Matthias Nicholls

Matthias Nicoll or Nicolls (* either on March 26, 1626 in Plymouth , England or in 1630 in Islip in Northamptonshire also in England; † December 22, 1687 in Islip, Province of New York ) was mayor of New in 1672 and 1673 York city .

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The sources about the year and place of birth of Matthias Nicoll are contradicting and allow the data given above. The contradiction can hardly be cleared up. The spelling of the name also occasionally varies between Nicoll and Nicolls. What seems certain is that he was born the son of a clergyman and later practiced as a lawyer after studying law at the Inner Temple . He probably came to the American colonies for the first time in 1664, although the sources do not agree on this point either. He became an employee of Governor Richard Nicolls and took part in his successful campaign against the Dutch colony of Nieuw Nederland . The city of Nieuw Amsterdam fell into the hands of the English and was renamed New York. Whether there was a family relationship between Richard Nicolls and Matthias Nicoll is disputed among historians. Some see an uncle-nephew relationship and others exclude a relationship. In the absence of reliable evidence, this question must also remain open. As a result, Matthias Nicoll held some judicial offices in the province of New York. He was also involved in drafting the laws for this colony. In the village of Plandome Manor in what would later become Nassau County on Long Island , he acquired a country estate. He was Mayor of New York City in 1672 and 1673. In 1683 and 1684 he was chairman of the colonial parliament (Speaker of the General Assembly) under Governor Thomas Dongan , which passed a law on religious freedom within the Christian denominations. Nicoll also served as Secretary of the Province of New York between 1664 and 1680, with the exception of the brief period during the Dutch Reconquest, and was appointed to the Colony's Supreme Court, where he served as one of two permanent judges.

Web links

• Nicoll at Wikimili
• Nicoll at the Historical Society of the New York Courts
• Nicoll in the History of Plandome Manor

predecessor	Office	successor
Thomas Delavall	Mayor of New York City 1672–1673	John Lawrence