Francis Nicholson

Early life and military service

Nicholson was born in the village of Downholme, Yorkshire, England, on 12 November 1655. Little is known of his ancestry or early life, although he apparently received some education. He served as a page in the household of Charles Paulet (later the Marquess of Winchester and the Duke of Bolton), under whose patronage his career would be advanced. He waited on Paulet's daughter Jane, who married John Egerton, Earl of Bridgewater, another patron who promoted his career.

His military career began in January 1678 when Paulet purchased for him an ensign's commission in the Holland Regiment, in which he saw service against the French in Flanders. The regiment saw no combat, and was disbanded at the end of the year. In July 1680 he purchased a staff lieutenant's commission in the newly formed 2nd Tangier Regiment, which was sent to English Tangier to reinforce the garrison holding the city. Tangier's council was then headed by the Duke of York (later King James II), and its governor was Colonel Percy Kirke. Nicholson distinguished himself in the service, carrying dispatches between the enemy Moroccan camp, Tangier, and London. In addition to favorable notice from Kirke, this brought Nicholson to the attention of the powerful colonial secretary, William Blathwayt. Tangier was abandoned in 1684, and his regiment returned to England. During the service in Tangier he met a number of people who would figure prominently North American colonial history, including Thomas Dongan and Alexander Spotswood.

Nicholson was probably with the regiment when it put down Monmouth's Rebellion in 1685, but his role in some of the more unsavory behaviour on the part of Kirke's troops is unknown. Kirke, who had been selected by Charles II as the governor of the prospective Dominion of New England, was strongly criticized for his role in the quashing of the rebellion, and James withdrew his nomination. The dominion's governorship instead went to Sir Edmund Andros, and Nicholson, now a captain, accompanied Andros as commander of a company of infantry to Boston in October 1686. Andros sent Nicholson on what was essentially a reconnaissance mission to French Acadia. Under the cover of delivering a letter protesting a variety of issues to the Acadian governor, Nicholson made careful observations of Port Royal's defenses. Nicholson impressed Andros in this service, and was soon appointed to the dominion's council.

Dominion lieutenant governor

In 1688 the Lords of Trade extended the dominion to include New York and East and West Jersey. Nicholson was commissioned the dominion's lieutenant governor, and traveled with Andros to New York to take control of those colonies. Nicholson's rule, in which he was assisted by a local council but no legislative assembly, was seen by many New Yorkers as the next in a line of royal governors who "had in a most arbitrary way subverted our ancient privileges". Nicholson justified his rule by stating that the colonists were "a conquered people, and therefore ... could not could not so much [as] claim rights and priviledges as Englishmen".

Nicholson was at first seen as an improvement over the Catholic Thomas Dongan, the outgoing governor. However, the province's old guard was unhappy that Andros removed all of the provincial records to Boston, and then Nicholson alarmed the sometimes hardline Protestant population by preserving the trappings of the chapel in Fort James that Dongan and the handful of New York's Catholics had used for worship. In response to a rumored Dutch invasion of England (a rumor that turned out to be true), Nicholson in January 1689 ordered the provincial militias to be on alert to protect the province for the king. Unknown to Nicholson, events in England had already changed things.

Rebellion in Boston

After James was deposed by William III and Mary II in the Glorious Revolution in late 1688, Massachusetts rose up in rebellion against Andros, arresting him and other dominion leaders in Boston. The revolt rapidly spread through the dominion, and the New England colonies quickly restored their pre-dominion governments. When news of the Boston revolt reached New York a week later, Nicholson took no steps to announce news of it, or of the revolution in England, for fear of raising prospects of rebellion in New York. When word of the Boston revolt reached Long Island, politicians and militia leaders became more assertive, and by mid-May dominion officials had been ousted from a number of communities. At the same time, Nicholson learned that France had declared war on England, bringing the threat of French and Indian attacks on New York's northern frontier. In an attempt to mollify panicked citizenry over rumored Indian raids, Nicholson invited the militia to join the army garrison at Fort James.

Because New York's defenses were in poor condition, Nicholson's council voted to impose import duties to improve them. This move was met with immediate resistance, with a number of merchants refusing to pay the duty. One in particular was Jacob Leisler, a well-born German Calvinist immigrant merchant and militia captain. Leisler was a vocal opponent of the dominion regime, which he saw as an attempt to impose "popery" on the province, and may have played a role in subverting Nicholson's regulars. On 22 May Nicholson's council was petitioned by the militia, who, in addition to seeking more rapid improvement to the city's defenses, also wanted access to the powder magazine in the fort. This latter request was denied, heightening concerns that the city had inadequate powder supplies. This concern was further exacerbated when city leaders began hunting through the city for additional supplies.

Rebellion in New York

A minor incident on 30 May 1689 in which Nicholson made an intemperate remark to a militia officer then flared into open rebellion. Nicholson, who was well known for his temper, told the officer "I rather would see the Towne on fire than to be commanded by you". Rumors flew around the town that Nicholson was in fact prepared to burn it down. The next day Nicholson summoned the officer, and demanded he surrender his commission. Abraham de Peyster, the officer's commander and one of the wealthiest men in the city, then engaged in a heated argument with Nicholson, after which de Peyster and his brother Johannis, also a militia captain, stormed out of the council chamber.

The militia was called out, and descended en masse to Fort James, which they occupied. An officer was sent to the council to demand the keys to the powder magazine, which Nicholson eventually surrendered, to "hinder and prevent bloodshed and further mischiefe". The following day, a council of militia officers called on Jacob Leisler to take command of the city militia. He did so, and the rebels issued a declaration that they would hold the fort on behalf of the new monarchs until they sent a properly accredited governor.

At this point the militia controlled the fort, which gave them control over the harbor. When ships arrived in the harbor, they brought passengers and captains directly to the fort, cutting off outside communications to Nicholson and his council. On 6 June, Nicholson decided to leave for England, and began gathering depositions for use in proceedings there. He left the city on 10 June for the Jersey shore, where he hoped to join Thomas Dongan, who was expected to sail for England soon thereafter. However, it was not until 24 June that he actually managed to sail; he was denied passage on a number of ships, and eventually purchased a share of Dongan's brigantine in order to get away. In the meantime, Leisler proclaimed the rule of William and Mary on 22 June, and on the 28th a provincial committee of safety, acting in the absence of legitimate authority, chose Leisler to be the province's commander-in-chief.

Upon Nicholson's arrival in London in August, he outlined the situation in New York to the king and the Lords of Trade, urging the appointment of a new governor of New York, preferably himself. Despite the efforts of Charles Paulet (now Duke of Bolton) and other patrons, William in November instead chose Colonel Henry Sloughter to be the next governor of New York. The king did, however, acknowledge Nicholson's efforts with the lieutenant governorship of Virginia.

Virginia and Maryland

Nicholson was lieutenant governor of Virginia until 1692, serving under the absentee Governor Lord Howard of Effingham. During this tenure, he was instrumental in the creation of the College of William and Mary and named as one of its original trustees. He worked to improve the provincial militia, and approved the establishment of additional ports of trade in the province. The latter was not without some opposition from some of the larger merchants in the province, who saw the additional ports as a competitive threat. During this time Nicholson was one of the only high-level representatives of Crown Rule in the colonies: most Crown Rule had been eliminated in the northern colonies, and the other southern colonies were governed by proprietary governors. Nicholson recommended to the King that, in order to better establish a common social order and a coordinated defense, Crown Rule should be established over all of the colonies as quickly as possible, including the conversion of the proprietary colonies to crown colonies.

Lord Effingham resigned the Virginia governorship in February 1692, beginning a contest between Nicholson and Andros for the Virginia governorship. Andros, who was in London and was a more senior figure, was awarded the post, much to Nicholson's annoyance. The episode deepened a growing dislike between the two men. One contemporary chronicler wrote that Nicholson "especially [resented] Sir Edmund Andros, against whom he has a particular pique on account of some earlier dealings", and Nicholson, placated with the lieutenant governorship of Maryland, worked from then on to unseat Andros. When Andros arrived in September 1692, Nicholson graciously received him before sailing for London.

Nicholson was still in England in 1693 when Maryland Governor, Sir Lionel Copley died. Under provisions of his commission, and at the request of the Maryland governor's council, Andros went to Maryland in September 1693 to organize affairs, and again in May 1694 to preside over the provincial court. For these services he was paid £500. When Nicholson, now appointed governor of Maryland, arrived in July, he found the provincial treasury empty, and testily demanded that Andros return the payment. Andros refused, and Nicholson appealed to the Lords of Trade. They ruled in October 1696 that Andros had to return £300. By this time, Nicholson was living in the house of Edward Dorsey.

Nicholson, a committed Anglican as a member of the Church of England, sought to reduce Roman Catholic influence in the Maryland government, and moved the old colonial capital from the Catholic stronghold of St. Mary's City in southern Maryland's St. Mary's County along the Potomac River to what was then called "Anne Arundel's Town" (also known briefly as "Providence"), which was later renamed "Annapolis" in honour of the future monarch, Princess Anne. He chose its site and laid out the plan for the town, placing the Anglican (later Episcopal church and the state house in well-designed public spaces (known later as "State Circle" and "Church Circle") and the use of diagonal avenues to connect various parts of the town (foreseeing details of Pierre L'Enfant's, (1754–1825), plan for the National Capital or "Federal City" in Washington and the District of Columbia, a century later. Architectural historian Mark Childs describes Annapolis, along with Williamsburg, Virginia, which Nicholson also laid out during his later tenure there, as some of the best-designed towns in the British Empire.

Queen Anne's War

During King William's War in the 1690s Nicholson asked the House of Burgesses to appropriate money for New York's defense, since it was threatened from New France and acted as a buffer to protect Virginia. The Burgesses refused, even after Nicholson appealed to London. When Queen Anne's War broke out in 1702, Nicholson lent New York £900 of his own money, with the expectation that it would be repaid from Virginia's quit rents (it was not). The publicity of this scheme increased dislike of him in Virginia, and may have played a role in his recall. Virginia was not militarily affected by the war. These efforts by Nicholson to gain broader colonial support for the war were followed by larger proposals to London, suggesting, for example, that all of the colonies be joined under a single viceroy, who would have power of taxation and control of a standing army. According to historian John Fiske, Nicholson was one of the first people to propose uniting all of the North American colonies in this way.

In the course of the ten-year conflict in North America now known as Queen Anne's War, Samuel Vetch, a Scottish businessman with interests in New York and New England, came to London during the winter of 1708–9 and proposed to the Queen and the Board of Trade a major assault on New France. He recruited Nicholson to join the effort, which was to include a sea-based attack on Quebec with Royal Navy support, and a land-based expedition to ascend the Hudson River, descend Lake Champlain, and attack Montreal. Nicholson was given command of the land-based effort while Vetch was to command the provincial militia of New England that were to accompany the fleet. Arriving in Boston in April 1709 Nicholson and Vetch immediately began raising the forces and supplies needed for these operations. Nicholson was able to draw on his earlier connections to New York's aristocracy to recruit the needed forces from there, with additional units coming from New Jersey and Connecticut. He raised a force of about 1,500 regulars and provincial militia and 600 Iroquois, and in June began the construction of three major encampments between Stillwater, just north of Albany, and the southern end of Lake Champlain, while awaiting word of the fleet's arrival in Boston. The expedition turned out to be a disaster. Many men became sick and died from the poor conditions in the camps as the summer dragged on without any news of the fleet. Supplies ran short the men became mutinous and began deserting. Finally, in October Nicholson learned that, due to circumstances in Europe, the fleet's participation had been canceled in July. By this time the men were deserting by whole units and destroyed all of the fortifications and stores.

Nova Scotia and South Carolina

Nicholson returned to London after the failed expedition, and began working to acquire for himself the governorship of Nova Scotia. After the 1710 victory, Samuel Vetch had become its governor, but his rule over the colony (where he only really controlled Port Royal itself) was somewhat ineffective. Vetch and the Tory ministry then in power disagreed on how to handle affairs, especially with respect to the resident French Catholic population, and Nicholson capitalized on these complaints. In a dispute marked by bitterness and sometimes extreme accusations (Vetch, for example, accused Nicholson of Jacobite sympathies), Nicholson was awarded the post in October 1712. His commission also included the governorship of Placentia, and authority as auditor of all colonial accounts. He only spent a few weeks in Port Royal in 1714, leaving most of the governance to lieutenant governor Thomas Caulfeild. These few weeks were marked by discord with the Acadians, who sought to capitalize on the change of governor to gain concessions Nicholson was not prepared to give. Nicholson also issued order restricting the interaction between the troops and the town, resulting in the further reduction of already-poor morale in the Port Royal garrison. He also cracked down on open trade between British colonial merchants and the French, requiring the licensing of any British merchant wanting to trade at French ports.

Nicholson spent most of his time as Nova Scotia governor in Boston, where he devoted a significant amount of time investigating Vetch's finances. Vetch interpreted Nicholson's hostile and intrusive examination of his affairs as a largely partisan attempt to smear him. He called Nicholson a "malicious madman" who would do anything that "fury, malice, and madness could inspire." Nicholson attempted to prevent Vetch from sailing for England where he might better defend himself, forcing Vetch to flee beyond Nicholson's reach to New London, Connecticut, in order to get a ship for England. With the accession of George I to the throne and the change to a Whig ministry, Vetch succeeded in clearing his name and recovered his post from Nicholson, who was accused by Vetch and others of neglecting the province.

Nicholson next served as the first royal governor of South Carolina from 1721 to 1725. The colonists had rebelled against the rule of the proprietors, and Nicholson was appointed in response to their request for crown governance. The rebellion had been prompted by inadequate response by the proprietors to Indian threats, so Nicholson brought with him some British troops. He established a council composed primarily of supporters of the rebellion, and gave it significant latitude to control colonial affairs. As he had in some of his other posts, he used enforcement of the Navigation Acts as a means to crack down on political opposition. He established local governments modeled on those he set up in Maryland and Virginia, including the 1722 incorporation of Charleston. He expended both public money and his own to further both education and the Church of England, and introduced ground-breaking judicial administration into the colony. He negotiated agreements and territorial boundaries with the Cherokee, and promoted trade, pursuing policies similar to those he had advocated while in Maryland and Virginia. He introduced a commissioner of Indian affairs into the colonial government, a post that survived until the crown assumed the duties of managing Indian affairs in the 1750s.

Personal and later life

Nicholson courted the teenage Lucy Burwell of the Burwell family of Virginia at the turn of the 18th century. Burwell, known for her beauty and charm, did not reciprocate his feelings. Nicholson continued to press Burwell and her parents for the match he desired. Instead, Burwell looked for love and affection of a man of good manners with whom she was compatible. Nicholson's behavior, along with his unpopular policies, drove four Burwell relatives and two others to petition Anne, Queen of Great Britain for Nicholson's removal as governor. Titled "Memorial Concerning the Maladministration of Governor Nicholson", it was signed by six councilors John Blair, Benjamin Harrison, Robert Carter, Matthew Page, Philip Ludwell, and John Lightfoot. She married Edmund Berkeley, a successful planter.

In England, Nicholson was promoted to lieutenant-general. He never married, and died in London on 5/16 March 1728/9. He was buried in the parish of St George Hanover Square. A claim cited in some 19th-century biographies that he was knighted turned out to be false when his will was discovered early in the 20th century.

Personality

Nicholson was notorious for his temper. He was, according to historian George Waller, "subject to fits of passion". In one story, an Indian said of Nicholson, "The general is drunk." When informed that Nicholson did not partake of strong drink, the Indian replied, "I do not mean that he is drunk with rum, he was born drunk." Waller also points out that his "hasty and overmastering temper led him into great excesses".

Legacy

Nicholson Hall of the College of William and Mary is named in honour of Francis Nicholson. Additionally the two main streets of Colonial Williamsburg, one block north and south of the central street (Duke of Gloucester St.) are named Francis and Nicholson, in his honour.