Mark Nicholson (1818 – 27 October 1889) was a pastoralist and politician in colonial

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, a member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

Biography

Nicholson was born in Clifton, Gloucestershire, England, the youngest son of Rev. Mark Nicholson and his wife Lucy, ''née'' Elcock. He had five sons and two daughters with his cousin with whom he married, Elizabeth Cobham. This was a political move, as Cobham's mother was sister-in-law to Georgiana McCrae, G. W. Cole, and Dr. D. J. Thomas. This allowed Nicholson to become better connected with other people of power and influence during the early years when the Port Phillip District was just forming. In 1848 Superintendent La Trobe requested Nicholson, in an arrangement that would be shared with Thomas Manifold and Henry Foster, to become justices of the peace. Warrnambool was relatively young and thus needed those who had more influence in the Magistrates' Court at Belfast (Port Fairy). Furthermore, a bishop named knew Foster and Nicholson to be prominent churchmen. As such, they were requested to conduct services in the township until Dr. Beamish became the incumbent in 1850. In 1853, Nicholson was elected to represent Belfast and Warrnambool in the Victorian Legislative Council, without his knowing. The nomination was likely filed out of familiarity, as Nicholson had family connections; G. W. Cole, J. Graham, and W. C. Haines were fellow members in the council. He successfully moved for a survey of the ports of Belfast and Warrnambool. He was also responsible for the motion to provide funds in 1854 for a museum of natural history, now the National Museum of Victoria. He resigned in 1854 in order to return to England to educate his children.

Colonial Australia

Nicholson arrived in the

Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...

in June 1840 aboard the ''Duchess of Kent''. Superintendent

Charles La Trobe Charles Joseph La Trobe (20 March 18014 December 1875), commonly Latrobe, was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Aust ...

asked Nicholson, Thomas Manifold and Henry Foster to become justices of the peace in

Warrnambool Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...

in 1848. On 7 June 1853 Nicholson was elected to the unicameral Victorian Legislative Council for Belfast and Warrnambool. Nicholson held this position until May 1854. Nicholson died in Warrnambool on 27 October 1889, he married his cousin, Elizabeth Harvie Cobham in 1845.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Mark 1818 births 1889 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Council English emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian politicians People from Clifton, Bristol