John Gough Nichols

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John Gough Nichols (1806–1873) was an English painter and antiquary who helped run a family publishing business with a strong love for old books and inscriptions. He was born in London, the son of John Bowyer Nichols, and his godfather was the scholar Richard Gough. He attended several schools, including Lewisham grammar school and Merchant Taylors’ School, and began working in his family’s printing offices in 1824. He traveled for study and became involved in many learned societies.

Nichols played a leading role in antiquarian publishing. He became treasurer of the Surtees Society, a fellow and later printer for the Society of Antiquaries, and he helped found the Camden Society, editing many of its publications. He contributed to numerous journals and topographical and genealogical collections, and he wrote about the Progresses of James I. He also helped edit major local histories and other important works.

In his personal life, Nichols married Lucy Lewis in 1843 and they had a son, John Bruce Nichols, and two daughters. Ill health forced him to resign as editor of The Gentleman's Magazine in 1856; he then edited The Herald and Genealogist from 1862 and founded the Register and Magazine of Biography in 1869. He died in Surrey in 1873 at age 67. His memory was honored with a portrait and a commemorative medallion.