NICHOLAS, Edward II (1662-1726), of Donhead Lodge, Gillingham, Dorset. and West Horsley, Surr.

Although Nicholas’s grandfather had begun even before the Civil War to negotiate the purchase of Gillingham manor and park, four miles from Shaftesbury, concluding the transaction in 1661, the family does not seem to have claimed an interest in the borough till the Revolution. Once established, it proved virtually impregnable. In the Convention, Nicholas voted to agree with the Lords that the throne was not vacant. An inactive Member, he was named to three committees in the first session, those to reverse the attainder of Algernon Sidney, to inquire into the education of Papists’ children, and to provide relief for poor prisoners. After the recess he was appointed only to the committee of elections and privileges. In his long career covering 13 Parliaments, his voting record is not entirely consistent, but he was a member of the October Club and at heart a Tory. He was mentioned as a Jacobite sympathizer in 1721. He died on 20 Apr. 1726.3D. Nicholas, Mr Secretary Nicholas, 84; CSP Dom. 1660-1, p. 437.