Richard Nicolls

Who was Richard Nicolls?

Richard Nicolls was the first English colonial governor of New York province.

He commanded a royalist troop of horse during the English Civil War, and on the defeat of the king went into exile. Soon after the Restoration he became Groom of the Chamber to the Duke of York, through whose influence he was appointed in 1664 on a commission with Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright and Samuel Maverick, to conquer New Netherlands from the Dutch and to regulate the affairs of the New England colonies and settle disputes among them. The expedition set sail from Portsmouth on 25 May 1664, and arrived in New Amsterdam on 27 August 1664. New Amsterdam was surrendered to Nicolls on 8 September 1664. Under authority of a commission from the Duke Nicolls assumed the position of deputy-governor of New Netherlands.

He made 74th Street, beginning at the East River, the southern border patent line of the village of Nieuw Haarlem; the British also renamed the village "Lancaster".

His policy was vigorous but tactful, and the transition to the new regime was made smoothly and with due regard to the interests of the conquered people.