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tee of Observation, Baltimore County, 1776; chief
judge, Baltimore City Court, appointed 1791.
MILITARY SERVICE: captain, Baltimore County
Militia, by 1776; major, Baltimore Town Battal-
ion, Baltimore County Militia, commissioned on
May 25, 1776; lieutenant colonel, Baltimore Town
Battalion, Baltimore County Militia, 1777-1781
(commissioned on September 12, 1777); captain,
Volunteer Troop of Light Dragoons, Baltimore
County Militia, by October 1781. Nicholson un-
dertook the last command at the request of the
"youth in his neighborhood," even though it meant
accepting a lower rank. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: assessed value £1,222.17.6,
including 13 slaves and 24 oz. plate, 1783; charged
with 14 slaves, 1790. ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Ni-
cholson was an executor of the estate of his father-
in-law, John Ridgely (by 1724-1771), which was
not settled until 1787. His financial troubles dur-
ing the late 1780s were apparently exacerbated
by Ridgely's outstanding debts. In 1791 Nicholson
mortgaged 16 slaves, livestock, plantation equip-
ment, and household furniture to Charles (Car-
nan) Ridgely. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 513 acres
in Baltimore County, one-half interest in 135 acres
in Anne Arundel County, and one-third interest
in the lease of a lot on Fell's Point, Baltimore
Town (all by purchase), plus an undetermined
number of lots in or near Baltimore Town left to
his wife by her father. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN
LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: pur-
chased 25 acres in Baltimore County, 1775; sold
Mary's Baltimore Town lots in 1775 and the Anne
Arundel County land in 1779; charged with 4 im-
proved lots in Baltimore Town, 1783. In part-
nership with Charles Ridgely (1733-1790), Darby
Lux (?-1795), John Sterett (1750/51-1787), Sam-
uel Chase (1741-1811), and three others, pur-
chased the confiscated Nottingham Ironworks in
1782, giving Nicholson a one-eighth interest in
ca. 4,000 acres of land in Baltimore County; mort-
gaged his 539 acres in Baltimore County to his
brother-in-law, John Ridgely, to secure settle-
ment of the estate of his father-in-law John Ridgely
(by 1724-1771) in 1786; mortgaged the one-eighth
interest in the Nottingham Ironworks to Charles
Ridgely (1733-1790) in 1788; obtained the release
of the mortgage on the 539 acres in 1789 and
immediately sold 531 acres of the land plus a
certificate of survey for an additional 106 acres
in Baltimore County; purchased another 530-acre
tract, which included a grist mill, in Baltimore
County, 1789; mortgaged this 530-acre tract and
sold his ironworks interest (already mortgaged)
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to Charles (Carnan) Ridgely, 1791. WEALTH AT
DEATH. DIED: between March 10 and May 2, 1792,
in Baltimore County. PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV,
£2,076.16.5 current money (including 19 slaves,
1 servant, at least 3 books, 54 oz. plate, beehives,
2 and one-half tons of "ship stuff," and 74 barrels
of "fine flour in the mill"). Most of this property
was already mortgaged). FB, £2.9.3. LAND: prob-
ably 30 acres in Baltimore County.
NICHOLSON, FRANCIS (1655-1727/28). BORN:
in 1655, in Yorkshire, England. IMMIGRATED: on
July 6, 1694, as governor; first visited Maryland
in the fall of 1692 as lieutenant governor. RE-
SIDED: in St. Mary's City, St. Mary's County,
1694; Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, 1695
until 1698/99 when he moved to Virginia. FAMILY
BACKGROUND. FATHER: probably Thomas Ni-
cholson of Downholme, Yorkshire. PRIVATE CA-
REER. EDUCATION: literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIA-
TION: Anglican; energetic promoter of the
established church; member of the Society for
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. SO-
CIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: enjoyed Support of
Charles Paulet, later Duke of Bolton, in whose
home he was raised as a page; served as chief
executive of five colonies; member of the Royal
Society; knighted in 1720. OCCUPATIONAL PRO-
FILE: military officer and colonial bureaucrat.
PUBLIC CAREER. PROVINCIAL OFFICES: Council,
1691/92-1693/94; It. governor, 1691/92-1693/94;
governor, 1693/94-1698/99. MILITARY SERVICE:
ensign, King Holland Regiment, 1678, in Tan-
giers, where he was promoted to captain, 1680-
1683/84; captain under Edmund Andros in New
York, 1686/87; general, led expeditions to north-
ern colonies, 1708/9, 1710, 1711. OUT OF COLONY
SERVICE: Council of Dominion of New England,
1687-1689; governor, Dominion of New Eng-
land, 1688-1689; lt. governor of New York, 1689-
1690; lt. governor of Virginia, 1690-1692; cap-
tain general and governor of Virginia, 1698-1705;
governor and lt. general of Nova Scotia, 1712-
1715; governor and major general of South Car-
olina, 1720-1725. STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE IS-
SUES: attempted ambitious reforms of provincial
and local government; brought back into office
men who had opposed the Protestant As-
sociators' Revolution in 1689; moved the capital of
Maryland to Annapolis, 1695; target of alleged con-
spiracy and attempted rebellion, 1696-1698, led by
John Coode (ca. 1648-1708/9); helped to found
William and Mary College, Virginia, and King Wil-
613
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