The Times/1929/Obituary/Edmund Toulmin Nicolle

Dr. R. R. Marett, Rector of Exeter College, Oxford, who is also President of the Société Jersiaise, writes from Jersey:—

Mr. Edmund Toulmin Nicolle, F.S.A., who died suddenly of a heart attack on August 13, at the age of 61, held the ancient and honourable office of Vicomte in the Island of Jersey, a crown appointment. From 1894 he had been a member of the local as well as the English Bar, and for nearly 18 years before his appointment as Vicomte in 1917 had served prominently among the deputies of the Town of St. Helier's in the Insular States. Apart from his public services, which were much appreciated by his compatriots, he was widely known as an antiquary. So far back as 1893 he edited the revised edition of Ansted and Latham's well-known book on the Channel Islands, and has since been wholly or in part responsible for numerous publications, the most notable of these perhaps being "Mont Orgueil Castle: Its History and Description," Jersey, 1921. In a very real sense, however, he might be said to be behind most of the work, both exploratory and literary, of the Société Jersiaise for the last 20 years. Its Bulletins and occasional publications, the value of which as treasuries of sound material both prehistorics and as regards Norman origins is well recognized by experts, owe most of the inspiration to Nicolle; for not only was his knowledge accurate and wide, but he had a singular gift for organization, and in the capacity of secretary mobilized every scrap of intelligent enthusiasm and not a little of spare money in the island in the interest of archæological discovery and research. The least self-seeking or self-advertising of men, he might have been almost said to revel in anonymity; but his many friends and colleagues—thanks largely to his efforts, there is hardly a representative islander who does not support the Société Jersiaise—fully realize that in his scientific thoroughness wedded to a genius for quiet leadership lay the secret of their united strength; so that they mourn him as one who will not be forgotten and cannot be replaced.