DAVIES
,
CHARLES NICE
(
1794
-
1842
),
Independent minister and college tutor
,
attained these offices after a most extraordinary career. Born in a church at
Ghent
, in
1794
, he was the son of an
army sergeant
; the mother at least was
Welsh
. His father was killed the same year, and his mother m. another
sergeant
called
Nice
, whose surname the grateful stepson afterwards incorporated in his own. They were protégés of the
duke of York
, who got
Nice
a
commission and made the boy (of 12) an
ensign
. Both went out (
1808
) to
India
, where the lad displayed a remarkable talent for
learning languages
. The step-father was killed, and the young man (now a
lieutenant
) wounded, at
Mysore
in
1814
; but he recovered to take part in the
Peninsular War
. Returning to
England
, he m., and took to religion; he began
preaching
in
1820
, and was
minister
at several places in
England
, including
Hereford
. In
1831
he became
librarian
of the
Congregational Library
, but in
1834
accepted the pastorate of
Norwood
. In
1839
he was appointed
theological tutor
of the
Independent college
at
Brecon
, where he d.
22 June 1842
.
Bibliography:
-
The Congregational Magazine
,
1842
.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
