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General First nameGeorge
LastnameNicol
GenderMale
CountryEngland
Date of birth1843-10-05
Place of birthHolborn, London, England
Date of death1926-08-20
Place of deathYelverton, Devon, England


About

George Nicol was born on 5 October 1843 in Holborn, London. He was the eldest of the three children – two sons and one daughter – of Henry Nicol (1807-76), a solicitor originally from Edinburgh, and Louisa Emma Nicol (née Sweet; 1805-90), who was also from Holborn. Henry Nicol and Louisa Sweet married each other on 22 May 1841 in London. Henry was a partner in the law firm Allen, Nicol & Allen, which had offices on Queen Street in Cheapside in the City of London.

Like his father before him, George Nicol also became a solicitor. He was for several years a partner in the law firm Nicholson, Nicol and Son, which at one time had offices on Lime Street in the City of London.

George Nicol married Jane Stewart Lambert (1849-1914) on 9 September 1872 in Wandsworth, London. A native of Kensington in London, Jane was the daughter of Richard Lambert and Harriet Lambert (née Baker). George and Jane Nicol had three children together, one son and two daughters, all of whom had the middle name Stewart: Mabel Stewart (1873-1963), Philip Stewart (1875-1935) and Edith Stewart (1881-1963). Philip Nicol attended Charterhouse, a public school, before going up to Cambridge University. He later qualified and practised as a solicitor.

George Nicol and his family lived for several years in the suburb of Wimbledon in southwest London. In July of 1877, he was one of the 22 men who took part in the first Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships tournament, which was held at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club on Worple Road, Wimbledon. The inaugural tournament consisted of only one event, a men’s singles. Nicol was beaten in straight sets in the first round by Bayly Nash Akroyd and took part in virtually no open lawn tennis tournaments thereafter.

However, Nicol did play an important role in the administrative side of lawn tennis, being a committee member at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club as well as sometimes acting as a steward during the Championships tournament. He had, in fact, first come to public attention as a champion croquet player and was also a member of the All England Croquet Club, which was founded in 1868 and the following year moved to new grounds on Worple Road in Wimbledon. Lawn tennis gradually began to overtake croquet as the more popular sport at the club, whose name was changed to the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in 1877, the year in which the first Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships tournament was held.

When the decennial Census of England and Wales was taken in April 1911, George Nicol and his wife Jane were staying at the Knowle Hotel in Sidmouth, a coastal town in Devon, southwest England. Jane died three years later, on 21 February 1914, in Wimbledon at the age of 64. In later life George Nicol retired to Devon with his daughters Mabel and Edith, neither of whom married. He died on 20 August 1926 in the village of Yelverton in Devon at the age of 82.

Media


Archive statistics Career1877 - 1882
Tournament wins0
Matches2
Match wins0


Tournaments South of England Championships - 1882 Wimbledon - 1877