Richard Nicolls (1624-28 May 1672) was Governor of New York from September 1664 to 1668, preceding Francis Lovelace. Nicolls was the first English colonial governor of New York, having conquered it from the Dutch during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. He was killed at the Battle of Solebay in 1672.
Biography[]
Richard Nicolls was born in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England in 1624, and he commanded a Cavalier troop of horse during the English Civil War. After the English Restoration, he became Groom of the Chamber to the Duke of York (the future James II of England). In 1664, during the Anglo-Dutch Wars, he was sent to seize the Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America, and the Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant surrender to Nicoll on 8 September 1664. Nicolls granted the Dutch settlers religious freedom and guaranteed their properties, while he also introduced English law to Long Island, Staten Island, and Westchester. In 1668, Nicolls returned to England, and he was killed by a Dutch cannonball at the Battle of Solebay in 1672.