N
Nanson, John (18xx-1932), major, mayor of Appleby 1904, 1905 and 1906, treasurer of Appleby Corporation 1857-1904
Nanson, L (18xx-19xx), land agent and surveyor, Dallam Tower estate
Nanson, William (1792-1868); see DCB Lives
Nash, Paul (1889-1946), artist, in summer 1924 stayed at Banks Head with Ben and Winifred Nicholson (qqv)
Naughty, Alexander (fl. 18thc), headmaster, Crosthwaite for three years from 1703, lived on in Crosthwaite for fifty one years as vicar of Threlkeld, succeeding his father and nominated by the Lowthers, a classical scholar but not listed at Oxbridge, lived on brown bread or oatmeal, dressed poorly and wore clogs, latterly drank a great deal; Wilson, A History and Chronicles of Crosthwaite Old School, p.28
Naugley, Alexander (16xx-1756), clergyman, curate of Threlkeld for 51 years, famed for classical learning and eccentricity
Naylor, A.C. (Dr), chairman Lakeland Arts Trust, father of Dr Adam Naylor
Naylor, John (1957-2005), cycleway services manager, brought up in Lancashire, joined Groundwork West Cumbria at its inception in 1987, developed 70km of cycleways in collaboration with Sustrans, including 40km off-road, using old mineral railway networks, notably the Cumbrian end of the C2C cycleway from Whitehaven, restored an old farm, Seaville, near Silloth, married Helen, one son Jack, a jovial character who offered warm hospitality; Whitehaven News 24 February 2005
Naylor, Joss, MBE (1936-2024), fell runner and farmer, born at Middle Row Farm, Wasdale Head, the son of Joe Naylor and Ella (nee Wilson), he went to school at Gosforth and left at fifteen to help on the farm, following two operations he took up running aged 24 in 1960, in 1971 he was the sixth person to complete the Bob Graham Round (61 peaks in 23 hours and 37 minutes; Bob Graham q.v.) and later that year completed the Three Peaks (Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Sca Fell Pike), broke several records in the 1970s and 1980s, later trained apprentices at Sellafield, he also undertook long distance walks including the Pennine Way which he finished in three days and four hours in 1974, in 2007 he was listed as one of the 100 top British sports personalities, he married Mary and had one son; Keith Richardson, Joss (2009), Guardian 2 July 2024
Naylor, Patricia (Paddy), marr (1946) T Peter Naylor (qv), died aged 93
Naylor, T Peter, m. Patricia Naylor (qv)
Neal, Eric (1918-1990; ODNB), physiologist, born Maryport, son of Major George Neal MC BSc (1880-1978), a school inspector and his wife Florence Waite, both he and his father had a passion for both history and the Cumberland fells, ed Queen Elizabeth’s School, Darlington, Heath GS, Halifax, studied medicine at Leeds, demonstrator and lecturer in dept of physiology, Leeds, marr Ann Baron Parker, one of his students, 2 daus, in 1950 to the Middlesex hospital, successor to Samson Wright as professor in 1956, best known for studies on the mechanism of excitation of arterial baroreceptors and chemoreceptors and their effect on circulation, later researching the changes in acid-base balance during hypothermia, essential during open heart surgery, published works include Reflexogenic Areas of the Cardiovascular System (1958), Circulation (1971) and William Harvey and the Circulation of the Blood (1975), president of IUPS, a keen pianist and an art enthusiast, hospitable to students and colleagues at home in Highgate, seven of his proteges became professors themselves; Royal Coll of Physicians website: see ‘Inspiring Physicians’
Neale, Arthur Wallace (d.1978), clergyman, rector of Long Marton 1939-1960, hon canon of Carlisle 1956-1963, rural dean of Appleby and Kirkby Stephen, died in 1978 (CWH; CRO, WDY 388)
Neidt, Tomas (c.1939-2022), hotelier, born Ulm, Germany, son of Fritz and Gertrude Neidt, began in Cornwall, then attended the Ecole Hotelier, Lausanne, manager Swan hotel Grasmere, head hunted by Duchess of Devonshire in 1966 to manage the Devonshire Arms at Beeley, Derbyshire, to Durban South Africa, married Rosalind in Benin city 1972, son Dominic and dau Francesca, purchased George hotel Penrith in 1977 and also Tufton Arms, Appleby in 1979, Rotarian and later president, police interpreter, died at home at Pinfold, Penrith, funeral at St Andrews Penrith, music included Kiri Te Kanawa; CW Herald October 2022
Neilson, George LLD (1858-1923; ODNB), lawyer, historian and antiquary, son of Edward Neilson merchant captain, wrote Peel: Its Meaning and Derivation (1894), Annals of the Solway (1899), Antonine Wall Report (1899), credited with developing a new approach to the study of Hadrian’s Wall, HL McQueen, 2004
Nelson family of Yorktown, Virginia from 1720s, descended from Thomas ‘Scotch Tom’ Nelson who was born in Penrith (qv)
Nelson of Penrith, family; CW2 i 104
Nelson, George (1810-1888), sculptor, b. Carlisle, may have been trained by David Dunbar qv, exhibited Carlisle Academy, friend of ML Watson qv, went to London, worked in Coad’s terracotta works, exhibited RA works including Musidora, carved Watson’s memorial adjacent to the south door, Carlisle cathedral, also Thomas Sheffield relief in Carlisle cathedral; David A. Cross, Public Sculpture, 2017, 143-4 and 203-4
Nelson, George (fl.19thc.), Sr, sea captain and marine artist, Whitehaven, father of George Nelson Jr; Marshall Hall
Nelson, George (c.1870-1921), Jr, artist, son of George Sr., Liverpool School of Art 1891-94, Slade Gold medallist, art master St Bees School (1906-1918), member Lake Artists, d. Whitehaven; Marshall Hall; Renouf, 84
Nelson, John (1726-1812), sculptor and architect, b. Penrith but went to Shropshire where he worked for fifty years, a statue of Roger de Montgomery for Shrewsbury Castle, another of Rowland Hill for Hawkestone Park, two lions for the Lion Hotel, Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury (1777); Shrewsbury School has his account book
Nelson, Joseph (18xx-1893), benefactor, of Moor Row, Wigton, left sum of £40,000 in trust for charitable purposes, of which £28,000 was applied to foundation of Nelson School for boys in 1896 [with buildings erected in 1897-98 at cost of £5,500, designed by Messrs Oliver and Dodgson, architects, of Carlisle, and opened on 11 October 1898], and £3,000 granted as supplementary sum together with endowment of old free grammar school towards establishment of Tomlinson Grammar School for girls in 1899, later the schools merged as Nelson Tomlinson School
Nelson, Richard (1750-1804), steward, bapt at New Hutton, son of John Nelson, of Garth in the Hay, marr Agnes (died 8 January 1825, aged 72), 1 son (Richard, died at Liverpool, 15 April 1864, aged 84), steward for Dallam Tower estate, died 25 December 1804, aged 54 (WCN, i, 263)
Nelson, Richard (18xx-18xx), carpet manufacturer, with Whitwell and Co, Docwray Hall mills, Kendal, mayor of Kendal 1885-86, marr dau of George Hinde, cobbler and trustee of Unitarian chapel, Kendal (ONK, 525), of Thorny Hills, Kent Terrace, where he compiled a Summary of Meteorological Observations made in Kendal from 1788 to 1880 (pr), 24 February 1881 (CRO, WD/Br/acc.379), father of Richard John Nelson qv
Nelson, Richard John (18xx-19xx), also carpet manufacturer, Whitwell and Co, Docwray Hall mills, son of Richard Nelson qv, educ Friends’ School, Stramongate, Kendal, also sent in meteorological returns (Westmorland Natural History Record, 1 (1888-89), 187-88), of Ivy Garth, Parkside Road, Kendal (1885, 1914)
Nelson, Sarah (nee Kemp) (1815-1904), gingerbread baker, born at Bowness-on-Windermere and bapt 22 October 1815, illegit dau of Dinah Kemp, widow (nee Stewardson, marr (11 September 1806) James Kemp, of Undermillbeck, labourer, who was buried at Bowness, 6 July 1812), had yr sister Ann (bapt 28 February 18xx), marr (1844) Wilfred Nelson (bapt at Morland, 24 March 1805, buried at Grasmere, 2 July 1880, aged 75), farm labourer, son of Thomas Nelson and Elizabeth (nee Robinson), of Morland, 2 daus (both died of tuberculosis, Dinah, buried 25 March 1869, aged 18, and other? in 1870), in service as cook, made cakes and pastries for Lady Farquhar (qv), of Dale Lodge Grasmere, took over tenancy of Gate Cottage by Grasmere Church in about 1850, encouraged to make gingerbread by Lady Farquhar’s French chef, also sold Helvellyn cakes and aerated water, but her Grasmere Gingerbread became renowned with recipe locked away in local bank, now established as ‘Baker and Confectioner of Church Cottage, Grasmere’, made ginger alphabets covering them with thin horn for protection and using them to teach village children, died and buried in Grasmere churchyard, 13 February 1904, aged 88; recipe passed to her great niece, who sold it to Daisy Hotson, who later went into partnership with Jack and Mary Wilson, who sold business to their nephew Gerald and Margaret Wilson in 1969
Nelson, Thomas ‘Scotch Tom’ (1677-1747), merchant, born in Penrith, founder of ‘one of the First Families of Virginia’, his house built c.1730 is in Yorktown and now as ‘Nelson House’ a National Historic Landmark, his grandson Thomas Jr (qv) signed the Declaration of Independence
Nelson, Thomas (1678-1745), descendant of Hugh Nelson, a grocer of Penrith, founder of Yorktown, America, his grandson Thomas Nelson (1738-1789) was on HM council of Virginia, succeeded Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) as governor and signed the Declaration of Independence
Nelson, Thomas Jr (1738-1789), merchant planter and public official, born Yorktown, Virginia, son of William Nelson (1711-1772) and Elizabeth Burnell, grandson of Thomas ‘Scotch Tom’ Nelson (1677-1747) (qqv), educ Newcombe’s School, Hackney and Christ’s Coll, Cambridge, also lived at Nelson House, Yorktown, for many years a member of the Virginia assembly, twice represented Virginia in Congress and was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, a general in the Revolutionary War, he fought at the siege of Yorktown, memorably urging his fellow officer to fire upon his own house (now part of the Yorktown Battlefield heritage site), he was a third cousin of George Washington through the Reade family; American Dictionary of Biography
Nelson, Thomas (1808-1887), railway engineer, built Nelson Bridge, Carlisle
Nelson, Thomas Boustead (d.1878), railway engineer, son of Thomas Nelson of Carlisle and York, railway contractor, constructed the Whitby branch line for the NE railway co., York and Doncaster line through Selby, the Leeds and Wetherby junction, worked for the Cumberland and Furness railway co.; Grace’s Guide, Institute of Civil Engineers obituary
Nelson, Timothy (c.1735-18xx), Presbyterian minister, had been many years Presbyterian minister at Great Salkeld and at Plumpton Street, an Antitrinitarian, visited by Richard Wright, the Unitarian missionary, in 1814 who recorded his impressions (ONK, 377)
Nelson, William (1711-1772; ODNB), merchant planter and politician, born Yorktown, Virginia, son of a merchant Thomas Nelson and Margaret Reade, educated in England but not known where, spent time in his father’s birthplace Penrith, returned to Virginia in 1732, entered the firm and married Elizabeth Carter Bulwell of a distinguished Virginia family, lived at Nelson House, Yorktown, his son Thomas Jr signed the Declaration of Independence, inherited land and capital, established a major estate of tobacco, in a land without banks became a moneylender, member of house of burgesses, later of the upper legislative house, acting governor in 1770-71, died 1772; American Dictionary of Biography
Nelson, William (fl.1728-30), schoolmaster, children bapt at Warcop, Sarah (bapt 18 April 1728) and William (bapt 3 May 1730), ‘then Schoolmaster of Warcop’
Nelson, William Alfred (1875-1958), builder and architect, restored Helme Lodge, Kendal after a fire, involved with the erection of the much loved mushroom shaped shelter and viewpoint on Scout Scar, Kendal
Nepean, Sir Molyneux Hyde 2nd Bt (1783-1856), first class cricketer and colonial administrator, son of Sir Evan Nepean 1st Bt (1752-1822), educated Eton and Trinity College Cambridge, Lincoln’s Inn, in Jamaica for thirty years, clerk of the crown in Jamaica, married (1) Charlotte Tilghman (d.1838), married (2) Lydia C. Wright, lived for a while at Temple Sowerby
Neville family; CW2 lx 71
Neville, Charles, 6th earl Westmorland, attainted 1571
Neville, Sir John (15xx-15xx), landowner and rebel, held manor of Neville Hall within manor of Ulverston, but forfeited by his rebellion when he joined his kinsman Charles Neville, earl of Westmorland, and Thomas Percy, earl of Northumberland, in the rising of the northern earls in 1569, marr, sons, enfeoffed one of his sons Matthew (with Stephen Brome and John Popeley) with lands in Popplewell and Cleckheaton , Helbeck and Hunslett, with remainder to his heirs , then to his brother Edward and his heirs, by charter of 20 July 1566 (for his lands around Ulverston and his manor of Liversedge in Yorkshire, see Homberston’s Survey c.1570 in TNA, Exchequer, King’s Remembrancer, Misc Books, E.164/38, ff.17-22)
Neville, Ralph, lord of the manor of Penrith, enlarged the castle, there are windows to the Nevilles in St Andrew’s church
Neville, Ralph (c.1364-1425), 1 st earl of Westmorland, born Raby Castle, son of John Neville 3 rd baron Neville and his wife Maud Percy (his brother Thomas married Joan Furnival and became 5 th baron Furnival, father of Maud Furnival the heiress), in 1385 appointed governor of Carlisle castle and in 1386 joint Warden of the West March
Nevinson (Nevynson), Stephen (c.1520-1580; ODNB), biographer, ecclesiastical lawyer and pluralist, born in Newby (W), son of Richard Newby, his cousin Christopher Newby was diocesan commissioner to archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), a connection which aided his career, educ King’s Canterbury and Christ’s Coll Cambridge, MA LLD from Trinity Coll, under Mary I he left Cambridge with Cranmer’s servants and associates, determined to preserve Cranmer’s writings and reputation, he was probably the author of an eyewitness account of Cranmer (publ 1859) which shows the archbishop to be an heroic figure and preserves ‘intimate and affectionate details’ about him (ODNB), on the accession of Elizabeth in 1558 his career picked up, he had financial dealings with the dean and chapter of Carlisle, appointed commissioners on numerous dioceses, ordained by Bishop Edmund Grindal (qv) (of Cumberland), presented to the living of Saltwood and as a prebend of Canterbury, involved in the reforms of the Book of Common Prayer, appointed vicar general of Norwich, in 1577 licensed to hold three benefices, rector of Romaldkirk (Y), his wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Reyner Wolfe (d.1573), Cranmer’s publisher, Cranmer’s widow Margarete (nee Osiander) lived with them before she married another publisher Edward Whitchurch in 1558
Nevinson, Rev Thomas (1696-1744), son of the Rev Thomas Nevinson (1658-1728) vicar of Torpenhow and his wife Grace Nicholson, sister of Bishop Nicholson (qv), was headmaster of Appleby GS 1721-23 and vicar of Whittingham (N) 1722-44; Hud (C)
Nevison, Nicks, highwayman, said to have leapt across Hellgill gorge at Mallerstang on horseback when eluding capture
New, Edmund Hort (1871-1931), architect, artist, bookplate designer, exhibited Lake Artists, illustrated books including F.F. Brabant, The English Lakes, 1905; Renouf, 61-2
Newall, Robert (1873-1955), headmaster, Levens; Levens History Society website
Newbold, Revd William Taylor (18xx-1908), MA, schoolmaster, ‘of independent Lancashire nature’, educ St John’s College, Cambridge, headmaster of St Bees School 1879-1903
Newby, George (18xx-1872), clergyman, incumbent of Borrowdale until death in 1872
Newby, James (1767-1834), slave owner, son of a yeoman of Barber Green, Kendal, major of artillery Jamaica, associated with several estates in Jamaica including St Anne and Roaring River, died Cark Cottage, Cartmel, probate London 1 Feb 1855; slave owners website
Newby, Peter (1745-1827; ODNB), poet and schoolmaster, born at Horncop Hall, Kendal, in 1745, yr son of William Newby [1702-1772] land agent and his wife Elizabeth ( d. 1772), of Horncop Hall, died at his house in Hill Street, Friargate, Preston, 16 December 1827 (Peter Newby, Friend to all Mankind: A Study of His Life and Poems and Friends by Josephine Malone, 1964)
Newell, Rev Gerald Frederick Watson, son of Gp Capt Frederick Rusden Newell (1904-1963), married Kathleen (qv) dau of the Rev Sidney Montagu Watson of Bowness on Solway and the isle of Staffa, Rev Newell and his family owned Staffa until 1974; Hud (C); the Staffa reference is a puzzle, nothing to them online, maybe they were tenants ?
Newland, Abraham (1730-1807), banker, born at Southwaite, 23 April 1730, entd Bank of England as clerk, 27 February 1748, colleague of Daniel Braithwaite (qv), rising to chief cashier on 19 January 1778, until his death, his name as cashier on first £1 note, died at Highbury Place, London, 20 November 1807, left £200,000; portrait by Romney (ten sittings between August 1794 and February 1795, costing £78-15s)
Newman, H E (19xx-19xx), local councillor, last mayor of borough of Kendal 1973-1974
Newspaper seller, local character, Carlisle marketplace early to mid 20thc., his cry was ‘ther’s nit miny lift’ which was used by Sarah Hall in Haweswater (2002 pb ed), 18
Newton, Geoffrey William Alexander (1928-2005), nuclear scientist and discoverer of Copernicium, employed at Risley and Harwell, in the local news when his gravestone was discovered to have been thrown into Wastwater
Newcombe (formerly Suker), Frederick Clive (1847-1894), artist; b. Penketh, near Warrington, visited the Lakes, died Coniston; (see obit in Coniston burial register)
Niandeshergh (Ninezergh) family settled near Levens early 13thc, Ninez Farm, Levens is a vestige of their occupancy
Niandeshergh, Orm de, held land near Kendal in early 13thc, his descendant William Niandeshergh conveyed this property to Sir Walter Strickland in 1504
Niarchos, Stavros (1909-1996), shipping magnate, visited Barrow for a launch; Les Shore biography Leonard Redshaw (qv) Aristotle Onassis (qv)
Nichols, Sir Augustine (1559-1616; ODNB), justice of the common pleas, b. Ecton,Northants, son of Thomas Nicholls, serjeant-at-law, he followed his father’s occupation being himself sworn serjeant-at-law under James I in December 1603, recorder of Leicester, 1612 justice of the common pleas, died in 1616 during the assizes in Kendal, of a surfeit or ‘new ague’, his monument from Northamptonshire is now in the V and A, his epitaph in Kendal parish church once read: He whom no bribes could blind; no terror turne; No favour fawne; noe course compel from right; Whom place did nev’r puffe upp; no beautye burne; Plenty exceed; nor poore oppresse with might; Did speake, thinke, find this topp of honour hye. Seal’d in this urne; he in his years to dye From William Andrews Epitaphs (1883 rpr 1899)
Nicholls, Frederick George, BA, born in Staffordshire, educ London University (BA, Anglo-Saxon and English Literature), assistant master, St Bees School 1891-1898, of Spruce Bank, Graham Street, Penrith in 1906, rector of Newton Reigny 1909-1912 (ex inf JPG)
Nicolson, William [1655-1727; ODNB] FRS, cleric, bishop, b. Plumbland, son of Joseph Nicolson and his wife Mary Briscoe, ed Dovenby and Queen’s college, Oxford, became a fellow, visited Leipzig in 1678-9 supported by Joseph Williamson qv and was impressed by the scholarly Johann Benedict Carpzov II, d and p 1679, vicar Torpenhow from 1681, prebend of Carlisle, archdeacon and rector of Great Salkeld, bishop of Carlisle in 1702, excommunicated Hugh Todd after several disputes with him and the new dean Francis Atterbury, lord high almoner to George I, bishop of Derry, interested in runic scripts, preserved and bound the mss of Thomas Machell qv, published inter alia: 17thc Flora of Cumberland [1690], Leges Marchiarum: or Border Laws [1705], The London Diaries 1702-1718 ed Clive Jones, [1985], he marr the daughter of John Archer of Oxenholme qv; FG James, North Country Bishop, 1956; mss at the Bodleian, the BL, Queen’s college and Tullie House etc
Nichol, Sir John Fearns (1899-1981), colonial secretary Hong Kong 1949-52 and then Singapore 1952-55, attended Carlisle grammar school and Pembroke College, Oxford, m Irene one son, Nichol Highway in Singapore named after him
Nicholson, Agnes (c.1779-1862), postmistress, marr Joseph Nicholson, first postmaster of Ambleside (died 3 May 1831), 1 son (Cornelius, qv) and 3 daus (Mary, Hannah and Margaret), following husband’s death postmistress of Ambleside (in Market Place) from 1831 to 1862, assisted by daughters Hannah and Margaret, noted for her good sense and sound judgement, large portrait presented to her daughters in 1851 as tribute of esteem from her friends in Ambleside (Armitt Collection), died 29 March 1862, aged 83, and buried in St Mary’s churchyard, her daughter Hannah whilst working with mother in Post Office, was given to mimicking mannerisms of poets waiting for their mail (John Harden), died 7 February 1894, aged 83, Mary Nicholson died 30 January 1861, aged 43
Nicholson, Anne Elizabeth (later Ireland) (1842-1893), biographer; see Ireland
Nicholson, Annie ‘Nancy’ Mary Pryde (1899-1977), painter and fabric designer, dau of Sir William Nicholson and Mabel Pryde, sister of Ben Nicholson and first wife of Robert Graves (1895-1985; ODNB), visited Banks on Hadrian’s Wall when her brother Ben lived there with Winifred Nicholson
Nicholson, Archibald Keightly (1871-1937; ODNB), stained glass artist, son of Sir Charles Nicholson 1st bart (qv), his work is extensive throughout the UK including the cathedrals of Newcastle, Lincoln, Norwich, Worcester and Wells
Nicholson, Benjamin (Ben) Lauder (1894-1982; ODNB), artist; son of Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson (1872-1949; ODNB), one of the ‘Beggerstaff Brothers’, married Winifred Nicholson (qv) lived Banks, near Lanercost, his sister Nancy (1899-1977) (qv) married Robert Graves (1895-1985), the poet, Nicholson’s second wife was Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975; ODNB) DBE, the sculptor and they then lived at St Ives
Nicholson, Sir Charles (1808-1903; ODNB) 1st Bt, Australian politician and educationalist, born Cockermouth (some sources, perhaps wrongly, say near Whitby), illegitimate son of Barbara Ayscough and Charles Nicholson merchant and agent to Lord Egremont, educ Edinburgh, ship’s surgeon, to Australia, returned and married Sarah E Knightley, inherited property from his uncle William Ayscough, 1843 elected member of NS Wales legislative council, involved in the founding of Sydney university, member of senate, vice provost and chancellor 1854-62
Nicholson, Sir Charles Archibald 2nd bt (1867-1949; ODNB), architect, son of Sir Charles 1st bt and his wife Sarah Knightley, educ Rugby and New College Oxon, designed the war memorial chapel at Norwich, the west front of St Anne’s cathedral Belfast and worked on many other cathedrals including Carlisle, here his major scheme was pronounced ‘abortive’ (Pevsner), but his reredos, baldacchino and altar remain, he designed 42 new churches, marr 1. Evelyn Olivier the sister of Sir Lawrence Olivier, Nicholson’s brother Archibald Keighley Nicholson was a stained glass artist; Hyde and Pevsner
Nicholson, Christopher (1602-1670), merchant adventurer of Newcastle and alderman, brother of Nathaniel Nicholson (c.1597-1672) of Hawkshead Hall and Kentmere; Hud (W)
Nicholson, Christopher Scott (1906-1945), educated Magdalene Coll Oxford, copies of the CWAAS Transactions given to Carlisle library in his memory, his arms on the bookplate, Hutchins and Sheppard, The Undone Years, 2004, 287-92; CW1, iii
Nicholson, Cornelius (1804-1889), DL, JP, FGS, FSA, paper maker, railway promoter and author, born at Ambleside, 14 March 1804 and bapt there, 14 May, son of Joseph Nicholson, hair-dresser, and Agnes (qv), father died when still young, moved to Kendal at 14 to learn trade of printing, apprenticed together with John Hudson (qv) to Chronicle Office, did wood carving in spare time, partner in bookselling and printing firm of Hudson & Nicholson from 12 November 1825, moving over to Thomas Hudson’s premises (later Titus Wilson’s) at 28 Highgate, undertook work of compiling The Annals of Kendal that was published in 1832 (when living in Kirkbarrow), started paper making at Burneside as Messrs Hudson, Nicholson and Foster (assisted by capital borrowed from John Wakefield), with manufacturing by machinery starting in 1833, marr (30 May 1833, at Kendal parish church) Mary Anne Hudson (died 3 March 1877 and buried in Highgate cemetery), sister of John Hudson (qv) and relation of Revd John Hudson (who gave her away), 2 daus (Mary Agnes (born 3 March 1834, marr (1852) James Stuart, of Calcutta, later of Harrow) and Cornelia (born 23 January 1843)), living at Cowan Head for 10 years (1835-45), sold paper manufacturing business on to James Cropper in 1845, published pamphlet The London and Glasgow Railway: the interests of Kendal considered in 1837, director of Lancaster & Carlisle Railway (till 1846) and one of first directors of Kendal & Windermere Railway 1845 (cut first sod on 16 July), mayor of Kendal 1845-46, took up question of water supply to houses in Kendal and established Gas and Water Company (incorporated 26 June 1846) and director, member of corporation committee of inquiry into abuse of charities in 1847, one of founders of Kendal Natural History and Scientific Society, elected FGS in 1849, moved to London in summer of 1848 to become managing director of Great Indian Peninsular Railway for 8 years, living at Bernard Street, Russell Square before moving to Hornsey in 1852, then moving to Muswell Hill (‘Wellfield’) after return from nine month period of rest in Italy, staying for 21 years (1858-79), director of many public undertakings, chairman of Gas Meter Company for many years, author of The Annals of Kendal (1st ed pub in May 1832, 2nd edn 1861) [dedicated to his friend, Thomas Harrison of Singleton Park, Kendal (qv), and compiled when living in Kirkbarrow House], and The Origin of the Kendal Mechanics’ Institute (1873) for its 50th anniversary jubilee, member of Westmorland Society from at least 1857, awarded Freedom of City of London on 10 October 1856, visited Russia in 1862 and again in 1863 returning through Poland, apptd JP for Middlesex in 1868 (sat at Highgate) and DL of Middlesex and Westminster in 1876, moved to Asleigh in Ventnor on Isle of Wight in September 1879, paid last visit to Westmorland in 1888 to lecture at Kirkby Stephen on ‘Mallerstang Forest and the Barony of Westmorland’ on 4 July and at Kendal on ‘Sir Andrew de Harcla’ on 6 July, died at Ashleigh, 5 July 1889, aged 85, and buried in Highgate cemetery (portrait in Kendal Town Hall; portrait bust in marble by T C Physick, 1877) (A Well-Spent Life: Memoir of Cornelius Nicholson, by Cornelia Nicholson, Kendal, 1890; WG, 13.07.1889; KK, 76-77; CW2, lxxxiv, 245-246)
Nicholson, Emily (18xx-19xx), landscape painter, dau of Richard Nicholson, cousin of James Morton Nicholson (qv), and sister of Catherine Ann (Kate) and of Carleton, exhibitor at RA 1842-1869, one painting turned down by RA in 1851, A View of the Thames near Henley (1856), watercolours bequeathed by sister Kate’s will (made 19 November 1907) (papers, incl list of paintings in drawing and dining rooms at Ashton Lea, in CRO, WDX 1251/5)
Nicholson, Eric (d.1980), violinist, his career was halted by a hand injury, lived in Kendal, the idea of using the old semi-derelict house of Abbot Hall as a gallery is attributed to him, it was Eric who consulted Francis Scott (qv) upon this idea, he was involved in the founding of Abbot Hall Gallery, described as ‘an imagnative, able, generous and kindly man’; obit Quarto, April 1980; Quarto October 1991, 8-9; Verrinder: I Felt Like an Adventure, 2008, 53, in his will he left money for the annual presentation of a violin bow as the Eric Nicholson Prize to a student at the Royal Northern College of Music; Abbot Hall holds a pencil portrait drawing [or charcoal] of him
Nicholson, Francis (1753-1844; ODNB) OWS, painter, printmaker and drawing master, born at Pickering, North Yorkshire, 14 November 1753, painted portraits and scenes mainly in northern counties for some fifty years, moved with his family to London and became a fashionable drawing master and an early innovator in newly discovered medium of lithography (art of making prints from drawings on stone), ‘father of watercolour painting’, founder member of Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1804 and president in 1812, inc watercolour drawings of Lake District in Wordsworth Trust’s collections at Grasmere, died at 52 Charlotte Street, London, 6 March 1844, aged 90 (Exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole, North Yorkshire, March-May 2012)
Nicholson, Francis (1843-1925), FZS, son of Robert Nicholson (1802-1886), merchant, of Manchester, President of Manchester Library and Philosophical Society, President of Grasmere Wrestling Academy, vice-chairman of Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling Association (formed in 1906), expert and enthusiast for old sports of Lake District, member of CWAAS from 1903, author (with Ernest Axon) of The Older Nonconformity in Kendal (1915), which derived from short paper on “Kendal (Unitarian) Chapel and its Registers” read to CWAAS in 1904 (CW2, v, 172-181), but a chapter deducted and published separately as ‘The Kaber Rigg Plot, 1663’ in 1911 (CW2, xi, 212-232), also ‘Notes on the Wilkinsons, Ironmasters’ (Proc Manch Lit & Phil Soc, 49, pt.3, 1905), ‘Correspondence between Mrs Hemans and Matthew Nicholson’ (Proc Manch Lit & Phil Soc, 54, pt.2), with obituary notices of Thomas Worthington, FRIBA, Richard Bowdler Sharpe, LLD, FLS, FZS, and Thomas Windsor, MRCS, LSA (ibid, pt.3, 1910), then (1903) of 84 Major Street, Manchester, but moved to The Knoll, Windermere in 1905, later to Ravenscroft, Windermere in 1915, where he died, 10 February 1925, aged 82, as result of accident at Turkish baths in Manchester a few days earlier (CW2, xxv, 387)
Nicholson, Frederick Will (Eric) (1892-1979), musician and art collector, made bequest of his watercolours and ceramics to Abbot Hall Art Gallery, unmarried, died 14 November 1979, aged 88 (KG, 128-130); portrait at Abbot Hall
Nicholson, Henry (1755-1812), clergyman and schoolmaster, born in Whitehaven, son of Revd John Nicholson, ordained in 1778, curate of Gosforth 1778-1780 and of Ponsonby 1780-1789, headmaster of Whitehaven Grammar School 1775- and founded Moresby Classical Academy, rector of Moresby 1789-1812
Nicholson, Henry Alleyne (1844-1899; ODNB), FRS, FGS, FLS, PhD, MD, biologist and geologist, son of Dr John Nicholson below, born in Penrith, 11 September 1844 (bapt. 9 October), educ. Appleby Grammar School, Gottingen University (PhD), and Edinburgh University (doctoral thesis ‘On the geology of Cumberland’), etc, professor of Natural History, University of St Andrews 1877-1882, regius professor of Natural History, Aberdeeen University 1881-1899, author of Essay on the Geology of Cumberland and Westmoreland (1868), died at Aberdeen, 19 January 1899 (RM, 38-42) ; Boase vi 293
Nicholson, Isaac (1789-1848; ODNB), engraver, b. Melmerby, pupil of Thomas Bewick (1753-1828; ODNB), cut fine quality wood engravings, work in Tate Britain, Marshall Hall
Nicholson, James (1814-1865), farmer, born 1814, of Blencarn Hall, marr (1861) Isabel Morton (died at Ashton Lea, which she had built in 1873, aged 72, and buried at Kirkby Thore, 2 December 1892) (sister of Christopher Morton), sons, died at Blencarn, aged 51, and buried at Kirkby Thore, 14 October 1865
Nicholson, James Morton (1863-1935), barrister, born 1 April 1863, son of James Nicholson (qv), awarded pupil scholarship in equity at Inner Temple, London, in 1885, passed exam at Lincoln’s Inn, Easter Term, 3 May 1886, sold Ashton Lea in 1925, then lived at Thorney Croft, Kirkby Thore, contributed details about the find of bronze fibulae during building of new bridge over the Troutbeck in 1838 on occasion of CWAAS visit to the Roman site with R G Collingwood on 17 September 1926 (CW2, xxvii, 232), marr Grace Anne Hopes Heelis (buried at Kirkby Thore, 3 July 1951, aged 85), 2 sons (Edward Morton and Richard Heelis, Lieut, RN (died at 49 Beaumont Street, St Marylebone, London, and buried at Kirkby Thore, 12 April 1931, aged 34)) and 1 dau (Isabel (d.1961), wife of Kenneth Imeson Boazman (qv), of Millrigg, Temple Sowerby), died aged 72 and buried at Kirkby Thore, 3 November 1935 (family papers in CRO, WDX 1251; HF, 11)
Nicholson, Jane, master mercer, took on an apprentice; CW3 xv 171
Nicholson, Joan (c.1924-2011), teacher and philanthropist, born Manchester, being fluent in French and German was involved in Bletchley Park code breaking in the 2nd WW, while at Cambridge on a teaching course was wardrobe mistress for a student theatre group and came to know Derek Jacobi and Margaret Drabble, taught modern languages in Kendal, retired to Grasmere where she lived at Crag Foot Cottage, below Helm Crag, left £1,000,000 to the Lakeland housing trust to provide affordable housing for local families driven out by the excesses of tourism (she had discussed this project with Laurence Harwood who was very surprised when he learned of the extent of her generosity); West Gaz 2 March 2011
Nicholson, John, stationer, est charity to benefit people with his surname, £278 pa income to distribute, bishop Nicholson of Carlisle a trustee; J. Edwards, A Collection of Old English Customs and Charities, 1842
Nicholson, John (17xx-17xx), coroner, mayor of Appleby 1767 (QS coroner’s bills 1758, 1768, 1769) = ??
Nicholson, John, steward of manor of Longmarton (October 1766) (CRO, WDX 1641)
Nicholson, John (1808-1886), biblical scholar, PhD (Tubingen University, 1840), born 15 October 1808 on Barbados, eldest son of Revd Mark Nicholson (1770-1838) (president of Codrington Grammar School, Barbados, 1797-1821, son of John Nicholson of Hole House, Barton), friend of Thomas Adolphus Trollope, living at Inglewood House, Penrith in 1841 and 1847, The Fell in 1851 (renamed Prospect House by 1881 and later to Fellside on Nicholson Lane), president, Penrith Mechanics’ Institute (estab.1831), helped establish (with Lord Brougham) Penrith Working Men’s Reading Room in 1846, died at Fellside, 29 November 1886 and buried in Penrith cemetery, with wife Anne (died 13 April 1892) (CW3, vii, 185-86)
Nicholson, John (1809-1886), orientalist and linguist, born Barbados, the son of the Rev William Nicholson, father of John Henry Nicholson (qv), studied Queen’s, Oxford, Gottingen, Tubingen, latterly lived Penrith, had erudite visitors including the Maronite Christian and Ottoman scholar Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq (1804-1887) in 1851-2, also the classical scholar Francis William Newman (1805-1897), the brother of Cardinal Newman, established the Penrith reading room in 1854 with Lord Brougham and William Marshall
Nicholson, John Barnes (1840-1919), miner, trade unionist and politician, born Aikton, son of a farmer John Nicholson and his wife Mary (nee Lightfoot), worked as a linen draper and farmer, went to Canada, the gold mines in California and finally in 1882 New South Wales, here as a miner he was involved in union activity and led strikes, est the Illawarra Miners Association, was a delegate to the Ballarat trades unions conference in 1890, marr Ellen Brodie a miner’s widow, won a seat in 1891 in the Legislative Assembly for Illawarra and held a seat until 1917, supported conscription; Australian Dictionary of Biography
Nicholson, John Henry (1838-1923), teacher and writer, born Lyme Regis, educ Croft House Academy, Brampton, sent to sea, settled in Queensland, wrote The Opal Fever (1878) and The Adventures of Halek (1882); Australian Dictionary of Biography
Nicholson, Isaac (1761-1807), schoolmaster and cleric, born Nether Wasdale, ed St Bees, taught Oulton near Wigton, curate Nether Wasdale and then Coddington, Cheshire, later president of Lady Huntington’s College, Cheshunt where ‘he shone like a star of the highest magnitude’, becoming frail and ill was appointed to Pell St Chapel, Princes Square, London, where he died; Bulmer
Nicholson, Sir John Rumney (1866-19xx), CMG, MICE, civil engineer, bapt at Lanwathby, 10 May 1866, son of Isaac Nicholson, of Langwathby, farmer, and his wife Alice, educ St Bees School, chief engineer for Docks, N E Railway, formerly chairman and chief engineer, Singapore and Penang Harbour Boards, CMG 1913, knighted 1919, president of Old St Beghians’ Club 1921-1922, marr (1902) Sybil Helen, OBE (1918), dau of Sir Herbert George Denman Croft, 9th Bt, of Croft Castle, 1 son (William Archer, b.1903) and 1 dau (Elizabeth Lucy, b.1909), of 20 Nevern Mansions, Earl’s Court, London SW (1923)
Nicholson, Sir John Fearns (1899-1981), colonial administrator, born Carlisle, educ Carlisle GS and Pembroke Coll Oxford, North Borneo 1921, Trinidad 1937, Fiji 1944, second governor of Singapore 1952-1955, marr Irene, Nicholson highway, Singpore named after him, portrait NPG
Nicholson, Jonathan (18xx-19xx), MA, LLD, headmaster, master of Kirkby Stephen Grammar School (Endowed), poss from reorganisation in 1878 (new Charity Commission scheme), certainly by 1885 [Board school opened in 1877], of The Green, Kirkby Stephen (1894, 1897, 1905), of Castle View (1906), new scheme in 1906 made school available for girls only, of High Street (1910, 14), but gone by 1921
Nicholson, Joseph (Joe) (1929-2011), county councillor, born at Barrow-in-Furness in 1929, educ locally in Barrow, worked in planning and architecture department of Barrow borough council, served with 33rd Airborne Light Regiment, RA 1947, before returning to local government, joined Cumbria county council planning department at Kendal in 1974, elected county councillor for Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale in 1982 until he retired in 2009, chairman of Cumbria county council 2003-04, dedicated and well-liked councillor, marr Judy (72), of Beech Wood, Barbon, died 22 March 2011, aged 81, and funeral at St Bartholomew’s church, Barbon, 28 March (WG, 31.03.2011)
Nicholson, Josiah Walker (18xx-19xx), yst son of William Nicholson, of Swathburn, Great Asby, author of A History of the Manor of Crosby Garrett in Westmorland, with local customs and legends [dedicated to Sir John and Lady Horsfall, grand-niece of late Revd William Fawcett] (published by J W Braithwaite, Market Square, Kirkby Stephen, 1914)
Nicholson, Margaret [1822-1905], daughter of Agnes Nicholson, qv, born 29 June 1822, marr John Freeman, of Kendal Post Office, died 17 April 1905
Nicholson, Norman Cornthwaite (1914-1987; ODNB), OBE, FRSL, poet, critic and author, born at 14 St George’s Terrace, Millom, 8 January 1914, son of Joseph and Edith Nicholson, educ at local schools, lived at his house in Millom for most of his life, only moving away when he needed treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis, aged 16, for two years in a Hampshire sanatorium, marr (1956) Yvonne Edith Gardner, no issue, contributed weekly criticism to weekly press, hon MA, Manchester University 1959 and Open University 1975, hon D Litt, Liverpool 1980, hon fellow of Manchester Polytechnic 1979, Society of Authors travelling award 1972, Cholmondley Award for Poetry 1967, Queen’s Medal for Poetry 1977, FRSL 1945, OBE 1981, poetry noted for its local concerns (mining, quarrying and ironworks), religion and faith, straightforward language and inclusion of elements of common speech, esp vernacular of people in Millom, worked outside mainstream of poetic trends, his damaged lungs resulted in ‘his husky cosmic whisper’ described by his literary executor Irvine Hunt, poetry publications: Five Rivers (1944), which won Heinemann Prize in 1945, Rock Face (1948), The Pot Geranium (1954), Selected Poems (1966), A Local Habitation (1973), Sea to the West (1981), and Collected Poems (ed Neil Curry, 1994), verse drama: The Old Man of the Mountains (1946), A Match for the Devil (1955), and Birth by Drowning (1960), criticism: Man and Literature (1943), and William Cowper (1951), topography: Cumberland and Westmorland (1949), The Lakers (1955), Provincial Pleasures (1959), Portrait of the Lakes (1963), and Greater Lakeland (1969), autobiography: Wednesday Early Closing (1975), and anthologies: The Pelican Anthology of Modern Religious Verse (1943), A Choice of Cowper’s Verse (1975), The Lake District (1977), Selected Poems 1940-1982, and Lakeland: A Prose Anthology (1991), large and distinctive side whiskers, died 30 May 1987; bronze busts by Joan Palmer in Millom Library and John Rylands Library, Manchester, plaster bust by Josefina de Vasconcellos in Carlisle cathedral, memorial window by Christine Boyce in St George’s church, Millom, blue plaque on his home (now a health food shop), papers in John Rylands Library, Norman Nicholson Society formed in Millom on 31 March 2006 which edits the society’s journal ‘Comet’; Collected Verse ed. Neil Curry; Kathleen Jones, The Whispering Poet; David A. Cross edition of his letters from Percy Kelly Cumbrian Brothers (2007 2nd edn, 2011)
Nicholson, Patrick Charles (1809-1888), BD (Cantab), clergyman, son of above, rector of St Philip, Salford 1849-1888, chaplain to Lord Carlisle 1849-1865, curate of Ulverston 1832-1835 and of Maryport 1837
Nicholson, Peter (1765-1844; ODNB ), architect, mathematician and engineer, born Prestonkirk, E Lothian, son of George Nicholson (1733-1832) a stone mason, and his wife Margaret Hastie, self-taught, as a cabinet maker in London he taught geometry, published The Carpenter’s New Guide (1792) and The Carpenter’s and Joiner’s New Assistant (1797), est the grid plan at Ardrossan for the 12th earl of Eglinton, designed the skew arch which was used seven times in the Kielder viaduct (c.1869), his prolific publishing ventures included his Architectural Dictionary (2 vols; 1812 and 1819) which was commended in 1820 by the Academy des Sciences de Paris, lived Morpeth and Newcastle, despite his astonishing output, manifest in an ‘extraordinary bibliography of practical and technical volumes’, he earned little from his publications, the citizens of Newcastle petitioned the king for a pension with no success, latterly supported by his relative Thomas Jamieson in Carlisle where he died, considerable work at Corby castle, Lime House school, Houghton house, Castletown house, marr twice Jane 1. and Jessie 2., his ‘crazily inventive’ (Hyde) spire tomb by Robert Billings is in Carlisle cemetery, Howard Colvin described him as ‘one of the leading intellects behind 19thc building technology’; H.Colvin, Biographical Dictionary of British Architects
Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne (1868-1945), FBA, orientalist, noted scholar of Sufism, who inherited his grandfather’s library of Arabic and Persian mss, eldest of 5 children of Prof H A Nicholson above, fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, marr.(1903) his first cousin, Cecilia, dau of Thomas Varty of Penrith, no issue, died at Saltney, Chester, 27 August 1945
Nicholson, Richard, shepherd, see NN anthology p.277
Nicholson, Sir Sydney Hugo MVO (1875-1947; ODNB), musician and founder of the Royal School of Church Music, son of Sir Charles Nicholson 1st Bt, brother of Sir Charles 2nd Bt (qv), born London, educ Rugby and New Coll Oxford, organist Barnet 1897-1903, Carlisle 1904, Eton 1904-8, Manchester cathedral 1908-1919, Westminster Abbey 1919-1928, concerned at the poor state of church music in the parish churches he founded the School of English Church Music (now the Royal School of Church Music), edited Hymns Ancient and Modern, wrote numerous hymn tunes notably ‘Lift High the Cross’
Nicholson, Thomas (exec.1814), young man condemned for rape and hanged at Gallows Hill, Appleby on Saturday, 24 September 1814 (LC, 7)
Nicholson, Thomas Dryden (18xx-1928), JP, MB, CMEdin, doctor, practised at Shap 1899-1920, of The Rockery, Shap, later of Eldon Place, Brampton, where he died, aged 64, and buried at Shap, 2 May 1928, his widow Annie Elizabeth died at 4 Chatsworth Square, Carlisle, aged 88, and buried at Shap, 8 November 1952
Nicholson, William (1655-1727; ODNB), MA, DD (Oxon), bishop and antiquary, born in porch of parish church at Great Orton, nr Carlisle, son of Revd Joseph Nicolson (qv), other sources say b. Plumbland, graduated Queen’s College, Oxon, bishop of Carlisle 1702-1718, Bishop of Derry 1718-1727 and Archbishop of Cashel 1727, uncle of above, botanical friend of Thomas Lawson (qv), (E J Whittaker, 2005), his diaries appear in several volumes of CWAAS: CW2 i 1; CW2 ii 155; CW2 iii 1; CW2 li 110; CW2 xlvi 191; CW2 xxxv 80
Nicholson, William (1816-1865; ODNB), 3rd premier of Australia, born Tretting Mill, Lamplugh, near Whitehaven, son of Miles Nicholson, farmer, and Hannah Dalziel, educ Whitehaven, worked as a clerk to a fruit merchant, married and emigrated to Australia in 1842, set up a grocer’s business in Melbourne, elected as councillor, then mayor of Melbourne in 1850 at the time of the discoveries of gold, on the committee wrt the state of the gold fields, served on 25 select committees, involved in the adoption of the secret ballot in elections before this was instituted in the UK, on a visit home he was presented by an illuminated address by Bright and Cobden, returning to Australia he was elected premier in 1859, promoter of building societies and a founder of the bank of Victoria, also involved in insurance, he seems to have had a second wife called Sarah Burkitt (nee Fairclough); Australian Dictionary of Biography
Nicholson, William (1838-1914), farmer and diarist, of Crosby Garrett and Kirkby Stephen, born 26 June 1838, at Crosby Garrett mill, 2nd of four sons of William Nicholson, farmer, of Little Asby (1841) and Hannah Walker, of Morland, Baptist family, passed memories of services held in house at Great Asby to Revd C Kent (qv), Minister at Kirkby Stephen, in early 1900s, family moved from Swathburn in Great Asby to Mains Farm, Crosby Garrett in 1854, farmed with father and elder brother John until 1871
Nicholson, William Eric (fl.20thc), Kendal, art lover and driver of Abbot Hall Art Gallery project with others, Crewdson, Peter (qv), portrait Abbot Hall
Nicholson, Winifred, nee Roberts (1893-1981; ODNB), painter and writer, born in Oxford, 21 December 1893, er dau of Charles Henry Roberts, MP, of Oxford, and Lady Cecilia Maude (d.1947), dau of George James Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle qv , sister of Christine Roberts (qv), studied at Byam Shaw and Camden Hill Schools of Art and in Paris, marr (19xx) Ben Nicholson (son Jake at St Bees School), exhibited with Ben Nicholson at Paterson Gallery in 1923, member of the 7 & 5 Society 1928-1935 and New English Club 1937-1943, exhibitions at Paterson Gallery, London in 1923 and 1927, Leicester Galleries, London in 1930, 1936, 1946 and 1954, Lefevre Gallery, London in 1947, 1949 and 1952, Crane Kalman gallery, London, Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh and Carlisle Museum in 1967 and 1969, author of Unknown Colour in Circle (1937), Mondrian in London, reminiscences in Studio International (1966), Art in Britain 1930-40 in Marlborough Fine Art exhibition catalogue (1965), and I like painting flowers in Crane Kalman Gallery catalogue (1969), died at Bankshead, near Brampton, 5 March 1981 (exhibition Winifred Nicholson in Cumberland at Abbot Hall, Kendal, July 2016) ; numerous publications
Nicoll, James Stewart (19xx-19xx), company director and accountant, from Carlisle, joined Somervell Brothers Limited, Kendal in 1924, to work in advertising department, following convalescence from severe war wounds in WW1, having passed finals of Incorporated Accountants and Auditor’s Examinations, apptd advertising manager, changed emphasis of advertising from durability and wear to fitting qualities, saw need to improve both standards and profitability of retailing, established close relations with Harvard Business School in USA in 1930s, which led him to realise that effective stock control was key to success, developed his ideas in close co-operation with Clifford Turner, established new system of stock control, sales week by week, by colour, size, type and fitting, identifying slow-moving sales, proved effective by opening of new shops in Manchester, Preston and Glasgow, played major part in development of company’s own shops, made new rental arrangements for Abbotts shops during blitz in London, apptd a director in October 1944 (with F C Mair) after 20 years with company, pulled off property deal in September 1947 by buying lease of 203/205 Regent Street, London from Hanan & Sons Ltd, selling rights to Norwich Union Insurance Company for £70,000, subject to a lease of £7,000 a year until 2002, and providing shop on ground floor and basement, with upper floors for London offices, also proposed mounting a presentation of K shoe brand to invited customers at Café Royal in Regent Street (first took place in October 1950, with great success, with help of Jaeger dressing the models), such presentations remaining an important feature of London Shoe Week for next 40 years, came up with idea in 1958 of offering an annual prize to Gold Cross agent who sold highest pairage of Gold Cross shoes in year, also initiated graduate recruitment scheme, helped many retailers through his advice, great negotiator to benefit of the firm and also industry as a whole, retired in June 1962 after 38 years’ service, marr ? Lysbeth ?Jean, painter and etcher, member of Kendal Art Society 1955-1960, son (John, of Francis Lincoln publishers), of Far Park, Staveley, died in 19xx (K150, 146, 159)
Nicolson, Joseph (16xx-16xx), clergyman, vicar of Great Orton, also living of Plumbland
Nicolson, Joseph JP (1706-1777), son of John (d.1727), diocesan registrar and chapter clerk, Carlisle, and his wife Mary Miller who brought with her an estate at Hawksdale near Dalston, also nephew of bishop William Nicolson (qv) who bequeathed Joseph his antiquarian collections, he was an alderman of Carlisle, steward to the earl of Carlisle, later to the 3rd duke of Portland, author with Richard Burn (qv) of The History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland (1777), he died shortly before publication, his correspondence from the ‘45 survives, (BC Intro)
Ninezergh, see Niandeshergh
Ninezergh, John (1366-1420), son of Matthew, marr 1405-6 Margaret, widow of Roger 3rd lord Scrope and wealthy in her own right, (this followed keen rivalry for her hand), MP for Appleby 1406, John was hot tempered and killed William Garrard a yeoman in 1414 and fled the realm; Whellen, History and Topography
Ninian (St. Ninian) (supp. fl. 5th-6th cent; ODNB), missionary and bishop, said to have been born on the Solway, credited with building Candida Casa at Whithorn, which he dedicated to St Martin of Tours and where he was buried, believed to be first evangelist of the Picts, but his life and career remain impenetrably obscure, nothing definite before Anglian bishopric established at Whithorn in Bede’s time, his cult spread throughout Scotland and into northern isles, with Whithorn becoming major Scottish pilgrimage centre; allegedly preached in Cumbria, but no definite site yet identified, though links suggested by dedication of chapel at Ninekirks on river Eamont near Brougham, with associated holy wells at Brampton (Nine wells), Brisco (St Ninian’s), Edenhall (St Ninian’s), and Loweswater (St Ringan’s), also modern dedication of RC Chapel at Brampton (1895, 1957); museum at Whithorn est by Prof Rosemary Cramp of Durham
Nixon, Eric (active 1970s), trainer for CCC, ran support groups for employees and a huge range of courses at Higham Hall and Castlerigg, Keswick
Nixon, John (fl.early 19thc), of Lloyds of London and of Aglionby
Nixon, Luis (18xx-19xx), clergyman, first vicar of Howgill after separation from Sedbergh as parish in its own right in 1891
Nixon, William, Gaskell, West Cumb Leaders, 1910
Nixson family, Carlisle, ran the marble works in Finkle St, a small building with a lovely classical façade with sculpture, this had the Carlisle Art Academy room on the first floor; see Thomas Bushby’s watercolour of the Academy (Tullie House)
Noble, Gawen (d.1693), rector of Orton (C) 1691-1693, minister of Cockermouth 1678-1691, schoolmaster at Cockermouth from 1676 and at Appleby 1673-1676
Noble, George (18xx-19xx), politician, son of head of Armstrong Whitworth, Newcastle engineers, educ Harrow and Sandhurst, served in India and Afghanistan, retd cavalry officer, Lloyd’s underwriter, contested North Westmorland by election in March 1905 as Conservative candidate (lost by 220 votes), resigned as candidate in October 1905 after convalescing in Gibraltar and Tangier, tenant of Calgarth Park in 1915 (CW3, vi, 200-03)
Noble, James (1795-1858), MRCS, LSA, surgeon, bapt at Beetham, 10 October 1795, 2nd son of John Noble, tailor, of Arnside, and Elizabeth (Betty), dau of Reuben Tyson, of Hawkshead, one of 41 members enrolled at first meeting of Kendal Natural History and Scientific Society in 1835, certified surgeon under Factories Act and Medical Officer for Grayrigg in Kendal PLU, marr (25 April 1826, at Kendal) Rachel Clarke (buried at St Thomas’s, 3 October 1885, aged 86), 4/5 sons and 2 daus, (his sister Agnes Noble marr (6 November 1826) his brother-in-law, Joseph Clarke, linen and woollen draper, of Kendal), died in Stricklandgate and buried in St Thomas’s churchyard, Kendal, 31 December 1858, aged 63 (CW2, xciii, 203, 212)
Noble, James (Jim) (1913-1995), journalist, born Kendal, son of James Atkinson Noble (b.1880) and Catherine Thompson (1882-1963), Westmorland Gazette reporter, organist and music organiser, conducted Kendal South choir from 1936-1990, sang for many years in Kendal parish church choir which he sometimes conducted, chairman of South Lakeland District Council, marr Nancy Woodhouse (1918-1998), son Alan, the Jim Noble prize is now awarded for the winning solo performance at the Mary Wakefield Festival
Noble, John (1828-1896), railway manager, bapt at Kendal, 9 April 1828, eldest son of James Noble (qv), general manager of Midland Railway 1880-1892, introduced by his brother Dr S C Noble (qv) as a guest to Kendal Reading Room on many occasions from 1880 as being of Derby, died in 1896
Noble, John (fl. late 19thc), general manager Midland Railway 1880-92, son of James Noble MRCS (d.1858) of Kendal
Noble, Joseph (18xx-18xx), railway manager, his yr brother (bapt not traced), also introd to Kendal Reading Room in 1882 as of Belfast and several times from 1885 to 1893 as of Hull, general manager of Hull and Barnsley Railway
Noble, Kathleen (nee Milner) (c.1915-2000), a fine cook who provided generous hospitality, marr Noel J. Noble (qv), son Peter, dau Judith, organised with Mary Fisher (wife of Ken Fisher, solicitor of Dalton and Ulverston), a tremendous annual fancy dress party at the Old Mill, Bardsea, also an annual dance for teenagers at Urswick village hall
Noble, Mary Eleanor (1845-1925), local historian and first woman member of Westmorland CC, perhaps the first woman county councillor in England, born Bampton, dau of William Noble of Beckfoot, member of Primrose League, inaugural vice-chair of Bampton parish council, from 1907 a member of Westmorland CC, as a member of the education committee she was keen on schools and she and her sister paid for the rebuilding or erection of new school buildings in Roughill, Bampton and Measand, contributed papers to the CWAAS and became a member of council in 1918, she transcribed three local parish registers and wrote A History of the Parish of Bampton (1901), she lived at Beckfoot with her sister ; Hud (W)
Noble, Mary Jessie McDonald (1911-2002), ISO, BSc, PhD, FRSE, FIBiol, mycologist and plant pathologist, born in Edinburgh, 23 February 1911, dau of John Noble, pharmacist, of Leith Links, had brother John, educ Mary Erskine School and University of Edinburgh (BSc with honours in biology), obtained PhD in botany under tutelage of Dr Malcolm Wilson in 1935 (her thesis winning the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize of Royal Society of Edinburgh), joined Plant Pathology Service of Board of Agriculture, based at Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, became international authority on seed pathology, retiring in 1971 as Principal Scientific Officer, Agricultural Scientific Services of Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, discovered Beatrix Potter’s correspondence with Charles McIntosh, the ‘Perthshire Naturalist’ (Notes from the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, 44 (3) (1987), 607-627), author of Beatrix Potter: Mycologist and Biorecorder’ (Journal of Scottish Wildlife Trust, 17 (3) (Sept 1981), 15-18), (with Roy Watling) ‘Cup-fungus or Basidiomycete, and Potterism’ (Bulletin of British Mycological Society, 20 (1986), 145-147), The Old Man of the Woods (Beatrix Potter Society Newsletter, 31 (1988-89), 5-6), vice-president of Beatrix Potter Society, elected FRSE on 3 March 1958, appointed a Companion of Imperial Service Order in 1968, keen local historian and photographer (life member of Bonnyrigg and Lasswade Local History Society), campaigning for preservation of the original Lasswade Kirkyard and esp the Drummond burial aisle, enthusiastic golfer, elected a life member of Broomieknowe Golf Club 1977, having been captain of ladies section 1958-1960, of 35 Golf Course Road, Bonnyrigg, Midlothian (1983), died at Drummond Grange Nursing Home, Lasswade, 20 July 2002, aged 91 (obit in Mycologist, 17 (1): 49 (2003) with photo; and obit by Roy Watling in Royal Society of Edinburgh)
Noble, Noel J. (c.1915-c.1989) TD, solicitor, Barrow, president of Barrow Operatic Society, m. Kathleen Milner of the Milner printing family, son Peter, dau Judith, a genial, kind and hospitable man
Noble, Samuel Clarke (1837-1926), DL, JP, VD, MRCS, LSA, surgeon, born 12 June 1837, son of James Noble (qv), marr (1870) Mary Ellen Wetherall, of Durham (cousin of Dr W Baron Cockill (qv), Noble’s partner from 1887; she died at No.6 Maude Street Rest Homes, 6 October 1946, aged 94; many charitable acts and stone memorial to husband in Noble’s Rest in 1929), 2 sons and 1 dau, died at Stricklandgate House, Kendal, 3 December 1926 (CW2, xciii, 204;WG, 11.12.1926)
Noble, Thomas, born Cumberland c.1667, chaplain to the dowager lady Carlisle, a friend of Richard Hogarth, the father of the artist (qqv); Uglow, biography of William Hogarth
Noble, Revd William (1691-17xx), MA (Oxon), Fellow of Queen’s College, Oxford 1719, later Vicar of Sparsholt, Berks, son of Gawen Noble above
Noble, William (17xx-18xx), banker, of Bampton, endowed Bampton Parish Library by trust deed of 1798 (see email from Pat Garside of xx.06.2016)
Noble, William (18xx-19xx), schoolmaster, trained at York Training College, at Crosthwaite, Kendal when he applied for post at Crosby Ravensworth School and apptd master at meeting of governors on 19 January 1888 at salary of £60 per annum starting at Easter 1888, succ A J Tennant (qv), from 9 April (minute book in CRO, WPR 7/11/1/2/1)
Nock, P A (19xx-2012), clergyman
Nodder, Jonathan James Colmore (1938-2000), clergyman, vicar of Burton-in-Kendal from 1988, buried in Burton St James churchyard, 26 August 2000, aged 62
Nollekens, Joseph (1737-1823), sculptor, his major work in Cumbria is at Wetheral; see Maria Howard, Bishop Edmund Law and Sir John Pringle
Norcliffe, Charles Best (formerly Robinson) (1830-after1895), clergyman and genealogist, his widowed mother changed name to that of her maternal forebears Norcliffe in lieu of Robinson, author of Some Account of the Family of Robinson of the White House, Appleby, Westmorland (1874), ‘prevented by serious illness from giving even more substantial help’ to the compilation of the Sedbergh School Register (1895), of Langton Hall, Malton, Yorks
Norfolk, duke of, see Howard
Norman, William (1839-18xx), MRAC, promoter of agricultural education, born at Stockhill, Maryport in 1839, graduated from RAC 1857, unhappy with price and quality of artificial manure which he bought (eventually won a long legal battle against supplier), so decided to form organisation to purchase feeding stuffs and manures only on a guaranteed basis and have them tested to ensure standards [not enforced until 1906], leading to establishment, with John Twentyman (qv), of Aspatria Agricultural Co-operative Society in 1870 (first general meeting in Grapes Hotel, Aspatria on 13 January 1870) [Co-operative dropped in 1976, then just Aspatria Farmers Ltd from 1988], also instrumental in setting up Aspatria Agricultural College (opened 1874), formerly of High Close, Aspatria, later of Hall Bank, Aspatria, on Sir Wilfred Lawson’s Brayton Estate (later Hall Bros)
North, Bordrigg North JP (c.1860-after 1907), army officer, commander 199th brigade 1st world war, promoted general, chair Hornby and Kirkby Londsdale bench, high sheriff (W) 1907, marr Miss Coulthurst of Gargrave House (Y), two sons, 2nd wife Evelyn dau of Clement Cottrell-Dormer of Ingmire hall, Sedbeergh, one dau; www.kingsownmuseum.co,/LR-1936/vol24-no3
North, Christopher’, writer; see Wilson, John
North, Ford (17xx-18xx), Esq., of Rydal Mount when son Henry was bapt at Grasmere, 3 October 1805, and of The Oaks, Ambleside, with case against Sir Daniel Fleming, Appleby Assizes, 1810 (CRO, WD/Ry/39/1/2)
North, Oliver Henry [1874-1954] DSO, FSA, JP, soldier, brought up at Newton Hall near Kirkby Lonsdale, attained rank of Lt Col, later lived Clifford Hall, Yealand Conyers, active member of CWAAS in excavations and publications, member of the council, president 1945-7; obit Transactions CWAAS liv 1954, 305-7; CWAAS 150th volume, 303ff
Northmore, Samuel [b.1872], rugby league player, born Millom
Norton, Edward (17xx-1786), MP, 4th son of Sir Fletcher Norton, later Lord Grantley (qv), MP for Carlisle 1784-1786, recorder of Carlisle, died in 1786
Nowell, Alexander (1761-1842), racehorse owner, yr son of Ralph Nowell, of Gawthorpe Hall, co Lancaster, served as officer in Indian Army, retd to settle in Bengal, made fortune in indigo dye, returning to England in 1805 to take lease on Gawthorpe, but bought Underley estate in 1808 from Joseph Burrow (great-grandson of Hugh Ashton (qv)) for £10,560, where he kept and trained race horses, also bought land at Far Underley from John Wakefield in 1808 (and enfranchised by Lord Lonsdale on 8 September 1808), Hawes estate from Wade in 1809, and Deansbiggin from Bickersteths in 1821, his Fairbank property enfranchised by Lonsdale on 8 November 1813, laid foundation stone for Underley Hall in 1825 (with George Webster (qv) as architect, 1825-28), with stables integral to plan (but destroyed by fire in 1873), moved his horses (valued at £30,000) from Middleham to be trained at Underley in (July/August) 1829 (LC, 78) when he had four horses entered for the St Leger, also had Netherside at Threshfield (WRY) built c.1820 (attrib to Webster), having leased Netherside Wood from Atkinson family on 10 March 1820, attended annual venison feast of Kendal Book Club with Lowther, Howard, etc in new dining-room of Whitehall Buildings on 9 September 1829, MP for Westmorland 1831-1832 (last in unreformed Parliament), proposed by John Wakefield (qv), of Sedgwick and seconded by R Tinkler, of Eden Grove in early May 1831, Lord Lowther (qv, LF, 391) having retired in his favour and with Crackanthorpe and Carus Wilson having been recommended to withdraw, arrived in Kendal on 23 May 1831 by coach from London on way to Underley and made short speech at King’s Arms, describing himself as ‘a bad writer and a still worse speaker’, letter to Francis Pearson re proposed exchange of land, 25 February 1835, sold estates to William Thompson in 1840 for £120,000, twice married, but died without issue in 1842 (see papers in CRO, WD/U/28/1 for purchase of and WD/PP/box 8 for sale of Underley Estate; CWMP, 426; AKL, 42, 56-58; LC, 78, 83; WoK, 115, 129)
Nowell, Arthur Trevethin [1862-1940], artist, exhibited at the Lake Artists, as a portraitist he painted both George V and Queen Mary; Renouf , 64-5
Noyce, (Cuthbert) Wilfred Francis (1917-1962; ODNB), mountaineer and writer, born Simla, son of Sir Frank Noyce and his wife Enid Kirkus, educ Charterhouse and Kings Coll Cambridge, 1940 joined the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, captain in intelligence in Kashmir, taught at Malvern, marr Rosemary Campbell, retd 1961 to do more writing, a fine climber, at 18 he fell 180 feet on Scafell, being saved on the last strand of a rope held by Menlove Edwards, injured but recovered, climbed Panhunri in Sikkim in 1938, other climbs followed, in 1946 again in the Lakes blown from his holds during a gale and broke his leg, nonetheless was selected for the 1953 Everest expedition, at 21,000 feet wrote some verse, in 1960 successfully made the Trivor ascent in the Karakoram mountains, his interest in the motivation for engaging in hazardous activities led to his The Springs of Adventure (1958), he fell during the descent from the summit of Garmo peak in the Pamirs, Russia in 1962
Nugent, Charles Rupert (1961-2023), art historian and racing steward, son of David Hugh Lavallin Nugent (1935-2003) a trainer and Lady Elizabeth Maria Guinness (b.1939), educated Keble Coll, Oxford university (modern history), marr Louise Nixon, 2s 1d, his family were trainers at Lambourn in Berkshire, brought up in racing he was keen all his life, part owned Rudolph Rassendyll (bred by Anna Brislane and trained by Venetia Williams), ran at Carlisle Races on 10 April 2004, he frequently acted as a racing steward and aspired to visit each course in the UK, this he managed by visiting Fakenham just before his death, curator of watercolours at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, published Turner Watercolours from Manchester (with Melva Croal) (1996) and A Summary Catalogue of British Watercolours at the Whitworth (2003), later came Edward Lear the Landscape Artist, ex cat Dove Cottage (2009), was preparing a catalogue on the work of the Lakeland artist Edward Thompson (1879-1949), regularly attended art sales, he walked Hadrian’s Wall with his son James c.2012, an erudite and genial man; Racing Post, 6 Nov 2023
Nulty, Brian (d.1865), mariner, of Maryport, ‘last survivor of the battle of Trafalgar’, d. 23 Jan 1865 (this may have been true for Cumberland but in fact Joseph Sutherland (1789-1890) was the last survivor of this battle); Annie Robinson (qv)
Nurse, the Ven Charles Euston, curate Holy Trinity Carlisle, vicar St Nicholas, Whitehaven, vicar of St George’s Barrow-in-Furness, rural dean of Dalton, archdeacon Carlisle1949-1958, canon residentiary 1958-73; Hud (C)
Nurse, Rev Eustace J, clergyman, History of the Parish Church of Windermere, 1908
Nutter, Henry (18xx-18xx), school proprietor, of Burton House, Burton-in-Kendal, Ladies Boarding School, with Mrs Eliza and Isaac Nutter (1858), Eliza was proprietor in 1871, with three teachers, six servants and 27 pupils, then Isaac alone (1873), Henry, Isaac and Charles Leonard were among first managers of new Burton Morewood School in 1867 [William Taylor, gent, of Burton House in 1851]; Eliza’s dau, Clara Eliza, was teacher of music and marr (12 June 1869, at Burton) Professor Bruno Bronislas Borowski (qv); Charles Leonard Nutter, of Boulogne, buried at Burton on 6 January 1881, aged 39; Isaac Nutter is land agent of Croft House and Leonard Henry Nutter, gent, of The Square, Burton (1885); The Misses Pattinson have boarding school for young ladies at Burton House in 1885
Nutter, Matthew Ellis (1795-1862), landscape and animal painter artist, b. Carlisle, father of WH Nutter (qv), member of Academy of Arts, Finkle Street, Carlisle from the opening in 1823, secretary and drawing master, exhibited there and at the Carlisle Atheneum, also lithographs for Carlisle in Olden Time published by Charles Thurnham (1835); ex cat The Nutter Family and Friends, Tullie House
Nutter, William Henry (1821-1872), artist, son of Matthew Ellis Nutter (qv), b. Carlisle, age 11 at Carlisle Academy, age 17 commissioned to illustrate Jefferson’s History and Antiquities of Carlisle [1838], drawing master Carlisle and Annan, his sketch of the cutting of the first sod of the Silloth railway was engraved for the London Illustrated News [1855], travelled to Belgium and France in 1871 to improve his health but having settled in Malaga died there; Marshall Hall; ex cat The Nutter Family and Friends, Tullie House