John Nicholson (East India Company officer)
| John Nicholson CB | |
|---|---|
Brigadier-General John Nicholson
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| Born |
11 December 1822 Lisburn, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 23 September 1857 (aged 34) Delhi, British India |
| Allegiance | |
| Service/branch | Bengal Army |
| Years of service | 1839–1857 |
| Rank | Brigadier-General |
| Unit | Bengal Native Infantry |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | |
| Other work | Colonial administrator |
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Brigadier-General John Nicholson CB (11 December 1822 – 23 September 1857) was a Victorian era military officer known for his role in British India. A charismatic and authoritarian figure, Nicholson created a legend for himself as a political officer under Henry Lawrence in the frontier provinces of the British Empire in India. He was instrumental in the settlement of the North-West Frontier and played a noted part in the Indian Mutiny.
Nicholson was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, the eldest son of Dr Alexander Jaffray Nicholson (who died when J.N. was nine) and Clara Hogg. He was privately educated in Delgany and later attended the Royal School Dungannon, through the patronage of his maternal uncle, Sir James Weir Hogg, a successful East India Company lawyer and for some time Registrar of the Calcutta Supreme Court, and later a Member of Parliament; and soon after his sixteenth birthday, it was also through the good offices of this uncle, that J.N. was able to secure a cadetship in the East India Company's Bengal Infantry. He then set out for a military career in India in 1839.
On reaching India, he was ordered to join the 41st Native Infantry at Benares on temporary attachment, being transferred some months later in December, as a regular Ensign, to the 27th Native Infantry at Ferozepore. He served in the First Anglo-Afghan War when his regiment was ordered up to relieve one of the infantry units already in Afghanistan, in November 1840, and during this time he saw early and fierce military action.
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