NICHOLS, ISAAC (1770-1819), farmer, shipowner and public servant, was born on 29
July 1770 at Calne, Wiltshire, England, the son of Jonathan Nichols, droget maker,
and his wife Sarah. Found guilty of stealing, he was sentenced to seven years
transportation at the Warminster Sessions, Wiltshire, in July 1790, and arrived in
New South Wales in the Admiral Barrington in October 1791. After a few years in
the country his ability, diligence and sobriety so impressed Governor John Hunter
and his aide-de-camp, George Johnston, that the governor appointed him chief
overseer of the convict gangs labouring round Sydney. On 20 December 1797 after
his sentence had expired, Hunter granted him fifty acres (20 ha) in the Concord
district, where he established a successful farm on which he was assisted by two
convicts whose services he was allowed instead of salary as an overseer. Next year
he obtained a spirit licence, the first of several, and opened an inn in George
Street.
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Australian Dictionary of Biography
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