nection with the ‘Progresses of James I’ of his grandfather, John Nichols (1745–1826) [q. v.], which was completed and edited by young Nichols in 1828, two years after the author's death.
From about this time to 1851 he was joint editor, and from 1851 to 1856 he was sole editor, of the ‘Gentleman's Magazine,’ and, besides contributing many essays, compiled the very useful obituary notices. His first separate publication—on autographs—was issued in 1829. The following year he visited Robert Surtees in Durham, and made a Scottish tour. On the foundation of the Surtees Society in 1834 he was elected one of the treasurers. In 1835 he became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and was afterwards its printer. The following year he was chosen a member of the committee of the Royal Literary Fund, and all his life devoted much attention to its affairs. He was one of the founders of the Camden Society (1838), and edited many of its publications; the ‘Athenæum’ says (22 Nov. 1873), ‘There is scarcely a volume among the long series which does not bear more or less marks of his revision.’ In 1862 he printed a ‘Descriptive Catalogue’ of the eighty-six volumes then issued. A new edition of the ‘Catalogue’ appeared in 1872. One of the most important books from the press of Messrs. Nichols was Hoare's ‘Wiltshire;’ to this great undertaking Nichols contributed an account of the ‘Hundred of Alderbury’ (1837). In 1841 he made an antiquarian tour on the continent. He was an original member of the Archæological Institute (1844). In 1856 ill-health compelled him to resign the editorship of the ‘Gentleman's Magazine,’ and the property was transferred to John Henry Parker for a nominal consideration. Nichols was then able to devote himself to the publication of the ‘Literary Remains of Edward VI,’ printed by the Roxburghe Club, 1857–8. He gave a general superintendence to the new edition of Hutchins's ‘History of Dorset,’ undertaken by William Shipp in 1860. He had long contemplated the establishment of a periodical which might continue the work he had relinquished in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine.’ This took shape in the ‘Herald and Genealogist,’ of which the first volume appeared under his editorship in 1862. His love of obituary-writing caused him to found the short-lived ‘Register and Magazine of Biography’ in 1869. In 1870 he undertook to edit a new edition of Whitaker's ‘Whalley,’ of which the first volume appeared in 1871.
He died at his house, Holmwood Park, near Dorking, Surrey, after a short illness, on 14 Nov. 1873, aged 67. He married, on 22 July 1843, Lucy, eldest daughter of Frederick Lewis, commander R.N., and had one son, John Bruce Nichols (b. 1848), and two daughters. The son's name was joined in 1873 to those of his father and uncle as printers of the ‘Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons.’ A portrait of Nichols at the age of twenty-four is contained in a family group in water-colours, by Daniel Maclise (1830). A medallion, representing him and his wife, by L. C. Wyon, was struck in commemoration of their silver wedding in 1868.
Nichols was the third in succession, and not the last, of a family which has added to the unblemished record of a great printing business an hereditary devotion to the same class of learned studies. The following list of separate publications, particularly those issued by the Camden Society and the Roxburghe Club, include many valuable contributions to the materials of English history and topography. His heraldic and genealogical researches are of great importance. As president of the Society of Antiquaries, Earl Stanhope testified to the loss of Nichols as making ‘a void which it is no exaggeration to call irreparable as regards the particular line of inquiry to which he devoted himself’ (Annual Address, 1874).
His works are: 1. ‘Autographs of Royal, Noble, Learned, and Remarkable Personages conspicuous in English History from Richard II to Charles II, accompanied by Memoirs,’ London, 1829, large 4to. 2. ‘London Pageants:’ (1) ‘Accounts of Sixty Royal Processions and Entertainments in the City of London;’ (2) ‘Bibliographical List of Lord Mayors' Pageants,’ London, 1831, 8vo (also 1837). 3. ‘Annals and Antiquities of Lacock Abbey, Wilts,’ London, 1835, 8vo (with W. L. Bowles). 4. ‘The Hundred of Alderbury,’ London, 1837, fol. (with Sir R. C. Hoare; it forms part of ‘Modern History of South Wiltshire,’ vol. v.). 5. ‘Description of the Church of St. Mary, Warwick, and of the Beauchamp Chapel,’ London [1838], 4to (seven plates; an abridgment in 12mo was also published). 6. ‘Ancient Paintings in Fresco discovered in 1804 on the Walls of the Chapel of the Trinity at Stratford-upon-Avon, from Drawings by T. Fisher,’ London, 1838, fol. 7. ‘Notices of Sir Rich. Lestrange’ (in W. J. Thoms's ‘Anecdotes,’ Camden Soc., No. 5, 1839). 8. ‘The Unton Inventories relating to Wadley and Faringdon, Berks, 1596–1620,’ London, Berkshire Ashmolean Soc. 1841, 4to. 9. ‘The Fishmongers' Pageant on Lord Mayor's Day, 1616; “Chrysanaleia,” by Anthony Munday [q. v.], in twelve
