Faxton - Sir Augustine Nichols (1559-1616)

Sir Augustine Nichols (1559-1616)

Faxton's most famous resident was Sir Augustine Nichols, a judge of the Court of Common Pleas under James I of England. He was a Knight of the Bath, born in Faxton in 1559; he died in 1616.

In 1610, the Manor of Kibworth, Leicestershire was jointly granted to Augustine, Anthony Shugborough and John Smith after Ambrose Dudley, the Earl of Warwick, died without an heir. It is not clear what happened to the manor immediately after this, but by 1632 the manor was being held by the Berrige family.

Judge Nichols had a clerk working for him. He was Thomas Dudley, a relation of the Nichols family. In 1627 Thomas Dudley, with his wife, daughter Anne, and her husband Simon Bradstreet, sailed for America. Dudley became Governor of Massachusetts as did Bradstreet later. Anne Bradstreet became America's first female poet and is still thought to be one of its finest. Her poem To my dear and loving husband was set to music by Leonard Bernstein and performed at the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter.

A memorial to Augustine was positioned inside the parish church but it was smashed during the church's demolition in 1958. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London retrieved the pieces and spent three years restoring it to its former splendour. A legend is connected to the smashed memorial. It is claimed that a phantom, reputed to be that of Sir Augustine, has been seen since the demise of the church and his memorial. Judge Nichols was poisoned in 1616 by four women. They were related to a man who was to appear before Judge Nichols for murder. They thought that by killing the judge they could spare their relation from execution.