Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer

Parents:

• Birth*: Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer was born circa 1853 at Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; No birth entry found.
• He was the son of Robert Davidson Nicolson blacksmith and Janet Worrel.
• (Groom) Marriage*: Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer married Margaret Combs Sword powerloom weaver, daughter of Charles Robert Sword iron molder and Mary Richardson Combs, on 7 August 1874 at 11 Craigie Street, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1874 Marriages in the district of St Andrew in burgh of Dundee, page 120, ref 239; 1874 on the seventh day of August at 11 Craigie Street Dundee after banns according to the forms of the Established Church of Scotland; Robert Davidson Nicolson, engine fitter journeyman, batchelor, aged 21, 3 Crescent Street Dundee, father Robert Davidson Nicolson, engine fitter journeyman, mother Jessie Nicolson ms Worrall; Margaret Sword, powerloom weaver, spinster, aged 20, 11 Craigie Street Dundee, father Charles Sword, iron moulder journeyman, mother Mary Sword ms Combs; signed Archibald Bell minister, witnesses George Stewart, Helen Sword; registered 1874 August 10th at Dundee F Macdonald registrar.¹
• (Deceased) Death*: Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer died on 29 December 1924 at 4 Wortley Place, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, , Robert Davidson Nicolson, engine fitter, married to Margaret Sword, 1924 December 29th ...pm 4 Wortley Place, Dundee, male aged 71 years, father Robert Davidson Nicolson, jute mill mechanic (deceased), mother Jessie Nicolson ms Worrall (deceased), pelvic carcinoma as cert by T King ... MBChB, informant C Sword, broter-in-law, present, 111 Arbroath Road, Dundee, registered 1924 December 30th at Dundee H T Templeton registrar.²

• Occupation: Say 1872 Robert was Marine Engineer.
• (Informant) Birth: He registered the birth of Mary Combs Nicholson on 29 May 1875 at 11 Craigie Street, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1875 births in the district of St Andrew in the burgh of Dundee, ref 732, Mary Combs Nicholson, 1875 May Twenty-nineth 7h 25m pm 11 Craigie Street Dundee, female, parents Robert Davidson Nicholson engine fitter jorneyman and Margaret Nicholson ms Sword, married 1874 Aug 7th Dundee, signed Robert D Nicholson father present, registered 1875 June 9th at Dundee F Macdairmid registrar.³
• (Informant) Birth: Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer registered the birth of Robert Nicholson on 15 December 1876 at 11 Craigie Street, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1876 Births in the district of St Andrew in the burgh of Dundee page 13 no 37, Robert Nicholson born 1876 December 15th 6h 0m am 11 Craigie Street, Dundee, male, father Robert Davidson Nichoslon, engine fitter journeyman, mother Margaret Nicolson ms Sword, marriage 1874 Aug 7th Dundee,
  informant Robert D Nicholson father present, registered 1876 December 27th at Dundee J Mcadairmid registrar.⁴
• (Informant) Death: Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer registered the death of Robert Nicholson on 18 August 1877 at 11 Craigie Street, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1877 deaths in the district of St Andrew in the burgh of Dundee ref 707, Robert Nicholson single, 1877 August Eighteenth 2h 10m am 11 Craigie Street, male aged 8 months father Robert Davidson Nicholson engine fitter journeyman, nother Maragret Nicholson ms Sword, meningitis 5 weeks as cert by David MacEwan MB, signed R D Nicholson father present, registered 1877 August 18th at Dundee F Macdairmid registrar.⁵
• (Informant) Birth: Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer registered the birth of Charles Sword Nicholson on 8 March 1880 at 11 Craigie Street, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1880 births in the district of St Andrews in the burgh of Dundee ref 360; Charles Sword Nicholson, 1880 March Eighth 1h 0m am 11 Craigie Street Dundee, male parents Robert Davidson Nicholson engine fitter journeyman and Margaret Nicholson ms Sword married 1874 Aug 7th Dundee, signed Robert D Nicholson father present, registered 1880 March 10th at Dundee F MacDairmid registrar.⁶
• (Informant) Death: Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer registered the death of Charles Sword Nicholson on 26 February 1881 at 61 Crescent Street, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, ; 1881 deaths in the district of St Andrews in the burgh of Dundee ref 228, Charles Sword Nicholson single, 1881 February Twenty-sixth 8h 50m am 61 Crescent Street Dundee, male aged 11 months parents Robert Davidson Nicholson engine fitter journeyman and Margaret Nicholson ms Sword, diptheria 2 days as cert by David MacEwan MD, signed R D Nicholson father present, registered 1881 February 26th at Dundee F MacDairmid registrar.⁷
• (Informant) Birth: Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer registered the birth of Forrester Cockburn Nicholson on 27 July 1884 at 61 Crescent Street, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1884 births in the distrcit of St Andrew in the burgh of Dundee, ref 1203; Forrester Cockburn Nicholson, born 1884 July Twenty-seventh 0h 45m pm at 61 Crescent Street Dundee; male, parents Robert Davidson Nicholsonengine fitter foundry and Margaret md Sword married 1874 Aug 7th Dundee; signed by Robert D Nicholson father present; registered 1884 August 14th at Dundee signed F Macdiarmid registrar.⁸
• Occupation*: On 24 August 1890 at 48 Crescent Lane, Dundee, Scotland, , Robert was Engineer in Steamer - from twins' birth and death records.
• (Informant) Birth: He registered the birth of Margaret Sword Nicholson on 19 August 1895 at 1 Graham Place, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; 1895 births in the district of St Andrew in the burgh of Dundee ref 1118, Margaret Sword Nicholson 1895 August Nineteenth 1h 0m am 1 Graham Place Dundee, female parents Robert Davidson Nicholson engine fitter journeyman and Margaret Nicholson ms Sword m 1874 August 7th Dundee, signed Robert D Nicholson father present, regsitered 1895 August 29th at Dundee Jas Murray registrar.⁹
• (Spouse) Death: His spouse Margaret Combs Sword powerloom weaver died on 1 February 1934 at 21 Eglington Street, Beith, Ayrshire, Scotland, ; 1934 deaths in the district of Beith in the county of Ayr; Margaret Nicholson widow of Robert Davidson Nicholson engineer; 1934 February first 5h 10m am 21 Eglington Street Beith; female aged 80 years, parents Charles sword iron moulder (dec) and Mary Sword ms Coombs (dec); arterio sclerosis, cerebral haemorrhage as cert by Ian F Somerville MBChB; signed Frank McNeill son-in-law present; registered 1938 February 1st James Anderson registrar.¹⁰

Census & Directory Entries

Member of Household	7 April 1861	They was listed as a member of the household of Robert Davidson Nicolson blacksmith and Janet Worrel in the 1861 census at 3 Crescent Street, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, . Robert D Nicolson, son, 8, scholar, Dundee; Robert D Nicolson, head, mar, 38, engine smith, Aberdeen; Jessie Nicolson, wife, mar, 31, Errol Perthshire.11,12
Member of Household	2 April 1871	They was listed as a member of the household of Robert Davidson Nicolson blacksmith in the 1871 census at 3 Crescent Street, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, . Robert Nicolson, son, unm, 18, engine fitter, Dundee; Robert Nicolson, head, mar, 47, engine fitter, Aberdeen; Jessie Nicolson, wife, mar, 42, Errol, Perthshire.13,14
Principal	3 April 1881	Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer appeared in the 1881 census. Not at home.
Principal	5 April 1891	He appeared in the 1891 census at Dracona S/S of Dundee, Tynemouth, Northumberland, England, . Name     Robert Davidson Nicolson Gender     Male Birth     Circa 1853 Forfarshire Residence     1891 Northumberland, England Age     38 Marital status     Married Occupation     Chief Engineer Employed     Yes.15,16
Principal	between 1899 and 1900	He appeared in a directory of between 1899 and 1900 living at 1 Graham Place, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; Dundee Directory, Nicholson, Robert D, engineer.17
Head of Household	31 March 1901	He was listed as head of household along with spouse Margaret Combs Sword powerloom weaver in the 1901 census at 1 Graham Place, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, . Robert D Nicholson, head, married, aged 47, engine fitter, worker, born Dundee; Margaret Nicholson, wife, married, aged 46, born Dundee; also in the household were Mary Combs Nicholson, Primrose Davidson Nicholson, Davina Lowson Nicholson, Robert Davidson Nicholson and Margaret Sword Nicholson.18
Principal	between 1906 and 1907	Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer was listed to vote in the register of between 1906 and 1907 at 1 Graham Place, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, , Householder, tenant & occupier. Dwelling-house Graham Place.19
Principal	1908	He was listed in the electoral roll of 1908 at 4 Wortley Place, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, , First name(s)     Robert Davidson Last name     Nicholson Year     1908 Name as transcribed     Nicholson, Robert Davidson Street     4 Wortley Place proprietor & occupant Place     Dundee County     Forfarshire (Angus) Country     Scotland Record set     Scotland, Dundee & Forfarshire (Angus) Electoral Registers 1857-1939 Category     Census, land & surveys Subcategory     Electoral Rolls Collections from     Great Britain, Scotland.20
Witness	28 April 1910	He appeared on the census of 28 April 1910 in the household of William Laird Nicolson iron moulder and Ann Stewart Fairweather at Plainfield, Union, New Jersey, USA, ; Unreadable street name, no 220, Nicholson, William, head, male, white, 39 on last birthday, married for 17 years; born Scotland, father born Scotland, mother born Scotland; able to speak English; occupation moulder, iron factory, worker... no... 0; able to read, able to write, property rented, is a home; Nicholson, Annie, wife, female, white, 38 last birthday, married 17 years, mother of 4 children, 4 children living, born Scotland, father born Scotland, mother born Scotland; able to speak English; can read, can write; McDonald, David, boarder, male, white, 28, single, himself & parents all born Scotland; immigrated 1908, alien, able to speak English; occupation machinist, tool works, worker, not unemployed, 0 months unemployed; able to read, able to write; Gorden, David, boarder, male, white, 28, single, himself & parents all born Scotland; immigrated 1908, alien, able to speak English; occupation machinist, tool works, worker, not unemployed, 0 months unemployed; able to read, able to write.21
Principal	1913	Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer was listed in the electoral roll of 1913 at 4 Pikerro Road, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, , First name(s)     Robert Davidson Last name     Nicholson Year     1913 Name as transcribed     Nicholson, Robert Davidson Street     4 Pikerrow Road proprietor Place     Dundee County     Forfarshire (Angus) Country     Scotland Record set     Scotland, Dundee & Forfarshire (Angus) Electoral Registers 1857-1939 Category     Census, land & surveys Subcategory     Electoral Rolls Collections from     Great Britain, Scotland.20

Notes

• (Witness) Note for Web: Robert Davidson Nicholson chief engineer and Robert Nicolson blacksmith, Robert Davidson Nicolson blacksmith, Robert Davidson Nicolson mechanical engineer, jute mill manager, Robert Davidson Nicholson, Robert Davidson Nicolson textile fitter, Robert Davidson Nicolson cinema manager and Robert Davidson Nicolson was mentioned with Robert Davidson chemist. I have always wondered why so many of our Robert Nicolsons had/have the middle name of Davidson. I have looked far and wide to try to find a likely candidate marrying into our Nicolson clan, but have drawn a blank. That led me to think about someone who may have been known to the family from their days in Aberdeen. This Robert Davidson is only about 5 or 6 years younger than our Robert Nicolson who was the first (as far as we know) to use the Davidson name for his son born in 1823. Both men lived in the same part of Aberdeen - did they grow up together? Attend the same church? Did our Robert, as a blacksmith, cross paths with Robert Davidson the chemist who was building batteries, an electric locomotive, electric lathe, and electric printing press in the 1830s? Our Robert is in Dundee by 1836.
  
  The Scientific Tourist: Aberdeen
  Robert Davidson – pioneer electrician
  Robert Davidson (1804-1894) was a man of eclectic interests, an inventor who had originality, vision and even prototype devices but did not have the financial or commercial resource to develop his ideas far enough to better the technology of the day.
  His impact was not in generating a world-beating product or even gaining any significant personal wealth from his inventions but rather in providing an example to his successors of what could be done.
  Davidson was born, schooled, spent much of his working life and died in Aberdeen. He attended the second and third year classes of Marischal College from 1819-1821, including the lecture course of Patrick Copland. Since in due course Davidson established himself as a manufacturer and supplier of chemicals, it is likely that he also
  attended the optional chemistry class at the College given by William Henderson.
  Davidson set himself up in business in the 1820s supplying yeast from premises at Causewayend and then in nearby Canal Road, close to the Aberdeen-Inverurie canal. Via a small, narrow, wooden slatted bridge (the ‘tarry briggie’), Canal Road today crosses the railway line that follows the old canal cutting. In Davidson’s younger days the area was edge-of-town market garden and nursery land that was gradually attracting houses and industry1. Davidson moved from yeast into chemical manufacturing and supplying, and diverse ventures such as file sharpening. He seems, though, to have had two passions: astronomy and electricity. In astronomy he built himself a large reflecting telescope of 35 feet length with a 2 foot diameter mirror that rivalled the largest productions of John Ramage. His telescope, with its big supporting structure of struts and ladders, must have been a landmark in the area for several years but no illustration of it has been found. What brings Robert Davidson into these notes is his electrical developments.
  In the 1830’s, Faraday showed how to generate mechanical motion from electricity, albeit in a way that was useless for exploitation as a practical electric motor. Davidson became fascinated by the possibilities. He constructed his own batteries, not a difficult task for a chemical supplier and man with workshop skills, and by 1837 had made his first fair sized electric motor. In 1840 he held a public “Electromagnetic Exhibition” in Aberdeen and thousands paid 1/- entrance to see a working model electric locomotive able to carry two people, a model electric lathe, a small electric printing press and an electro-magnet that could lift 2 tons when supplied by a suitable battery.
  The motor driving the lathe and printing press had a 5 foot diameter flywheel and the electromagnet had pole pieces 4 inches square. These were not desk-top toys. If Davidson had had this exhibition in 1880, many would have marvelled. This was 1840, truly well ‘ahead of his time’. The Aberdeen Banner prophesised that electromagnetic machinery “will in no distant date supplant steam”’. Davidson took his exhibition to Edinburgh in the following year, where the influential Robert Chambers of encyclopaedia fame made similar remarks and the young James Clerk Maxwell aged 10 was taken by his father to see it. In late 1842, Davidson took his exhibition to London in the hope of attracting sponsorship. By then he had added an electrically powered circular saw that cut 1” square planks in about 1 second and a powerful electric arc made by passing the current through two pieces of coke. He broke even in London but didn’t attract the sponsorship he’d hoped for. His motor was illustrated (above) in an edition of Penny’s Mechanic of 1843.
  Between the Aberdeen and London exhibitions, Davidson built a full-sized prototype electric locomotive called Galvani. It was 16 feet long and weighed about 6 tons. In 1842 it ran at 4 miles per hour on the Glasgow to Edinburgh line (the railways hadn’t reached Aberdeen by then). Unfortunately, Galvani was destroyed before
  Davidson could get it back, by men unknown but suspected of being promoters of steam engines. In truth, Davidson didn’t quite have the necessary technology to make a commercial success of electric railways. His power was provided by chemical batteries that were expensive to produce and to re-charge them the chemicals had to be
  replaced. The re-chargeable lead-acid accumulator wasn’t invented until the end of the 1850s. He was some three decades before even the early days of viable electrical generators that could really make electric transport feasible. It all could have happened much earlier if Davidson had found a patron with deep pockets and patience but no-one was forthcoming in the early 1840s.
  Electric locomotives would make city underground railways a possibility but they didn’t appear in Britain until around 1890. Robert Davidson was suddenly found to be still alive and was converted into a media celebrity “Octogenarian Aberdonian - oldest living electrician” e press trumpeted, or words to that effect. The Electrician magazine reported “Robert Davidson was undoubtedly the first to demonstrate the possibility of electrical traction in a practical way”. He was, but the torch he lit did not begin a blaze. Davidson died 4 years later at the age of 90, old enough to see his vision made real at last. Nothing remains in Canal Road of Davidson’s house at no. 32 or his business; only the name and the little road with its tarry briggie, itself a ‘modernisation’ of 1854 that replaced a lower bridge over the canal a little downstream. Davidson is buried in St Peter’s cemetery but his gravestone simply describes him as ‘chemist’.
  
  John S. Reid
  1 Diane Morgan “The Villages of Aberdeen: Round About Mounthooly”, Denburn Books, Aberdeen (1995),
  outlines how the area has changed over the last two centuries and includes a short chapter on Davidson.
  
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  More info here https://www.scottishfield.co.uk/outdoors/motors/an-electric-future-planned-by-19th-century-scot/.²²