Person record for Nicholson, William

Nicholson, William

Diary Appearances
Biographical Details
Editorial Notes
Bibliography
Acquaintances

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This person is mentioned in the diary a total of 516 times, but was not at home (N) 33 times, and was a venue (V) 351 times.

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Name: Nicholson, William
Gender: Male
Birth Date: December 1753
Death Date: 21 May 1815
Occupation: chemist
Occupation: inventor

See DNB.

Nicholson, William (1753–1815), the chemist and inventor, was in the E. India service until 1773. In 1776 he ‘engaged in commercial business on the continent for the late Mr Wedgwood, soon after which he devoted himself wholly to literary and scientific pursuits’. 1775, opened seminary in Soho square. (A Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors, p. 252). From their first meeting in 1786, Nicholson became one of Godwin's closest friends, contributing to discussions onEnquiry concerning Political Justice, and proving a source for up-to-date knowledge in the sciences. Nicholson and his wife were close to Godwin throughout Wollstonecraft's illness and death, and in 1809, Godwin and Nicholson were with Holcroft as he lay dying, Nicholson being temporarily out of debtor's prison. (See the supplement to A Biographical Dictionary of the living authors of Great Britain and Ireland in which it is suggested that Nicholson was imprisoned for debt late in his life. There is a Letter from Nicholson to Godwin (MS. Abinger c. 6, fol. 134: 26 Jan. 1801) asking him to attend with Mr Duncan, N's attorney, and Mr Carlisle, to provide bail - see Diary entry for 26.01.1801.

Nicholson drafts an obituary of Wollstonecraft, in MS. Abinger c. 3, fols.. 115-16: [1797]. He also joins Godwin in raising concerns about the contents of Holcroft's Diary and the propriety of them being published: MS. Abinger c. 44, fols. 10-11: 2 Jan. 1810.

Re: physiognomy: Godwin persuaded Nicholson to write a lengthy prediction of his daughter's character based on her physiognomy when she was not yet three weeks old, according to the system popularized by Lavater'. - from UPenn (http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/knarf/Nicholsn/nicholsn.html) On a tour to Scotland on 7 April 1816 ‘He even sat for a portrait by William Nicholson – not his old scientist friend, whose obituary he had written the previous year, but a local artist.’ An engraving of this portrait was later used in Sir George Mackenzie’s 1820 Illustrations of Phrenology (Marshall, p. 352).

Nicholson's son's memoir is held by the Bodleian library. Bodl. Oxf., MS Don. e.125 - some relevant passages below: 'The shop my father [Nicholson] and his friends frequented consisted of the shop and kitchen… the select company went up stairs, and up those stairs walked my father, Holcroft, Godwin, Hewlwtt, Shield (the composer of Love in a Village) and other men well known to the world. The room in which they met for a ninepenny dinner ran the whole length of the house: and was furnished with a long table and high backed wooden chairs. The had one constant chairman or president, an old Irish gentleman, who informed you on the first thing, that his father was a Bishop, and who expected a great deference from everyone in consequence…Godwin was more quiet but very sententious and what he said was always to the purpose…From my knowledge of the men I suspect this ninepenny dinner dispayed an amount of wit and intellect not always met with at the first tables of the nobles of the land.

On location and an indication of Nicholson's circles: 'From Red Lion Sq my father removed to Gt. Russell St. and next to Newman St, which was at the time (about 1796) a colony of artists and scientific characters. There resided Holcroft, Bacon the sculptor, Stothard the artist, and many other men of talent.
‘Godwin, Holcroft, Thelwall, and others were constantly at our house and though my father never evinced any very strong political bias, the others expressed themselves very forcibly and there was constant reference to a ‘Corresponding Society’ from which great things were expected to result.
The memoir reveals that Nicholson the chemist was also involved in artistic and theatrical circles - Nicholson Jr would bring notes to a Dr Gruber - potentially a spy - who lived upstairs from Barry

Godwin notes Nicholson's death on the 21st May 1815 - on the 27th, of the same month, he writes to 'W Nicholson' which is likely W. Nicholson, jr. Godwin both visits the family (recorded as S and J Nicholson) and attends a memorial, which provides further support regarding their level of intimacy.

Memoir of William Nicholson, Bodleian Library, MS Don. e.125;
MS Abinger
http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/knarf/Nicholsn/nicholsn.html.
DNB
John Watkins, A Biographical Dictionary of the Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland (London, 1816)
Peter Marshall,William Godwin
Don LockeA Fantasy of Reason

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.

Name	Number of Meetings
Holcroft, Thomas	59
Godwin, Mary Jane (Clairmont) (née de Vial)	43
Holcroft, Louisa (née Mercier)	11
Wolcot, Dr John (pseudonym Peter Pindar)	7
Horne Tooke, John	6
Harwood, Colonel William	6
Foulkes, John	6
Barry, James	5
Combe, William (Combes)	5
Boaden, James	5
Marshall, James	4
Northcote, James	4
Reynolds, Frederick	4
Smith,	4
Wollstonecraft, Mary (Godwin)	4
Carlisle, Sir Anthony	4
Hayward, Richard	3
Hamilton, Archibald	3
Tuthill, Sir George Leman	3
Batty, Robert	3
Robinson, George	3
Shield, William	3
Curran, John Philpot	3
Dyson, George	3
Lamb, Charles	3
Opie, John	3
Smirke,	3
Thelwall, John	3
Stoddart, John	2
Buchan, Dr Alexander Peter	2
Fawcett, Joseph	2
Hill, (Thomas)	2
Taylor, Richard	2
Alderson, Amelia (Opie)	2
Heywood, Samuel	2
Davis,	2
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor	2
Stewart, John (Walking Stewart)	2
Turner, Thomas	2
Paine, Thomas	2
Parr, Samuel	2
Richter, Henry James	2
Mackintosh, Sir James (of Kyllachy)	2
Fenwick, John	2
Crosdill, John	2
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley	2
Clementi, Muzio	2
Godwin, Hannah	2
Moore, James (Carrick-Moore)	1
Gawler, Captain John Bellenden (Ker)	1
Imlay, Fanny (Godwin)	1
Godwin, Joseph	1
Fortnum, Sophia (née King)	1
Webb,	1
Barlow, Joel	1
Dawe, George	1
Fuseli, Henry (Johann Heinrich Füssli)	1
Cooper, Grace Mary Rae	1
Wilson,	1
Rowan, Archibald Hamilton	1
Rowan, Sarah Jane (née Dawson)	1
Lister, Dr William	1
Perry, James (Pirie)	1
Clennel,	1
Lofft, Capel	1
Mercier, Charles André	1
Fenwick, Orlando	1
Ayrton, William	1
Fordyce, James	1
Banks, Thomas	1
Aickin, James	1
Priestley, Joseph	1
Beaufoy, Henry Hanbury	1
Lawrence,	1
Ritson, Joseph	1
Powell, James	1
Barry, Major Henry	1
O'Connor, Arthur (Conner) (Condorcet-O'Connor)	1
Porson, Richard	1
Gerrald, Joseph	1
Este, Reverend Charles	1
Hazlitt, William	1
Knight, Thomas	1
Cole,	1
Lawrence, Sir Thomas	1
Fell, Sarah	1
Fell, Ralph	1
Lamb, Mary Anne	1
Smith, John Raphael	1
Fordyce, Dr George	1
Reynolds, Elizabeth (née Mansel)	1
Plumptre, Annabella (Bell)	1
Davy, Sir Humphry	1
Smith, Charlotte (née Turner)	1
Wollstonecraft, James	1
Jardine, Major Alexander	1

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