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Newgate Calendar - JAMES NICKOLSON

JAMES NICKOLSON

Murderer, convicted fifteen years after the murder

            Another remarkable discovery of murder, after the crime had been committed more than fifteen years, was in the case of James Nickolson. This man murdered one Edward Jones, a blacksmith at Lewisham, in Kent, then fled from justice, and enlisted as a soldier. He went abroad, and served in that capacity, until the year 1766, when, being discharged, he returned direct to the very place where he had committed the murder; but the circumstance appeared to have died away in the public mind.

            Nickolson left a wife, and on his return found her married to another man, after having received a legacy of one hundred and fifty pounds, bequeathed him by his brother, as his supposed widow. Nickolson did not claim his wife, but insisted upon having part of the legacy, as it was left soley on his account which she refusing, a quarrel arose, and in revenge, this woman disclosed the circumstances of the murder, on which her husband was hanged.

 

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