Sir Nicholas Keith Lillington Nuttall, 3rd Baronet (21 September 1933 – 29 July 2007) was the heir to the Edmund Nuttall

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

and

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

business. He also inherited the Nuttall baronetcy on his father's death in 1941, when he was eight years old. After a career in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, he sold the family company in 1978 and emigrated to the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

, where he became involved in

marine conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is i ...

Background

Nuttall was born in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, the son of Sir Keith Nuttall, 2nd Baronet (1901–1941), who ran the family engineering business, Edmund Nuttall, Sons & Co. Ltd, in the 1920s and 1930s. The business had been founded by Nuttall's great-grandfather James Nuttall in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in 1865, and built into a nationwide business by Nuttall's grandfather, Sir Edmund Nuttall, 1st Baronet (1870–1923), who became a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1922. Nuttall's father became a lieutenant colonel in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Wounded in the retreat to

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

, Sir Keith died on 31 August 1941; his eight-year-old son, Nicholas, inherited the title, the family company, and the family seat at

Lowesby Hall Lowesby Hall is a large Listed building, Grade II* Georgian mansion in the parish and former Manorialism, manor of Lowesby, eight miles east of Leicester in Leicestershire. It is a famous fox-hunting seat in the heart of the Quorn Hunt, Quorn co ...

near

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a market town in the Borough of Melton, Melton district in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, Leicestershire, River Eye, known below Melton as the Rive ...

in Leicestershire. His mother remarried, becoming Mrs Edward Kirkpatrick.

Career

Sir Nicholas was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and Sandhurst, and took a commission in the

Royal Horse Guards The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, also known as the Blues, or abbreviated as RHG, was one of the cavalry regiments of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry. In 1969, it was amalgamated with the 1st The Royal Dragoons to form the ...

in 1953. He played

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

, and was an amateur

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

. On his own horse, Stalbridge Park, he won the

Grand Military Gold Cup The Grand Military Gold Cup is a National Hunt steeplechase in England which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 3 miles (3 miles and 37 yards or ), and it is scheduled ...

Sandown Park Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racin ...

in 1958, came second in 1959, then third in 1960, won again in 1961, and came second another time in 1962. He served in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

during the

Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between April 1955 and March 1959. The National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), a Greek Cypriot right-wing nationalist guerrilla organisation, began an armed campaign in s ...

. By 1966, he was a major, in command of the

Guards Independent Parachute Regiment Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. He resigned his commission in 1968, on the death of his mother, to take over the family firm. He held a party at Lowesby Hall in 1959, to celebrate the restoration of a painted ceiling by

Antonio Verrio Antonio Verrio (c. 1636 – 15 June 1707) was an Italian Baroque painter. He was responsible for introducing Baroque mural painting into England and served the Crown over a thirty-year period.British Art Journal, Volume X No. 3, Winter/Spring 2 ...

, and held a dance in tents at Lowesby in 1976, shortly before it was sold, emulating a party held by the

Shah of Iran The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...

in the desert in 1972. Nuttall supported the Labour government's

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

project in the 1970s. The company was later involved in the construction of

High Speed 1 High Speed 1 (HS1), officially the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of the line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Euro ...

. The company was bought by

Hollandsche Beton Groep Hollandsche Beton Groep nv (HBG) was a Netherlands-based construction group founded in 1902. It expanded internationally in the late 20th century, acquiring businesses in the United Kingdom, before being itself acquired by Netherlands competito ...

(later HBG), a Dutch group, in 1978, and he emigrated shortly afterwards with his third wife, Miranda, moving to

Lyford Cay Lyford Cay is a private gated community located on the western tip of New Providence island in the Bahamas. The former cay that lent its name to the community is named after Captain William Lyford Jr., a mariner of note in Colonial and Revolutio ...

, near

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

, on

New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in The Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. On the eastern side of the island is the national capital, national capital city of Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau; it had a population of 246 ...

there, although he kept a house in Chelsea. He became involved in

and founded the Bahamas Reef Environmental Educational Foundation (BREEF), almost single-handedly transforming local attitudes to maritime conservation. The ''Nassau Guardian'' lauded him after his death as a "prominent local environmentalist... at the forefront of a number of important marine conservation initiatives and environmental causes".

Family life

Nuttall married four times. # Caroline York, daughter of former Conservative Party MP

Christopher York Major Christopher York (27 July 1909 – 13 March 1999) was a British Conservative politician. York was the eldest son of Captain Edward York and his wife, Violet Helen ''née'' Milner, daughter of Sir Frederick Milner, 7th Baronet. He was me ...

, on 20 December 1960. They had one son,

Harry Harry may refer to: Television * ''Harry'' (American TV series), 1987 comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (New Zealand TV series), 2013 crime drama starring Oscar K ...

, and a daughter, Tamara; and divorced in 1971. # Julia Williamson, formerly Lady Patrick Beresford, daughter of Col. Thomas Cromwell Williamson, D.S.O., of Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex. Lord Patrick Beresford had been Sir Nicholas's

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usuall ...

at his first wedding. Lord Patrick and his wife Julia (married 1964, divorced 1971) had issue: Valentine Tristram Beresford, (b. 1965) and Samantha Julia Beresford, (b. 1969). # Miranda Quarry (stepdaughter of the 2nd Baron Mancroft and third wife of

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

; later second wife of the 2nd Earl of Stockton); they had three daughters: Gytha, Amber and Olympia (Amber married Alistair Gosling in December 2016). # Eugenie McWeeney, from

, clothing designer and sister of former Attorney-General of The Bahamas, Sean McWeeney, QC; they had a son, Alexander.

Death

He died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by Harry, his son from his first marriage.

Notes

References

Obituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 8 August 2007Obituary, ''The Times'', 20 August 2007Sir Nicholas Nuttall dies, ''The Nassau Guardian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuttall, Nicholas Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom 20th-century British Army personnel Deaths from lung cancer in England English conservationists Royal Horse Guards officers British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency English jockeys People educated at Eton College Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst People from Leicestershire 1933 births 2007 deaths

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from Leicestershire