Mayor of Lewisham for 4 successive terms, 1915 - 19. Chairman of the London Safety First Council and of the National Executive of the National Safety First Association. CBE. Knighted in the 1938 Birthday Honours and at about this time his address was given as Upper Norwood.
Allan Hume Nicholl was born 12 March 1866 in Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales, the youngest of the seven children of John Hume (1834-1895) and Frances Mary Hume née Tweed (1836-1914). His birth was registered in the 2nd quarter of 1866 in the Pontypool registration district, Monmouthshire. On 13 May 1866 he was baptised in the parish of Usk, Monmouthshire, where the baptismal register states only that the family were residing in Usk and that his father, who at one time had been a Captain in the 7th (Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards, was just recorded as a gentleman.
He was described as a scholar in the 1871 census and as a visitor staying at the Caswell Hotel, Bishopston, Glamorganshire, Wales, together with two elder siblings: Charlotte Mary Nicholl (1863-1935) and Capel Hume Nicholl (1865-1871), together with their unmarried paternal grand aunt of independent means, Menella Hume (1805-1896).
He was again described as a scholar in the 1881 census living at 23 Connaught Square, Paddington, with his parents, four siblings: Iltyd Arthur Hume Nicholl (1856-1925) who was a clerk at the Bank of England, Ella Augusta Nicholl (1857-1930), Cecil Hume Nicholl (1859-1922) who was a ship broker's clerk and Charlotte Mary Nicholl, together with his grand aunt Menalla Hume. Also recorded were their four female servants: a cook, a parlour-maid, a housemaid and a kitchen-maid. His other surviving sibling, Jestyn Hume Nicholl (1860-1923), was recorded as an undergraduate living in Cambridge. His father was shown as a J.P. and of independent means.
He married Annie Rosalie Thornton (1863-1937) in the 2nd quarter of 1891 in the Thanet registration district, Kent and they were to have two children: Violet Mary Frances Hume Nicholl (1892-1980) and Aline Constance Rosalie Hume Nicholl (1894-1984).
Electoral registers from 1893 to 1896 and the Post Office London Directory of 1895 show him listed at 13 Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE. On 9 February 1897 he was initiated as a freemason in the Canterbury Lodge No.1635 that met at the Masonic Hall, 33 Golden Square, London, W1 and their registers show him as a brewer living at Dewsbury, Silverdale, Sydenham. He and 38 other freemasons petitioned the United Grand Lodge of England to form a new lodge to be called the Maida Vale Lodge, No.2743. Their warrant was granted on 30 January 1899 and it was consecrated on 13 March 1899. They initially met at the Crown Hotel, Aberdeen Place, Maida Vale, London, but he resigned from this Lodge on 18 October 1899. He also petitioned the United Grand Lodge of England at the same time with 17 other freemasons to form another new lodge to be called the Sydenham Lodge No.2744 and their warrant was also granted on 30 January 1899. The Lodge was consecrated on 14 March 1899 and they initially met at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham. He also joined the Royal Victorian Jubilee Lodge No.2184 in 1905 that met at the Phoenix Hotel, near the Railway Station, Rainham, Essex, but he resigned from this Lodge on 4 May 1916.
Electoral registers from 1898 to 1901 show him listed at 30 Silverdale, Lewisham, and this is confirmed in the 1901 census in which he is described as a brewer. Also shown on the census return were his wife, their daughters, his mother-in-law Ann Thornton (1827-1913), his brother Cecil, together with a cook, a nurse, a housemaid and a parlour-maid.
Kelly's 1902 Southern London Suburban Directory lists him at St Hilda's, Westwood Road, Sydenham and electoral registers confirm he was still at this address until 1906. Telephone directories from 1907 to 1910 list him at 14 Marloes Road, Kensington. On the night of the 1911 census he was described as a brewer visiting the home of Mr & Mrs Frank Randall Palmer at Hawley House, Blackwater, Hampshire, but electoral registers of that year show him residing at 14 Marloes Road, Kensington, and also renting one furnished room on the 3rd floor at 64 Shaftesbury Avenue, Westminster.
Telephone directories from 1911 to 1916 list him at 5 Laurie Park Road, Sydenham. He was admitted on 7 July 1914 into the Freedom of the City of London by redemption, giving his occupation as a brewer and confirming he occupied premises at Belfield, Laurie Park Road, Sydenham. Electoral registers in 1914 & 1915 show him listed at 5 Lawrie Park Road, Sydenham and from 1918 to 1922 at 23 Lawrie Park Road, Sydenham. There would appear to be some discrepancy as to the correct spelling of this road. Some show it as Laurie Park Road and others as Lawrie Park Road.
As a Justice of the Peace and Vice-President & Chairman, Lewisham Division, British Red Cross Society he was shown to be made a Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the supplement of the London Gazette dated 30 March 1920.
Telephone directories from 1938 to 1941 show him listed at 11 Sylvan Hill, London, SE19, but in the 1939 England and Wales register he is recorded as a widower, a retired brewer, a JP, a CBE and Chairman of 'Safety First', residing at Stonehurst, Hambledon, Surrey, the home of Mr & Mrs Percy A. Love.
Probate records confirm that he had lived at 11 Sylvan Hill, Upper Norwood and that he died, aged 75 years, on 9 July 1941. Administration of his estate was granted to his two daughters, who were both spinsters and his effects totalled £902-19s-7d. His death was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1941 in the Croydon registration district, Surrey and according to the burial registers at St John the Evangelist Church, Upper Norwood, he was buried in the 'St John's & St John's Plot' on 12 July 1941.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk and Andrew Behan.
