Richard Nicholas was a corporal of marines in the 35th (Portsmouth) Company when he arrived at Sydney in January 1788 aboard the Scarborough as part of the First Fleet. He served in Captain James Meredith's Company and then Captain John Shea's Company at Port Jackson.
Nicholas was sent to Norfolk Island on the Supply in March 1790, becoming a settler on 60 acres at Drummonds Run at Phillipsburg in January 1792. He was a constable with 12 acres cultivated in September 1793.
Nicholas left Norfolk Island in November 1794 and enlisted in the NSW Corps. Discharged on 10 October 1799 he had been granted 25 acres at Mulgrave Place in 1797. No later records have been found for him.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 264
'Nicholas, Richard (?–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/nicholas-richard-31611/text39086, accessed 29 May 2025.