William Graham Nicholson, PC, JP (11 March 1862 – 29 July 1942) was a British Liberal Unionist and later

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. Nicholson was born into a famous family of distillers, the son of William Nicholson and brother of

John Sanctuary Nicholson Brigadier-General John Sanctuary Nicholson (19 May 1863 – 21 February 1924) was a British Army officer and politician. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1921 to 1924. Early life and education Born in Kensington, London ...

, a notable military figure in Imperial Africa. He grew up in

Basing Park Basing Park was a country house in Privett, Hampshire, notable for being the family home of the Nicholson family. The 1878 'White's Directory of Hampshire' described it as a "large and commodious structure, in the Grecian style, commanding exten ...

Froxfield Froxfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. The parish is on the Wiltshire-West Berkshire border, and the village lies on the A4 national route about west of Hungerford and east of Marlborough. Froxfield vill ...

, which later became his seat. He was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. Nicholson served as Director-General on Mobilisation in the

Second Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

from 30 June 1901 and was promoted an Honorary Colonel commanding the 3rd Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. In 1890 he married Alice Margaret Beach, daughter of Rt Hon.

William Wither Bramston Beach William Wither Bramston Beach (25 December 1826 – 3 August 1901) was an English Conservative politician, who served in the House of Commons for 44 years between 1857 and 1901, becoming Father of the House of Commons in 1899. Birth and educati ...

MP. After the death of the Conservative MP William Wickham, he was elected at a by-election in June 1897 as the Liberal Unionist

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Petersfield in Hampshire, a seat which had previously been held by his father. Nicholson sat as a Conservative after the Liberal Unionists and Conservatives merged in 1912,and held the seat until his retirement at the 1935 general election. He resided under a lease for some time at Bentworth Hall, however, Basing Park was his main residence. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1925. He was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of Hampshire County Council, a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, and a Deputy Lieutenant of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. In his spare time he was a keen horticulturalist.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, William Graham 1862 births 1942 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Royal Hampshire Regiment officers UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 Deputy Lieutenants of Hampshire Members of Hampshire County Council British Army personnel of the Second Boer War People from Petersfield