William Graham Nicholson, PC, JP (11 March 1862 – 29 July 1942) was a British Liberal Unionist and later Conservative Party politician.
Nicholson was born into a famous family of distillers, the son of William Nicholson and brother of John Sanctuary Nicholson, a notable military figure in Imperial Africa.[1] He grew up in Basing Park at Froxfield, which later became his seat.[2] He was educated at Harrow School and at Trinity College, Cambridge. Nicholson served as Director-General on Mobilisation in the Second Anglo-Boer War from 30 June 1901 and was promoted an Honorary Colonel commanding the 3rd Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. In 1890 he married Alice Margaret Beach, daughter of William Wither Bramston Beach MP.[3]
After the death of the Conservative MP William Wickham, he was elected at a by-election in June 1897 as the Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Petersfield in Hampshire,[4] a seat which had previously been held by his father. Nicholson sat as a Conservative after the Liberal Unionists and Conservatives merged in 1912, and held the seat until his retirement at the 1935 general election.[5] He resided under a lease for some time at Bentworth Hall, although Basing Park was his main residence.[6] [7] [8] He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1925. He was an alderman of Hampshire County Council, a Justice of the Peace, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire.[9]
In his spare time he was a keen horticulturalist.[10]
. F. W. S. Craig . British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 . 1974 . 2nd . 1989 . Parliamentary Research Services . Chichester . 0-900178-27-2 . 292.
. F. W. S. Craig . British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 . 1969 . 3rd . 1983 . Parliamentary Research Services . Chichester . 0-900178-06-X . 367.