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He was born at Traquair, near
Innerleithen in Peeblesshire, the son of Rev. James Nicol (1769–1819), and
his wife Agnes Walker. He studied Arts and Divinity at Edinburgh University
from 1825. He also attended the lectures of Robert Jameson, having gained a
keen interest in geology and mineralogy. He further pursued these studies in
the universities of Bonn and Berlin.
After returning home Nicol worked at local geology and obtained prizes from
the Highland Society for essays on the geology of Peeblesshire and
Roxburghshire, now areas of the Scottish Borders. He subsequently extended
his researches over other parts of Scotland, and in 1844 published Guide to
the Geology of Scotland.
In 1847 Nicol was appointed assistant secretary to the Geological Society of
London, being appointed a Fellow of the Society in the same year. He was
also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being
George Wilson.
In 1849 professor of geology in Queen's College, Cork, and in 1853 professor
of natural history in the University of Aberdeen, a post which he retained
until a few months before he died. In his later years he lived at 15 Bon
Accord Square in Aberdeen.
He was buried with his wife and daughter in the north-west section of Grange
Cemetery in Edinburgh. In 1849 he married Alexandrina Anne Macleay Downie.
See Wikapedia entry (pdf)
On the Structure of the
North-Western Highlands, and the Relations of the Gneiss, Red Sandstone, and
Quartzite of Sutherland and Ross-shire
By James Nicol, F.G.S., F.R.S.E., Professor of Natural History in the
University of Aberdeen. (1860) (pdf)
On the
Origin of the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy
By James Nicol (pdf) |
