Colonial Despatches

Charles Grenfell Nicolay was a British clergyman and humanist interested in geology, geography, and social matters.1 He co-founded Queen's College, London, in 1848 and held many notable positions in London colleges and the Royal Geographical Society throughout his early career.2

In this letter, Nicolay writes to Cuffe to express his views and concerns about the Pacific colonies' native populations and the threat of an American invasion of Haida Gwaii.

Nicolay apparently had a quick temper, which affected his political status and caused the loss of many of his positions.3 In 1856, after being forced to resign from Queen's College, Nicolay was appointed as chaplain at Bahia, Brazil, where he remained until his return to England in 1867.4

In 1870, after 3 years of unemployment caused by conflicts with his British parishioners in 1867, he was appointed chaplain at Geraldton in Western Australia.5 He remained in Australia and piloted many social projects and movements in different Australian colonies until his death in 1897.6

• 1. Phillip E. Playford and I. Pridmore, Nicolay, Charles Grenfell (1815–1897), Australian Dictionary of Biography.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Ibid.
• 4. Ibid.
• 5. Ibid.
• 6. Ibid.