Detailed Legal Advice from Henry Nicholls, 1841.
Detailed Legal Advice from an Oxbridge-Educated Clergyman and Former Mayor Regarding the Estate of a Deceased Captain [Manuscript]. Nicholls, Henry [1773-1860]. [Detailed Legal Advice from Henry Nicholls]. Rockbeare, 1841. Manuscript letter signed, "H. Nicholls", dated from Rockbeare, 21 August 1841, the addressee being one "W[illia]m Sandys". 2 pp. bifolium (8-1/8" x 7-1/4"; 20.9 x 18.4 cm), only the rectos used. Watermark: "J Whatman / 1839". $250. * This missive consists of legal advice from Henry Nicholls (1773-1860), sometime Master of the Grammar School in Barnstaple in Devon; later Mayor of Barnstaple, and Justice of the Peace for the Borough of Barnstaple; still later the Vicar of Rockbeare in Devon. His education had been beyond reproach: he matriculated at Exeter College in the University of Oxford in 1791, was Exhibitioner in 1793, attaining his B.A. in 1796; and was granted his M.A. by the University of Cambridge in 1808 while at Peterhouse. The subject of this letter is the estate of a mutual friend, the recently-deceased "Captn. Cardew". This is almost certainly Captain Henry Cardew (1791-1841) of St. Leonards, Devon, whose will at the National Archives is dated to August 13, 1841. Our letter dates to eight days later. The recto of the first leaf of the bifolium has the letter from Henry Nicholls to William Sandys, while the recto of the second leaf has Nicholl's draft for a letter that he recommends William Sandys send to Francis Searle, Esq. (d. 1844), one of the leading figures of the Devon & Cornwall Banking Company in Exeter, concerning the assets of Cardew's estate. Henry Nicholls, the author, was a quintessential member of the Devonshire elite, straddling the worlds of academia, local politics, law, and the Church of England. He received his B.A. from Exeter College, Oxford, and a M.A. from Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was later Master of the Barnstaple Grammar School, Mayor of Barnstaple, and Borough Justice of the Peace. At the time of this writing he was Vicar of Rockbeare. The meticulousness of Nicholls' draft letter to the Exeter banker showcases the formidable legal acumen expected of a 19th-century provincial Justice of the Peace. Rather than dry legalese, this manuscript offers a vivid window into regional banking history, gentry network dynamics, and the swift machinery of probate in early.
Price: $250.00
Book number 85900