William Nicholson JP (2 September 1824 – 25 July 1909) was an English distiller and

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 ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

in two periods between 1866 and 1885, and later joined the

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 ...

. He was also an English amateur

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

from 1845 to 1869.

Early life and education

Nicholson was born at

Upper Holloway Upper Holloway is a district in the London Borough of Islington, London, centred on the upper part of Holloway Road and Junction Road. It is served by the Overground at Upper Holloway Station and the Northern Line at Archway Station. History ...

, London, the son of John Nicholson of Upper Clapton, Middlesex and his wife Ellen Payne daughter of Richard Payne. He was educated at Harrow and

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

. He was a member of the family which owned the J&W Nicholson & Co gin distillery based in

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redis ...

and

Three Mills The Three Mills are former working mills and an island of the same name on the River Lea. It is one of London’s oldest extant industrial centres. The mills lie in the London Borough of Newham, but despite lying on the Newham side of the Lea, ...

. He was mainly associated with

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...

(MCC), of which he was a prominent member; and with

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

and Middlesex County Cricket Club (founded during his career in 1863). He was a right-handed batsman and a wicketkeeper who made 148 known appearances in first-class matches, including a number of appearances for the Gentlemen between 1846 and 1858. Nicholson became a director and then chairman of the distillery and was a benefactor of cricket. In 1863 he acquired Basing Park, Alton, Hampshire. In 1866, when MCC finally purchased the freehold of Lord's Ground, they paid £18,333 6s 8d using money advanced by Nicholson. He was president of the MCC in 1879. In 1888 Nicholson loaned further monies to secure Henderson's Nursery and in 1889, when the foundation stone was laid for the new Lord's Pavilion, it was paid for by a £21,000 loan from Nicholson.

Member of Parliament, 1866-85

In July 1866 Nicholson was elected unopposed as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the borough of

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

in Hampshire, at a by-election caused by the elevation to the peerage of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MP Sir William Jolliffe. He was re-elected in

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

, but defeated at the 1874 general election. In 1878, he was

High Sheriff of Hampshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Hampshire. This title was often given as High Sheriff of the County of Southampton until 1959. List of High Sheriffs *1070–1096: Hugh de Port "Domesday Book Online" *1105: Henry de Port (son of Hugh) *1129: W ...

. He was re-elected for Petersfield in the 1880 general election and held the seat until the parliamentary borough of Petersfield was disenfranchised under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

. The name was transferred to a new county division of

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

. With a wider geographical area, and a franchise expanded under the

Representation of the People Act 1884 In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 3, also known informally as the Third Reform Act) and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which f ...

, the new seat had an electorate more than ten times larger, expanded from 801 in 1880 to 8,202 in 1885. In April 1885 Nicholson announced his resignation from the Liberal Party, stating that he would contest the next election as a Liberal-Conservative. He was adopted by the local Conservative association as their candidate, but at the general election in December that year he lost the seat by a narrow margin to the Liberal candidate Viscount Wolmer, and was defeated again at the 1886 election.

Distillery accident

On 12 July 1901, Nicholson's 29-year-old son Godfrey Maule Nicholson, managing director of the distillery and brother-in-law to Sir Edward Bradford, Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, died, along with two other distillery staff, while trying to rescue a distillery worker, Thomas Pickett, who had been overcome by carbon dioxide while investigating a well. The 'Helping Hands' memorial at Three Mills Green commemorates this tragedy, as does a plaque in

Postman's Park Postman's Park is a public garden in central London, a short distance north of St Paul's Cathedral. Bordered by Little Britain, Aldersgate Street, St. Martin's Le Grand, King Edward Street, and the site of the former headquarters of the General ...

Personal life

Nicholson married Isabella Sarah Meek, daughter of John Meek in 1858. They had fourteen children including a son

William Graham Nicholson William Graham Nicholson, PC, JP (11 March 1862 – 29 July 1942) was a British Liberal Unionist and later Conservative Party politician. Nicholson was born into a famous family of distillers, the son of William Nicholson and brother of John ...

who was subsequently MP for Petersfield from 1897 to 1935. Another son Brigadier-General John Sanctuary Nicholson became MP for Westminster Abbey from 1921 to 1924 after a career in the army. He was a J.P. and Deputy Lieutenant for HampshireDebretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
/ref> Nicholson died at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, Central London at the age of 83.

References

Bibliography

Derek Birley Sir Derek Birley (31 May 1926 – 14 May 2002) was a distinguished English educationalist and a prize-winning writer on the social history of sport, particularly cricket. Life and career Born in a mining community in West Yorkshire, Birley attend ...

, ''A Social History of English Cricket'', Aurum, 1999 *

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', several volumes, Lillywhite, 1862–72

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, William 1825 births 1909 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1880–1885 English cricketers English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Middlesex cricketers Gentlemen cricketers People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge High Sheriffs of Hampshire Deputy Lieutenants of Hampshire Married v Single cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers Non-international England cricketers Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Gentlemen of England cricketers North v South cricketers Over 30s v Under 30s cricketers Fast v Slow cricketers Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers