Lieut.-Col. Edward Nicholls

Lieut.-Col. Edward Nicholls became superintendent of Fernando Po in 1829, but his health soon deteriorated and he was forced to return to England. The British government withdrew officially from the island in 1834, turning control over to a couple of traders, John Beecroft and Richard Dillon. Nicholls was very supportive of the BMS and new mission at Fernando Po; he provided Clarke and the other missionaries with valuable information as well as letters of introduction to several native chieftains. Nicholls was also involved in the initial decision by the BMS to purchase an iron-clad schooner equipped with an Archimedes Screw. See Cox, History, 2:360; Missionary Herald (January 1843): 51; BMS Committee Minutes, Vol. I (Jan. 1843-May 1844), ff. 33, 35.