Sir Nicholas Keith Lillington Nuttall, 3rd Baronet (21 September 1933 – 29 July 2007) was the heir to the Edmund Nuttall

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

and

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

business. He also inherited the Nuttall baronetcy on his father's death in 1941, when he was eight years old. After a career in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

, he sold the family company in 1978 and emigrated to the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

, where he became involved in

marine conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is i ...

Background

Nuttall was born in Leicestershire, the son of Sir Keith Nuttall, 2nd Baronet (1901–1941), who ran the family engineering business, Edmund Nuttall, Sons & Co. Ltd, in the 1920s and 1930s. The business had been founded by Nuttall's great-grandfather James Nuttall in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in 1865, and built into a nationwide business by Nuttall's grandfather,

Sir Edmund Nuttall, 1st Baronet Sir Edmund Nuttall, 1st Baronet (29 May 1870 – 11 October 1923) was a British civil engineer, head of Edmund Nuttall Limited. The company was founded by his father, James Nuttall, but its name was changed after his death. He is buried at St ...

(1870–1923), who became a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1922. Nuttall's father became a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Engineers in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Wounded in the retreat to

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label= French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Lowesby Hall near

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes pro ...

in Leicestershire. His mother remarried, becoming Mrs Edward Kirkpatrick.

Career

Sir Nicholas was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and Sandhurst, and took a commission in the

Royal Horse Guards The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues) (RHG) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. Raised in August 1650 at Newcastle upon Tyne and County Durham by Sir Arthur Haselrigge on the orders of Oliver C ...

in 1953. He played polo, and was an amateur jockey. On his own horse, Stalbridge Park, he won the

Grand Military Gold Cup The Grand Military Gold Cup is a National Hunt steeplechase in England which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 3 miles (3 miles and 37 yards or ), and it is scheduled ...

at Sandown Park in 1958, came second in 1959, then third in 1960, won again in 1961, and came second another time in 1962. He served in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

during the

Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency ( gr, Απελευθερωτικός Αγώνας της Κύπρου 1955–59), also known as the Greek Cypriot War of Independence or Cypriot War of Independence, was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between November ...

. By 1966, he was a major, in command of the

Guards Independent Parachute Regiment Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison g ...

. He resigned his commission in 1968, on the death of his mother, to take over the family firm. He held a party at Lowesby Hall in 1959, to celebrate the restoration of a painted ceiling by

Antonio Verrio Antonio Verrio (c. 1636 – 15 June 1707) was an Italian painter. He was responsible for introducing Baroque mural painting into England and served the Crown over a thirty-year period.British Art Journal, Volume X No. 3, Winter/Spring 2009/10 ...

, and held a dance in tents at Lowesby in 1976, shortly before it was sold, emulating a party held by the

Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of the ...

in the desert in 1972. Nuttall supported the Labour government's

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone ( Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles (Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dove ...

project in the 1970s. The company was later involved in the construction of

High Speed 1 High Speed 1 (HS1), legally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of a line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe; ...

. The company was bought by Hollandsche Beton Groep (later HBG), a Dutch group, in 1978, and he emigrated shortly afterwards with his third wife, Miranda, moving to

Lyford Cay Lyford Cay is a private gated community located on the western tip of New Providence island in The Bahamas. The former cay that lent its name to the community is named after Captain William Lyford Jr., a mariner of note in Colonial and Revolut ...

, near

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in ...

, on

New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 24 ...

there, although he kept a house in Chelsea. He became involved in

and founded the Bahamas Reef Environmental Educational Foundation (BREEF), almost single-handedly transforming local attitudes to maritime conservation. The ''Nassau Guardian'' lauded him after his death as a "prominent local environmentalist... at the forefront of a number of important marine conservation initiatives and environmental causes".

Family life

Nuttall married four times. # Caroline York, daughter of former Conservative Party MP Christopher York, on 20 December 1960. They had one son, Harry, and a daughter, Tamara; and divorced in 1971.
Julia Williamson
formerly Lady Patrick Beresford, daughter of Col. Thomas Cromwell Williamson, D.S.O., of Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex. Lord Patrick Beresford had been Sir Nicholas's

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be s ...

at his first wedding. Lord Patrick and his wife Julia (married 1964, divorced 1971) had issue: Valentine Tristram Beresford, (b. 1965) and Samantha Julia Beresford, (b. 1969) who were both attendants at the 1973 wedding of Camilla Shand (now the Queen Consort) to her first husband Andrew Parker Bowles; they divorced in 1975. # Miranda Quarry (stepdaughter of Stormont Mancroft, 2nd Baron Mancroft and third wife of

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

; later second wife of

Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton Alexander Daniel Alan Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton (born 10 October 1943), styled as Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden between 1984 and 1986, is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He is the eldest son of the Conservative pol ...

); they had three daughters: Gytha, Amber and Olympia (Amber married Alistair Gosling in December 2016). # Eugenie McWeeney, from

, clothing designer and sister of former Attorney-General of The Bahamas, Sean McWeeney QC ; they had a son, Alexander.

Death

He died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by Harry, his son from his first marriage.

Notes

References

Obituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 8 August 2007Obituary, ''The Times'', 20 August 2007Sir Nicholas Nuttall dies, ''The Nassau Guardian''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuttall, Nicholas Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Deaths from lung cancer in England English conservationists Royal Horse Guards officers British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency English jockeys People educated at Eton College Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst People from Leicestershire 1933 births 2007 deaths

Nicholas Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and it ...

20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from Leicestershire