Tom Nickalls (1828–1899) was a

stockjobber Stockjobbers were institutions that acted as market makers in the London Stock Exchange. The business of stockjobbing emerged in the 1690s during England's Financial Revolution. During the 18th century the jobbers attracted numerous critiques from ...

on the

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...

and one of the founding members of

London Rowing Club London Rowing Club (LRC, or colloquially, 'London') is the second-oldest of the non-academic active rowing clubs on the Thames in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1856 by members of the long-disbanded Argonauts Club wishing to compete at ...

. He was known as the "king of the American railroad market" after making his fortune in American railway shares.

Biography

Nickalls was born on 8 September 1828, the son of Patteson Nickalls (1798–1869) and Arabella née Chalk (1799–1893) and brother of

Patteson Nickalls Patteson Womersley Nickalls (23 January 1877 – 10 September 1946), was an English polo player who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for Great Britain. Biography Nickalls was born on 23 January 1877 at North Weald, Essex, the son ...

he married Emily Quihampton. As a boy he was sent to America to work for an uncle who had a livery stables on DEarborn Street in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he gained first-hand knowledge of the surrounding terrain and an understanding of which routes would be of strategic importance for developing railways – information which proved invaluable when he returned to England work as a jobber on the London

Stock Exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...

. His later successes gained him the soubriquet "The Erie King", following his profitable speculation in shares of the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...

during the

Erie War The Erie War was a 19th-century conflict between American financiers for control of the Erie Railway Company, which owned and operated the Erie Railroad. Built with public funds raised by taxation and on land donated by public officials and priva ...

. A keen sportsman and for many years a Master of the Surrey Stag Hounds, Tom Nickalls had a hunting lodge at Skalstugan in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. In 1893, he sent four pairs of Norwegian skis as a present to his daughter Florence and son in law

William Adolf Baillie Grohman William Adolph Baillie Grohman (April 1 1851–February 11 1921) was an Anglo-Austrian author of works on the Tyrol and the history of hunting, a big game sportsman, and a pioneer in the Kootenay region of British Columbia. Biography Grohmann ...

who lived in the Austrian

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

– one of the earliest recorded uses of skis in Austria. Tom Nickalls died on 10 May 1899 in Surrey, United Kingdom.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickalls, Tom 1827 births 1899 deaths

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...