James Fawckner Nicholls (1818–1883) was an English antiquarian and librarian.

Life

From a Cornish background, he was born on 26 May 1818 at

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, the son of a builder there; his mother was a daughter of Captain James Fawkner of Plymouth. In 1830 he went to sea with an uncle. Two years later he was sent to school at

Kentisbeare Kentisbeare is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. Its nearest town is Cullompton. Descent of the manor In the 17th century the manor of Kentisbeare was owned by Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645) of Orchard Wynd ...

for six months. He was then taken into the drapery business, and after a short period bought an establishment for himself at

Benwick Benwick is a village and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is approximately from Peterborough and from Cambridge. The population of Benwick was recorded as 1137 in the United Kingdom Census 2011 with 452 hou ...

in the

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to mean "island of eels", a reference to the creatures that ...

. He next kept a school at

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

; and then moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, where he was traveller for a firm of paper-stainers. In 1860 he settled in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, where he ran a paper-staining business for eight years. In 1868 Nicholls was appointed city librarian of Bristol. The old city library, founded in 1613, was reconstituted and extended into three free libraries. In 1876 he was elected a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

. He died at Goodwick,

Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two pa ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, on 19 September 1883. Twice married, he left several children. Bristol Library 1876

Works

In 1869 Nicholls published ''The Remarkable Life, Adventures, and Discoveries of Sebastian Cabot'', quoted by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

in his ''Explorations of the World''. It was criticised by Marie-Armand d'Avezac de Castera-Macaya and Henry Stevens. Nicholls then concentrated on the history and antiquities of Bristol. In March 1870 he began a series of Bristol biographies: just two appeared, ''Alderman John Whitson: his Life and Times'', and ''Captain Thomas James and George Thomas the Philanthropist''. ''How to see Bristol: a Guide for the Excursionist, the Naturalist, the Archæologist, and the Man of Business'' (1874) collected articles from local papers, and a second edition appeared in 1877. The major work by Nicholls was ''Bristol Past and Present, an illustrated History of Bristol and its Neighbourhood'' (1881–2), the two parts dealing with the civil history of the city being by him, and the third part treating of church history by his colleague J. Taylor. He published also: *''Old Deeds of All Hallow Church'', 1875. *''Bristol and its Environs'', 1875, for the meeting of the British Association. *''Penpark Hole, a Roman Lead Mine'', 1879. *''The Old Hostelries of Bristol'', 1882; papers reprinted from transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archæological Society. *''Description of a Find of Roman Coins at Filton'', Bristol, 1880; from ''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries''.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholls, James Fawckner 1818 births 1883 deaths English librarians English antiquarians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Sidmouth 19th-century English businesspeople