NICOLLS, RICHARD (1624-1672), American colonial gov ernor, was born probably at Ampthill, Beds., England, in 1624. He commanded a royalist troop of horse during the Civil War, and on the defeat of the king went into exile. Soon after the Restoration he entered the service of the duke of York, through whose influ ence he was appointed in 1664 on a commission to conquer New Netherland from the Dutch and to regulate the affairs of the New England colonies and settle disputes among them. The expe dition set sail from Portsmouth an May 25, 1664, and New Am sterdam was surrendered to Nicolls on Sept. 8. Under authority of a commission from the duke of York, Nicolls assumed the position of deputy governor of New Netherland (New York). His policy was vigorous but tactful, and the transition to the new regime was made smoothly and with due regard to the in terests of the conquered people. The English system of law and
administration was at once introduced into Long Island, Staten. Island and Westchester, where the English element already pre dominated, but the change was made much more slowly in the Dutch sections. A code of laws, known as the "duke's laws," drafted by the governor with the help of -his secretary, Matthias Nicolls (c. 163o-168.7), was proclaimed in 1665 and continued in force until 1683. Nicolls returned to England in the summer of 1668 and continued in the service of the duke of York. He was killed in the naval battle of Southwold bay May 28, 1672.
See J. R. Brodhead, History of the State of New York (rev. ed., 1872) ; and Woodrow Wilson, A History of the American People, vol. i. (1902). For the "Duke's Laws" see Laws of Colonial New York, i. 6-1o0.