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Richard NICHOLSON (1815–1886)
His wife Mrs Sarah Harriett NICHOLSON, née Turner (c.1826–1917)
Their baby granddaughter Celeste Eugenie Nicholson WALKER (1886–1887)
St Paul section: Row 3, Grave A6½

Richard Nicholson was born in Sculthorpe, Norfolk in 1815 and baptised there on 19 June. He was the son of James Nicholson and Elizabeth Dinn.

Sarah Harriet(t) Turner was born in Hackney in c.1826

On 16 October 1849 at St Martin in the Fields Church, Westminster, Richard Nicholson married Sarah Harriet Turner, and they had the following children:

• Frederick James Nicholson (born at St Martin's Lane, Westminster on 11 September 1850 and baptised at St Martin in the Fields Church on 1 December
• Thomas Nicholson (born at St Martin's Lane, Westminster on 13 April 1852 and baptised at St Martin in the Fields Church on 4 July)
• Alfred Augustus Nicholson (born in Halifax, Yorkshire in 1859 and baptised at there on 8 May)
• Celeste Mary Nicholson (born in Halifax, Yorkshire on 11 April 1861 and baptised at St John the Baptist Church there on 19 May).

Richard Nicholson was a coach painter, and he and his wife Sarah began their married life at St Martin in the Fields, Westminster but moved to Halifax in Yorkshire at some point between 1852 and 1857.

At the time of the 1861 census Richard (45) was still a coach painter, living at Bath Street, Halifax with his wife Sarah (36) and their sons Frederick (10), Thomas (8), and Alfred (2). Their last child Celeste was born just after the census.

By the time of the 1871 census the family had moved to Oxford. Richard (55) was living at 36 Observatory Street with his wife Sarah (46) and their children Frederick (20), who was a smith, and Alfred (13) and Celeste (10). Their son Thomas (18) is hard to locate.

Their son Frederick was married in 1880:

• On 16 August 1880 at St Paul's Church, Oxford, Frederick James Nicholson (30), described as a coach maker of 36 Observatory Street, married Mary Currier (35), also of Observatory Street, the daughter of the engineer John Currier.

They were at the same address in 1881, and Richard was still as a coach painter. Two of their children were still at home: Alfred (24) was now a printer, and Celeste (19) was described as a compositor, but this seems unlikely. Lodging with them was David Walker (21), a printer who was to marry Celeste.

Two more of their children were married in the 1880s:

• On 24 September 1881 at St Paul's Church, Oxford, Celeste Mary Nicholson (20) married the warehouseman David Walker (21): they both gave 36 Observatory Street as their address;
• In the second quarter of 1885 at St Saviour's Church, Southwark, Alfred Augustus Nicholson married Caroline Marsh, who was born in Cheriton, Hampshire;

Richard Nicholson died in 1886:

† Richard Nicholson died at Observatory Street at the age of 71 on 21 July 1886 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 25 July (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul's Church).

The second daughter of his daughter Celeste (Mrs Walker) died six months after her grandfather, and was buried in the same grave:

† Celeste Eugenie Nicholson Walker died at 2 Leckford Road at the age of thirteen months on 6 March 1887 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 9 March (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul's Church).

The inscription to baby Celeste on the headstone (above) and the footstone (right) must have been added after her grandmother Sarah's death in 1917.

For more on this baby and her family,
see the adjoining grave of her parents.

At the time of the 1891 census Richard Nicholson's widow Sarah (66) was living on her own means at 173 Kingston Road with the schoolmistress Miss Hannah Turner (51).

In 1901 Sarah (76) was living on her own in part of 11 Plantation Road.

In 1911 Sarah (86) was boarding with the dairyman Charles Payne and his family at 78 Kingston Road.

She died at 22 Southmoor Road in 1917:

† Mrs Sarah Harriett Nicholson née Turner died at 22 Southmoor Road at the age of 91 on 14 January 1917 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 18 January (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul's Church).

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Surviving children of Richard and Sarah Nicholson

• Frederick James Nicholson (born 1850) was aged 31 in 1861 and working as an engine driver in an iron foundry (probably Lucy's): he was married, but spent census night on his own at 69 Kingston Road. In 1911 Frederick (61) was a carriage-fitter, living at 54 Railway Street Gorton, Lancashire with his wife Mary (68), who was a maternity nurse, and their three children, who were all born in Oxford: Minnie (29), who was a music teacher, and Frank (28) and George (27), who were both drapery warehousemen. He is probably the Frederick J. Nicholson who died in the Chorlton district of Lancashire at the age of 65 near the beginning of 1916.
• Thomas Nicholson (born 1852) is hard to locate after the 1861 census..
• Alfred Augustus Nicholson (born 1857) was a printer machinist in 1891, living at 52 Leckford Road in Oxford with his wife Caroline (32) and their son Leonard (3). By 1892 they had moved to London, and in 1901 Alfred (41) was a machine manager, living at 52 Queen's Road, Battersea with his wife Caroline (42) and their children Leonard (13) and Lilian (9). They were still at that address in 1911, and their son Leonard was now a stoker at a steam brush company and Lilian did embroidery for a shirt company. Alfred may be the Alfred A. Nicholson who died in Wandsworth near the beginning of 1930, but the age (70) is not quite right.
• Celeste Mary Nicholson, Mrs Walker (born 1861): see adjoining grave.