Catherine Nicks (died 1709) was an English businessperson. She has been referred to as the first woman entrepreneur in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

. She was listed in 1678 as one of five English single women in Madras. She married John Nicks (d. 1711), an associate of governor

Elihu Yale Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British Americans, British-American Colonialism, colonial administrator. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Yale lived in America only as a child, and spent the rest of his life in England, Wales, a ...

, with whom she had four children. Despite being a married woman and thereby under the guardianship of her husband, Catherine Nicks conducted business in her own named independently from her spouse and was active as a merchant, having invoices and accounts in her own name, trading in textiles and diamonds. It appears as she acted as the business agent of Yale, selling supplies embezzled from the company. From 1689, when the governor's wife had returned to England, Catherine Nicks and

Jacques (Jaime) de Paiva (Pavia) Jacques (Jaime) de Paiva (Pavia, Paivia), a Paradesi Jews, Paradesi Jew of Madras, was a Portuguese Jewish diamond and coral merchant from History of the Jews in Amsterdam, Amsterdam belonging to the Western Sephardim, Amsterdam Sephardic commu ...

's widow Hieronima da Paivia acted as the first ladies of the governor's residence. Her own husband was away as head of the company's interests at Connimere. In 1692, Elihu Yale deposed as governor and faced enquiries, while John Nicks was arrested. Catherine Nicks retired with Yale and Hieronima de Paiva to Yale's garden house, creating a scandal. She was put on trial and fined for having sold wares from the company's godowns on Yale's private account. She was allowed to depart for England, and was joined by Yale, who brought with him her spouse and children, in 1699. The Nicks returned to Madras, where she continued as the business agent of Yale.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicks, Catherine 1709 deaths 17th-century English businesspeople 18th-century English businesspeople 17th-century Indian businesspeople 18th-century Indian businesspeople 17th-century English businesswomen 18th-century English businesswomen