John Nicholl (judge)
Sir John Nicholl | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Penryn | |
In office 1802–1806 | |
Member of Parliament for Hastings | |
In office 1806–1807 | |
Member of Parliament for Great Bedwyn | |
In office 1807–1832 | |
Personal details | |
Born | John Nicholl 16 March 1759 British Tory party |
Alma mater | St John's College, Oxford |
Sir John Nicholl (16 March 1759 – 26 August 1838) was a Welsh Member of Parliament and judge. As a judge he was noted "for inflexible impartiality and great strength and soundness of judgement".[1]
Early history
Nicholl was born in 1759, the second son of John Nicholl of
Professional career
Nicholl built an extensive practice and on 6 November 1798 he succeeded
In 1802, Nicholl was elected to Parliament holding the seat of Penryn in Cornwall. After a brief period as Member of Parliament of Hastings from 1806 to 1807, he was elected to the seat of Great Bedwyn, and remained the member of the constituency until the Reform Act of 1832, upon which time he retired.[3] Nicholl was a staunch Tory throughout his political career and steadily opposed parliamentary reform and Roman Catholic emancipation.
In 1809 he was appointed
Nicholl was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries. A monument to John Nicholl son of Sir John Nicholl is to be seen in the Dyfrig chapel of Llandaff Cathedral.
Personal life
Despite spending much of his time in London, linked to his parliamentary and judicial duties, and the fact that Nicholl held all his political seats in England, he continued to foster and support links with his home country of Wales. In 1787 he married Judy Birt, the youngest daughter of Peter Birt of Wenvoe Castle, and spent his time during his political career split between his London town house and Tondu House in South Wales.
Nicholl and Judy had one son and three daughters. Nicholl's only son, also John Nicholl, would later follow his father's political career, becoming a Member of Parliament for Cardiff.
Merthyr Mawr House
Nicholl had amassed several estates throughout his lifetime, mainly through inheritance. He had gained an interest in property in Llantwit Major from his godfather, the Rev John Nicholl in 1770 and when Edward Powell died in 1771, he too left estates to Nicholl in five local parishes, including Tondu House. But despite these holdings, when Nicholl came to building his own family home, he chose the area of Merthyr Mawr. When Charles Bowen died in 1797, Nicholl was a trustee appointed to effect the will. Bowen owned large estates within Merthyr Mawr, but they were heavily mortgaged and there were additional debts and legacies to be honoured. Nicholl took this opportunity to purchase 800 acres (3.2 km2) of the estate, eventually agreed at £18,000.
Nicholl initiated plans to construct a country house on the estate in 1806, demolishing the old residence, a 16th/17th century hall of the Stradling family, and hiring architect Henry Wood to build Merthyr Mawr House. Wood and Nicholl parted company in 1808, but Nicholl pushed through with his plans and moved into the incomplete building in 1809. When the mansion was completed it was notable for its library, which was reported as holding 30,000 articles.
Maerthyr Mawr house is a five bay, two-storey classical mansion faced in white local
References
- ^ Sir John Nicholl The National Library of Wales online
- ^ Henry John Randall (1959). "Nicholl, Sir John (1759-1838), judge". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ Sir John Nicholl Hansard 1803-2005
- ^ Sir John Nicholl (1759-1838) Archived 2 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine Bridgend.gov.uk
- ^ 012 - Merthyr Mawr Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Further reading
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Nicholl
- Thorne, R. G. (1986). "NICHOLL, Sir John (1759-1838), of Merthyr Mawr, Glam". The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs