Peter Nicholson (architect)
Encyclopedia
Peter Nicholson was a Scottish
architect
, mathematician
and engineer
. Largely self-taught, he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker but soon abandoned his trade in favour of teaching and writing. He practised as an architect but is best remembered for his theoretical work on the skew arch
(he never actually constructed one himself), his invention of draughtsman's instruments, including a centrolinead
and a cyclograph
, and his prolific writing on numerous practical subjects.
Largely self-taught and excelling in the field of mathematics
, he received only a rudimentary formal education, studying under a Mr Richardson, brother of architect George Richardson
, at the local parish school from the age of nine until he left, aged 12, to assist his father in the family business. During this time he amused himself by making drawings and models of the numerous mills in the neighbourhood. However, finding stonemasonry not to his liking, he expressed the desire to be a cabinet-maker and so served a four-year apprenticeship
at Linton
, the principal village in the parish, then worked as a journeyman
in Edinburgh
before leaving for London
in 1789 at the age of 24.
Living in London, Nicholson continued trading as a cabinet-maker but also began teaching practical geometry
at an evening school for mechanical engineers in Berwick Street, Soho
, at which he became so successful that he soon abandoned his trade and took up authorship. He published his first book, The Carpenter's New Guide in 1792, illustrating it with plates
engraved by his own hand. It is notable for containing an original method for the construction of groins
and niches
of complex, double curved forms. Whilst living in London, Nicholson published three more books, The Student's Instructor (1795), The Carpenter and Joiner's Assistant (1797), and a three-volume work entitled Principles of Architecture, which he began in 1794 but did not complete until 1798.
, a city already rising to eminence, and to which he made a number of contributions, including a wooden bridge over the River Clyde
, Carlton Place in Laurieston
, and additions to the College buildings. During this time Hugh Montgomerie
, the 12th Earl of Eglinton
commissioned him to prepare plans for the new town of Ardrossan
in Ayrshire
and for the next 50 years his simple but effective grid plan was adhered to. The town's harbour was built under the direction of fellow Scot and celebrated engineer, Thomas Telford
who was sufficiently impressed by Nicholson's work that he recommended him for the post of Surveyor to the county of Cumberland
, on the death of the incumbent, John Chisholme in 1808.
Successfully securing the post, Nicholson relocated to Carlisle, where he supervised the construction of the new Courts of Justice to Telford's designs and received rewards from the Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts for improvements he made to the construction of handrail
ing and for his invention of a draughtsman
's instrument called the centrolinead
, before returning to London two years later, in order to resume his teaching and writing.
Establishing a school in Oxford Street
, Nicholson taught mathematics, architecture, surveying
and building technology, and he continued to develop the centrolinead, in recognition of which he received the Gold Isis Medal and the sum of 20 shilling
s from the Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts in 1814, and a Silver Medal in 1815. In c.
1816 he sat for portrait artist James Green, the painting being donated to the National Portrait Gallery in London in 1961. The period between 1810 and 1829, during which Nicholson lived in London, was his most prolific as an author. During this time he published Mechanical Exercises (1812), The Builder and Workman's New Director (1822), and The Architectural Dictionary, in two volumes (1812 and 1819). This work was considered the most important of the numerous works that were to make his reputation as a national authority on building technology at a time when the building industry was changing rapidly under the influence of scientific research. In addition to practical books relating to building and architecture, Nicholson also wrote about purely scientific, and sometimes rather esoteric subjects. His Treatise on Practical Perspective (1815) included a discussion and full instructions on the use of the centrolinead, while his mathematical works included such titles as An Introduction to the Method of Increments (1817), Essays on the Combinatorial Analysis (1818), and The Rudiments of Algebra (1819). His Essay on Involution and Evolution (1820) earned him the commendation of the Académie des Sciences in Paris
. In 1826, at the age of 61, Nicholson visited France
and, by the time of his return, had gained sufficient familiarity with the language to be able to translate books on various mathematical subjects. The following year, he began work on an ambitious project entitled The School of Architecture and Engineering, intending to complete it in 12 affordable volumes, costing just 1s 6d each, but he was forced to abandon the work when the publisher, J. and C. Adlard of London was declared bankrupt and only five volumes were ever produced, this being the only project he left unfinished. Suffering a heavy financial loss himself, and in order to economise, Nicholson left London for Morpeth
in Northumberland
in 1829, where he lived in a small property left to him by a relative. In the meantime, he published A Popular and Practical Treatise on Masonry and Stone-cutting (1828), in which he solved the problem of cutting stones to the pecise shapes required for the construction of a strong skew arch
and presented his solution in a form that was useful to other engineers and stonemasons, enabling the stones to be prepared from template
s at the quarry
in advance of the actual construction of the bridge.
s, as well as applying trigonometry
to the problem of finding the length of the hip of a roof and its rafters from the angle of inclination of its eaves. On 10 August 1832, Nicholson's wife, Jane died, aged 48, and he erected a neat memorial to her in the grounds of the High Church before leaving Morpeth and taking up residence in Carliol Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
.
At the age of 67, and still financially embarrassed, Nicholson resumed his writing, finally getting his Treatise on Dialing published in Newcastle in 1833, and set up a school in the Arcade, which he ran for a few years, though it was not a financial success. He was nevertheless highly regarded by the local people and was awarded honorary memberships of a number of local institutions, including the Newcastle Mechanics' Institute. In 1834, an attempt was made to raise, by public subscription, sufficient funds to purchase an annuity
for his benefit, but as only £320 was raised it was deemed insufficient for the purpose and was handed directly to Nicholson to help with his immediate needs, and a petition was sent to the king
in an attempt to secure a pension for him from the Privy Purse
. In October 1836, he was elected President of the Newcastle Society for the Promotion of the Fine Arts and in August 1838, he presented a paper entitled Principles of Oblique Bridges to the eighth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
, which was held in Newcastle.
During the nine years he lived in Newcastle, Nicholson published three more books, his Treatise on Projection (1837) containing his portrait, drawn from life by Edward Train, originally in pen and ink. Nicholson's final work was entitled The Guide to Railway Masonry, containing a Complete Treatise on the Oblique Arch and published on 1 January 1839, the third edition of which also contained the portrait by Train. The contrast between this and the earlier portrait by Green is marked: Green painted a man at the peak of his vigour, while Train drew a much older and poorer man.
Leaving Newcastle for Carlisle on 10 October 1841, aged 76, Nicholson was supported for the remainder of his life by the generosity of Thomas Jamieson, a relative by marriage, of Newton
, Northumberland. He died on 18 June 1844 and was buried in the graveyard of Christ Church, which was built in 1830 but has since been demolished.
A monument to his memory, designed by Robert William Billings
in the form of a pair of interpenetrating obelisk
s, was erected in Carlisle cemetery in 1865. Nicholson married twice. By his first wife, Jane he had one son, Michael Angelo, author of the Carpenter and Joiner's Companion (1826), who died in 1842, leaving a numerous family; by his second marriage, Nicholson had a daughter, Jessie, who married a Mr Bowen of Bridgewater, and a son, Jamieson T., both of whom survived him.
As a mathematician, he was largely self-taught, later turning to architecture as a means of finding a practical application for the theoretical knowledge he had amassed during his solitary studies.
For his work on involution and evolution, Nicholson received the following commendation from the French Académie des Sciences.
claims that
Colvin continues,
, a seven arch skew railway bridge built to his pattern, now disused but preserved by the Northumberland and Newcastle Society,
carries an information plaque commemorating Nicholson's pioneering work in this field.
Following his 1836 publication On the Construction of Skew Arches,
Charles Fox openly acknowledged Nicholson's contribution while claiming his own to be the superior method.
In his 1837 publication A Practical and Theoretical Essay on Oblique Bridges, George W. Buck
also acknowledged Nicholson's contribution but, finding it lacking in detail, applied his own original trigonometrical
approach and considerable practical experience to the problem.
The unfavourable comments from Fox and Buck were comparatively mild and tempered in part by their acknowledgement of Nicholson's pioneering work. Nevertheless, Nicholson, by this time in his mid-70s and his health failing, felt the need to exercise his right of reply
.
A number of people expressed their public support for him, including his friend Henry Welch, the County Bridge Surveyor for Northumberland
and an anonymous supporter known only by the initials M.Q.
Unfortunately this exchange escalated into a paper war that became increasingly acrimonious,
culminating in 1840 in a very personal attack by Buck's assistant, the 28 year-old William Henry Barlow
, and causing Nicholson considerable distress.
Nicholson also edited and revised later editions of the following publications by other authors.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
. Largely self-taught, he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker but soon abandoned his trade in favour of teaching and writing. He practised as an architect but is best remembered for his theoretical work on the skew arch
Skew arch
A skew arch is a method of construction that enables an arch bridge to span an obstacle at some angle other than a right angle. This results in the faces of the arch not being perpendicular to its abutments and its plan view being a parallelogram, rather than the rectangle that is the plan view of...
(he never actually constructed one himself), his invention of draughtsman's instruments, including a centrolinead
Centrolinead
The centrolinead was invented by Peter Nicholson, a British mathematician and architect, in 1814. It was used to construct 2-point perspective drawings where one or both vanishing points existed outside the drawing board. Draftsmen could use the instrument in pairs; one for each vanishing point on...
and a cyclograph
Cyclograph
A cyclograph is an instrument for drawing arcs of large diameter circles whose centres are inconveniently or inaccessibly located, one version of which was invented by Scottish architect and mathematician Peter Nicholson....
, and his prolific writing on numerous practical subjects.
Early life
Born in 1765 in the parish of Prestonkirk, East Lothian, Peter Nicholson was the son of a stonemason.Largely self-taught and excelling in the field of mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, he received only a rudimentary formal education, studying under a Mr Richardson, brother of architect George Richardson
George Richardson (architect)
George Richardson was a Scottish architectural and decorative draftsman and writer on architecture.One of his few remaining architectural works is St Mary Magdalene's Church at Stapleford, Leicestershire, built in 1783 for the Earl of Harborough.His main output, however, was in the form of books...
, at the local parish school from the age of nine until he left, aged 12, to assist his father in the family business. During this time he amused himself by making drawings and models of the numerous mills in the neighbourhood. However, finding stonemasonry not to his liking, he expressed the desire to be a cabinet-maker and so served a four-year apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
at Linton
East Linton
East Linton is a town in East Lothian, Scotland, situated on the River Tyne and A199 road five miles east of Haddington, with a population of 1,774...
, the principal village in the parish, then worked as a journeyman
Journeyman
A journeyman is someone who completed an apprenticeship and was fully educated in a trade or craft, but not yet a master. To become a master, a journeyman had to submit a master work piece to a guild for evaluation and be admitted to the guild as a master....
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
before leaving for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1789 at the age of 24.
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
at an evening school for mechanical engineers in Berwick Street, Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
, at which he became so successful that he soon abandoned his trade and took up authorship. He published his first book, The Carpenter's New Guide in 1792, illustrating it with plates
Intaglio (printmaking)
Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate, and the incised line or area holds the ink. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or...
engraved by his own hand. It is notable for containing an original method for the construction of groins
Arris
Arris is an architectural term that describes the sharp edge formed by the intersection of two surfaces, such as the corner of a masonry unit; the junction between two planes of plaster or any intersection of divergent architectural details...
and niches
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
of complex, double curved forms. Whilst living in London, Nicholson published three more books, The Student's Instructor (1795), The Carpenter and Joiner's Assistant (1797), and a three-volume work entitled Principles of Architecture, which he began in 1794 but did not complete until 1798.
Middle years
After living in London for 11 years, Nicholson returned to Scotland in 1800, at the age of 35, and spent the next eight years working as an architect in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, a city already rising to eminence, and to which he made a number of contributions, including a wooden bridge over the River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
, Carlton Place in Laurieston
Laurieston, Glasgow
Laurieston is a district in the Gorbals area of the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde.It derives its name from James Laurie who, along with his brother, developed a large part of the district in the early 19th century....
, and additions to the College buildings. During this time Hugh Montgomerie
Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton
Sir Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton KT was a Scottish peer, politician, and composer. He was the grandfather of Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton....
, the 12th Earl of Eglinton
Earl of Eglinton
Earl of Eglinton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland.Some authorities spell the title: Earl of Eglintoun In 1859 the thirteenth Earl of Eglinton, Archibald Montgomerie, was also created Earl of Winton in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, which gave him an automatic seat in the House of Lords,...
commissioned him to prepare plans for the new town of Ardrossan
Ardrossan
Ardrossan is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in south-western Scotland. The name "Ardrossan" describes its physical position — 'ard' from the Gaelic àird meaning headland, 'ros' a promontory and the diminutive suffix '-an' - headland of the little promontory...
in Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
and for the next 50 years his simple but effective grid plan was adhered to. The town's harbour was built under the direction of fellow Scot and celebrated engineer, Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...
who was sufficiently impressed by Nicholson's work that he recommended him for the post of Surveyor to the county of Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
, on the death of the incumbent, John Chisholme in 1808.
Successfully securing the post, Nicholson relocated to Carlisle, where he supervised the construction of the new Courts of Justice to Telford's designs and received rewards from the Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts for improvements he made to the construction of handrail
Handrail
A handrail is a rail that is designed to be grasped by the hand so as to provide stability or support. Handrails are commonly used while ascending or descending stairways and escalators in order to prevent injurious falls. Other applications include bathroom handrails—which help to prevent falls on...
ing and for his invention of a draughtsman
Draughtsman
A draughtsman or draftsman , is a person skilled in drawing, either:*drawing for artistic purposes, or*technical drawing for practical purposes such as architecture or engineering...
's instrument called the centrolinead
Centrolinead
The centrolinead was invented by Peter Nicholson, a British mathematician and architect, in 1814. It was used to construct 2-point perspective drawings where one or both vanishing points existed outside the drawing board. Draftsmen could use the instrument in pairs; one for each vanishing point on...
, before returning to London two years later, in order to resume his teaching and writing.
Establishing a school in Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
, Nicholson taught mathematics, architecture, surveying
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
and building technology, and he continued to develop the centrolinead, in recognition of which he received the Gold Isis Medal and the sum of 20 shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s from the Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts in 1814, and a Silver Medal in 1815. In c.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1816 he sat for portrait artist James Green, the painting being donated to the National Portrait Gallery in London in 1961. The period between 1810 and 1829, during which Nicholson lived in London, was his most prolific as an author. During this time he published Mechanical Exercises (1812), The Builder and Workman's New Director (1822), and The Architectural Dictionary, in two volumes (1812 and 1819). This work was considered the most important of the numerous works that were to make his reputation as a national authority on building technology at a time when the building industry was changing rapidly under the influence of scientific research. In addition to practical books relating to building and architecture, Nicholson also wrote about purely scientific, and sometimes rather esoteric subjects. His Treatise on Practical Perspective (1815) included a discussion and full instructions on the use of the centrolinead, while his mathematical works included such titles as An Introduction to the Method of Increments (1817), Essays on the Combinatorial Analysis (1818), and The Rudiments of Algebra (1819). His Essay on Involution and Evolution (1820) earned him the commendation of the Académie des Sciences in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In 1826, at the age of 61, Nicholson visited France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and, by the time of his return, had gained sufficient familiarity with the language to be able to translate books on various mathematical subjects. The following year, he began work on an ambitious project entitled The School of Architecture and Engineering, intending to complete it in 12 affordable volumes, costing just 1s 6d each, but he was forced to abandon the work when the publisher, J. and C. Adlard of London was declared bankrupt and only five volumes were ever produced, this being the only project he left unfinished. Suffering a heavy financial loss himself, and in order to economise, Nicholson left London for Morpeth
Morpeth, Northumberland
Morpeth is the county town of Northumberland, England. It is situated on the River Wansbeck which flows east through the town. The town is from the A1, which bypasses it. Since 1981, it has been the administrative centre of the County of Northumberland. In the 2001 census the town had a population...
in Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
in 1829, where he lived in a small property left to him by a relative. In the meantime, he published A Popular and Practical Treatise on Masonry and Stone-cutting (1828), in which he solved the problem of cutting stones to the pecise shapes required for the construction of a strong skew arch
Skew arch
A skew arch is a method of construction that enables an arch bridge to span an obstacle at some angle other than a right angle. This results in the faces of the arch not being perpendicular to its abutments and its plan view being a parallelogram, rather than the rectangle that is the plan view of...
and presented his solution in a form that was useful to other engineers and stonemasons, enabling the stones to be prepared from template
Template
Template may mean:*a stencil, pattern or overlay used in graphic arts and sewing to replicate letters, shapes or designs...
s at the quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
in advance of the actual construction of the bridge.
Later life
In Morpeth, Nicholson started work on a book entitled A Treatise on Dialing in which he described how to prepare and erect sundialSundial
A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...
s, as well as applying trigonometry
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
to the problem of finding the length of the hip of a roof and its rafters from the angle of inclination of its eaves. On 10 August 1832, Nicholson's wife, Jane died, aged 48, and he erected a neat memorial to her in the grounds of the High Church before leaving Morpeth and taking up residence in Carliol Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
.
At the age of 67, and still financially embarrassed, Nicholson resumed his writing, finally getting his Treatise on Dialing published in Newcastle in 1833, and set up a school in the Arcade, which he ran for a few years, though it was not a financial success. He was nevertheless highly regarded by the local people and was awarded honorary memberships of a number of local institutions, including the Newcastle Mechanics' Institute. In 1834, an attempt was made to raise, by public subscription, sufficient funds to purchase an annuity
Life annuity
A life annuity is a financial contract in the form of an insurance product according to which a seller — typically a financial institution such as a life insurance company — makes a series of future payments to a buyer in exchange for the immediate payment of a lump sum or a series...
for his benefit, but as only £320 was raised it was deemed insufficient for the purpose and was handed directly to Nicholson to help with his immediate needs, and a petition was sent to the king
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
in an attempt to secure a pension for him from the Privy Purse
Privy Purse
The Privy Purse is the British Sovereign's remaining private income, mostly from the Duchy of Lancaster. This amounted to £13.3 million in net income for the year to 31 March 2009. The Duchy is a landed estate of approximately 46,000 acres held in trust for the Sovereign since 1399. It also has...
. In October 1836, he was elected President of the Newcastle Society for the Promotion of the Fine Arts and in August 1838, he presented a paper entitled Principles of Oblique Bridges to the eighth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
, which was held in Newcastle.
During the nine years he lived in Newcastle, Nicholson published three more books, his Treatise on Projection (1837) containing his portrait, drawn from life by Edward Train, originally in pen and ink. Nicholson's final work was entitled The Guide to Railway Masonry, containing a Complete Treatise on the Oblique Arch and published on 1 January 1839, the third edition of which also contained the portrait by Train. The contrast between this and the earlier portrait by Green is marked: Green painted a man at the peak of his vigour, while Train drew a much older and poorer man.
Leaving Newcastle for Carlisle on 10 October 1841, aged 76, Nicholson was supported for the remainder of his life by the generosity of Thomas Jamieson, a relative by marriage, of Newton
Newton-by-the-Sea
Newton-by-the-Sea is a civil parish in the former district of Alnwick, Northumberland in Northern England.There are two distinct settlements High Newton-by-the-Sea and the coastal Low Newton-by-the-Sea, owned by the National Trust. The area is notable for the diversity of birds to be observed...
, Northumberland. He died on 18 June 1844 and was buried in the graveyard of Christ Church, which was built in 1830 but has since been demolished.
A monument to his memory, designed by Robert William Billings
Robert William Billings
Robert William Billings was a London-born Victorian era painter and architect. He wrote a book called The Power of Form, in which he showed examples of the use of geometry in architecture. He also illustrated The Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland. Many paintings based on his...
in the form of a pair of interpenetrating obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
s, was erected in Carlisle cemetery in 1865. Nicholson married twice. By his first wife, Jane he had one son, Michael Angelo, author of the Carpenter and Joiner's Companion (1826), who died in 1842, leaving a numerous family; by his second marriage, Nicholson had a daughter, Jessie, who married a Mr Bowen of Bridgewater, and a son, Jamieson T., both of whom survived him.
As a mathematician
Nicholson is variously described in his own books as architect, carpenter, surveyor, practical builder and private teacher of mathematics.As a mathematician, he was largely self-taught, later turning to architecture as a means of finding a practical application for the theoretical knowledge he had amassed during his solitary studies.
For his work on involution and evolution, Nicholson received the following commendation from the French Académie des Sciences.
As an architect
Although almost entirely forgotten as a mathematician, Nicholson is still remembered as an architect and in the 1978 edition of his standard work, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840, Howard M. ColvinHoward Colvin
Sir Howard Montagu Colvin, CVO, CBE , was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field.-Life and works:...
claims that
Colvin continues,
On the skew arch
For his work on the skew arch Nicholson received a number of letters of thanks from contractors, engineers and masons, which he published in a Testimonials section of his Guide to Railway Masonry. Kielder ViaductKielder Viaduct
Kielder Viaduct consists of seven semi-circular masonry skew arches and was built in 1862 to carry the North British Railway across marshy land, which following flooding to create Kielder Water, became the place where Deadwater Burn joins Bakethin Reservoir...
, a seven arch skew railway bridge built to his pattern, now disused but preserved by the Northumberland and Newcastle Society,
carries an information plaque commemorating Nicholson's pioneering work in this field.
Following his 1836 publication On the Construction of Skew Arches,
Charles Fox openly acknowledged Nicholson's contribution while claiming his own to be the superior method.
In his 1837 publication A Practical and Theoretical Essay on Oblique Bridges, George W. Buck
George W. Buck
George Watson Buck was Engineer of the Montgomeryshire Canal in the early 19th Century, and was responsible for the unique lock paddle design....
also acknowledged Nicholson's contribution but, finding it lacking in detail, applied his own original trigonometrical
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
approach and considerable practical experience to the problem.
The unfavourable comments from Fox and Buck were comparatively mild and tempered in part by their acknowledgement of Nicholson's pioneering work. Nevertheless, Nicholson, by this time in his mid-70s and his health failing, felt the need to exercise his right of reply
Right of reply
The right of reply is the right to defend oneself against public criticism in the same venue where it was published.In Europe there have been proposals for a legally enforceable right of reply that applies to all media, including newspapers, magazines, and other print media, along with radio,...
.
A number of people expressed their public support for him, including his friend Henry Welch, the County Bridge Surveyor for Northumberland
and an anonymous supporter known only by the initials M.Q.
Unfortunately this exchange escalated into a paper war that became increasingly acrimonious,
culminating in 1840 in a very personal attack by Buck's assistant, the 28 year-old William Henry Barlow
William Henry Barlow
On 28 December 1879, the central section of the North British Railway's bridge across the River Tay near Dundee collapsed in the Tay Bridge disaster as an express train crossed it in a heavy storm. All 75 passengers and crew on the train were killed...
, and causing Nicholson considerable distress.
By his fellow citizens
A measure of the high esteem in which Nicholson was held by the residents of Newcastle and their sense of injustice at his financial plight can be gauged from the petition sent to the king in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a pension on his behalf.List of his publications
Nicholson was a prolific writer, contributing practical information on a wide range of technical subjects in 27 works.- The Carpenter's New Guide (1792, his first publication at the age of 27).
- Principles of Architecture (in three volumes between 1794 and 1798).
- The Student's Instructor in Drawing and Working the Five Orders of Architecture (1795).
- The Carpenter and Joiner's Assistant (1797).
- Mechanical Exercises (1812). This book was re-published in 1831 as The Mechanic's Companion.
- The Architectural Dictionary (in two volumes between 1812 and 1819). This book was re-published in an expanded form in 1852 as the Encyclopædia of Architecture.
- A Treatise on Practical Perspective (1815).
- An Introduction to the Method of Increments (1817).
- Essays on the Combinatorial Analysis (1818).
- The Rudiments of Algebra (1819).
- Essay on Involution and Evolution (1820, for which he received the commendation of the Académie des Sciences in Paris).
- A Treatise on the Construction of Staircases and Handrails (1820).
- Analytical and Arithmetical Essays (1821).
- The Builder and Workman's New Director (1822).
- A Popular Course of Pure and Mixed Mathematics (1823, price 21s).
- The New Practical Builder, and Workman's Companion (1823).
- The Practical Builder's Perpetual Price-book (1823).
- A Practical System of Algebra (1824, with John Rowbotham).
- The Practical Cabinet-maker, Upholsterer, and Complete Decorator (1826, with Michael Angelo Nicholson, his elder son).
- The Carpenter and Builder's Complete Measurer (1826, intended as a sequel to the Carpenter's Guide).
- Practical Carpentry, Joinery and Cabinet-making (1826).
- In 1827 he commenced the publication of a work entitled The School of Architecture and Engineering, which he intended to complete in twelve volumes, at 1s 6d each; but, following the bankruptcy of the publisher, only five volumes appeared, causing Nicholson a considerable personal financial loss.
- A Popular and Practical Treatise on Masonry and Stone-cutting (1828).
- A Treatise on Dialing (1833).
- A Treatise on Projection (1837).
- Practical Masonry, Bricklaying, and Plastering (1838).
- The Guide to Railway Masonry, containing a Complete Treatise on the Oblique Arch (1839).
Nicholson also edited and revised later editions of the following publications by other authors.
- An Essay on the Teeth of Wheels by Robertson Buchanan (1808).