. He edited ''The Expositor's Greek Testament'' (from 1897). He also edited a series of ''Contemporary Writers'' (from 1894), and of ''Literary Lives'' (from 1904). He projected, but never wrote, a history of ''The Victorian Era in English Literature'', and edited, with T. J. Wise, two volumes of ''Literary Anecdotes of the Nineteenth Century''. He was knighted by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

in 1909, ostensibly for his literary work, but in reality probably more for his long-term support for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the

1921 Birthday Honours The 1921 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of the King, and were ...

. Nicoll was the father of

Maurice Nicoll Henry Maurice Dunlop Nicoll (19 July 1884 – 30 August 1953) was a Scottish neurologist, psychiatrist, author and noted Fourth Way esoteric teacher. He is best known for his ''Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspen ...

, a leading British psychologist and author who studied under

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, phi ...

and became a leading expositor of the teachings of the Greco-Armenian spiritual master

G.I. Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (; rus, Гео́ргий Ива́нович Гурджи́ев, r=Geórgy Ivánovich Gurdzhíev, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪd͡ʑ ɡʊrd͡ʐˈʐɨ(j)ɪf; hy, Գեորգի Իվանովիչ Գյուրջիև; c. 1 ...

. He died on 4 May 1923 at his home, Bay Tree House, in

Frognal Frognal is a small area of Hampstead, North West London in the London Borough of Camden. Frognal is reinforced as the name of a minor road, which goes uphill from Finchley Road and at its upper end is in the west of Hampstead village. History ...

Hampstead, London Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough ...

and is buried in a family grave on the west side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

Family

He married twice: firstly in 1878 to Isabella Dunlop (1857–1894); secondly in 1897 to Catherine Pollard (1863–1960). Children from the first marriage were Isa Constance Nicoll (1881–1963) an author and poet, and Henry Maurice Dunlop Nicoll (1884–1953) a noted psychiatrist. The one child of the second marriage was Mildred Robertson Nicoll (1898–1995).

Works

#''Calls to Christ'', (1877) Morgan & Scott: London. #''The Yale Lectures on Preaching'': (1878) Reprinted from the British and Foreign Evangelical Review. #''Songs of Rest irst Series', (1879) Macniven & Wallace, Edinburgh: combined with Second Series (1893), Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''The Incarnate Saviour'', (1881) T. & T. Clark: Edinburgh, (1882) Robert Carter & Brothers: New York. #''The Lamb of God'', (1883) Macniven & Wallace: Edinburgh. #''John Bunyan'' (1884) in The Evangelical Succession, Macniven & Wallace: Edinburgh. #''James Macdonell, Journalist'', (1890) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''Professor W.G. Elmslie, D.D.'', (1890) (with Macnicoll, A.N.) Hodder & Stoughton: London: revised and enlarged as Professor Elmslie: A Memoir (1911) by W Robertson Nicoll ut minus sermons #''The Key of the Grave'', (1894) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''Ten Minute Sermons'', (1894) Isbister & Co: reprinted 1910, Hodder & Stoughton. #''The Seven Words from the Cross'', (1895) Hodder & Stoughton, London. #''When the Worst comes to the Worst'', (1896) Isbister & Co. #''Henry Drummond: A Memorial Sketch'', (1897) prefixed to Drummond's posthumous volume, The Ideal Life, Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''The Return to the Cross'', (1897) reprint 1910, Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''Letters to Ministers on the Clerical Life'', (1898) (with others) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''The Ascent of the Soul'', (1899) Isbister & Co. #''Letters on Life: by Claudius Clear'', (1901) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''The Church's One Foundation'', (1901) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''A Memorial Article, Hugh Price Hughes as we knew him'', (1902) H Marshall & Son. #''Robert Louis Stevenson, in the Bookman Booklet Series'', (1902/6) Hodder & Stoughton, London. #''The Garden of Nuts'', (1905) Hodder & Stoughton: London.
''The Day Book of Claudius Clear''
(1905) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''The Scottish Free Church Trust and its Donors'', (1905) Hodder & Stoughton: London.
''A History of English Literature''
Volumes, originally published as The Bookman Illustrated History of English Literature(1906) (with Seccombe) Hodder & Stoughton, London. #''The Lamp of Sacrifice'', (1906) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #Introduction and Appreciation, Memoirs of the Late Dr Barnardo, Mrs Barnardo & James Marchant'', (1907) Hodder & Stoughton, London. #''My Father. An Aberdeenshire Minister'', (1908) Hodder & Stoughton: London.
''Ian Maclaren, The Life of the Rev. John Watson D.D.''
(1908) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #Introduction' to Jane Stoddart's Against the Referendum'', (1910) Hodder & Stoughton, London.
''The Round of the Clock: The Story of Our Lives from Year to Year (Claudius Clear)''
(1910) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon'', (N/D: but after 1910) Nelson & Sons: London. #''The Christian Attitude Towards Democracy'' eprinted from the British Weekly (1912) Hodder & Stoughton, London. #''The Problem of 'Edwin Drood (A study in the Methods of Dickens), (1912) Hodder & Stoughton. London. #''A Bookman's Letters'', (1913) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''The Difference Christ is Making'' eprinted from the British Weekly (1914) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''Prayer in War Time'', (1916) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''Reunion in Eternity'', (1918) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''Edited with 'Appreciation', Letters of Principal James Denney to W. Robertson Nicoll'', (1920) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''Princes of the Church, (1921) Hodder & Stoughton: London. #''Dickens's Own Story: Sidelights on his Life and personality'', (1923) eprints from 'Claudius Clear' in the British Weekly Prefatory Note by St John Adcock, Chapman & Hall Ltd, London. #''Memories of Mark Rutherford (William Hale White)'', (1924) eprints from 'Claudius Clear' in the British Weekly T Fisher Unwin, London. A list of his publications up to 1902 was included in a monograph on Nicoll by Jane T. Stoddart (''New Century Leaders'', 1903). The official biography was written by Nicoll's friend T. H. Darlow and published in 1925 as a more complete list. A new biographical appreciation was published in 2011: "Voice of Nonconformity: William Robertson Nicoll and the British Weekly", written by Keith A. Ives.

Footnotes

References

*Biography, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' *Biography, T. H. Darlow. ''William Robertson Nicoll''. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1925. *

External links

* * *
Article on William Robertson Nicoll in Feb. 1895 edition of ''The Bookman'' (New York)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicoll, William Robertson 1851 births 1923 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery People from Marr People educated at Aberdeen Grammar School Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour 19th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Scottish journalists Scottish newspaper editors Scottish tax resisters Knights Bachelor Kailyard school