George Nicholls

Sir George Nicholls (31 December 1781 – 24 March 1865) was a British Poor Law Commissioner after the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. He had been an Overseer of the Poor under the old system of poor relief.

Early life He was born on 31 December 1781, at St. Kevern in Cornwall, the eldest child of Solomon Nicholls of St. Kevern, by his second cousin Jane, daughter of George Millett of Helston. He was educated, first at the parish school of St. Kevern Churchtown, under his uncle, William Nicholls; later, at Helston grammar school, under William Otter; and then, for less than a year, at Newton Abbot, Devon, under Mr. Weatherdon.

Maritime career In the winter of 1796–7 Nicholls's uncle, Captain George Millett, acquired a berth for him as a midshipman on board the East India Company's ship , commanded by Captain John Wordsworth, uncle of William Wordsworth. After his sixth voyage, having served as fifth, third, and first mate successively, he obtained, in 1809 (when less than twenty-eight years of age), the command of . On 18 January 1815 the ship then under his command, , was burnt in the harbour at Point de Galle. The subsequent inquire acquitted him from blame. He was offered the command of another ship, but he left the service the same year, having lost heavily by the disaster.

At Farndon Nicholls started the first savings bank; and looked into the poor laws and their administration. At Southwell he took an active part as overseer, waywarden, and churchwarden. In 1821 he took on the office of overseer of the poor in Southwell parish; and in two years brought down the cost. The principles adopted had a year or two previously been tried, independently, by Robert Lowe, the rector, in the parish of Bingham, Nottinghamshire, who subsequently became one of Nicholls's close friends; they had been advocated by Nicholls himself in the series of eight "Letters by an Overseer" written by him in 1821 to the Nottingham Journal, and then reprinted as a pamphlet.

During this period Nicholls engaged in other enterprises, acting mostly with Telford, who became a friend. Among their joint schemes was the plan of the English and Bristol Channels Ship Canal, in favour of which in December 1824 he and Telford reported. The reports were adopted, and an act of parliament obtained. The Panic of 1825, however, hindered the raising of funds; and the advent of railways killed the project.

Works Nicholls was author of:

‘Eight Letters on the Management of our Poor and the General Administration of the Poor Laws. By an Overseer,’ 1823. ‘Three Reports by George Nicholls, esq., to H. M. Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department,’ 1838. ‘The Farmer's Guide,’ Dublin, 1841. ‘The Farmer,’ London, 1844. ‘On the Condition of the Agricultural Labourer,’ 1847. ‘The Flax-Grower,’ 1848 (reprinted, with additions, from vol. viii. of Royal Agricultural Society's ‘Journal’). ‘A History of the English Poor Law,’ 2 vols., 1854. ‘A History of the Scotch Poor Law,’ 1856. ‘A History of the Irish Poor Law,’ 1856.

Sir George Nicholls History of the English Poor Law (originally 2 Vol.'s 1854) then published by J. Murray (1899) with Thomas Mackay Vol.III From 1834 to the Present Time

Sir George Nicholls, H.G. Willink A History of the English Poor Law (1904)

Family Nicholas married on 6 July 1813 Harriet, daughter of Brough Maltby of Southwell, Nottinghamshire. She survived her husband till May 1869. They had issue one son, the Rev. Henry George Nicholls (who married Caroline Maria, daughter of his uncle Solomon Nicholls), and seven daughters: Georgiana Elizabeth, Charlotte (who married W. F. Wingfield), Emily, Jane (who married Rev. P. T. Ouvry), Mary Grace, Harriet (who died in infancy), and Catharine Harriet (who married W. W. Willink).