Ernest Nicholson

{{Short description|British religious scholar}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{EngvarB|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = The Reverend | name = Ernest Nicholson | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|FBA|MRIA|size=100%}} | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Ernest Wilson Nicholson | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1938|9|26}} | birth_place = Portadown, Northern Ireland | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2013|12|22|1938|9|26}} | death_place = Oxford, England | death_cause = | region = | period = | occupation = | title = | boards =  | known_for = | spouse = | children = | era = | discipline = Divinity | sub_discipline = Old Testament studies | movement =  | alma_mater = Trinity College, Dublin University of Glasgow Westcott House, Cambridge | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = Cecil Weir | doctoral_students = | notable_students =  | main_interests = | workplaces = Trinity College, Dublin University of Cambridge University of Oxford | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influences =  | influenced =  | awards = Burkitt Medal (2009) | website = | footnotes = }} '''Ernest Wilson Nicholson''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|FBA|MRIA}} (26 September 1938 – 22 December 2013) was a British scholar of the Old Testament and Church of England priest. He was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1979 to 1990 and served as Provost of Oriel College, Oxford, from 1990 to 2003.<ref name="obit - tele">{{cite news|title=Ernest Nicholson – obituary|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10588243/Ernest-Nicholson-obituary.html|accessdate=3 July 2014|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=21 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="obit - Oxford Mail">{{cite news|title=Clergyman and professor was Oriel College's 50th provost|url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10956084.Clergyman_and_professor_was_Oriel_College___s_50th_provost/|accessdate=3 July 2014|work=The Oxford Mail|date=23 January 2014}}</ref>

==Early life== Nicholson was born on 26 September 1938 in Portadown, Northern Ireland.<ref name="obit - times">{{cite news|title=The Rev Professor Ernest Nicholson|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/the-rev-professor-ernest-nicholson-dmgdlvxqd8j|access-date=3 July 2014|work=The Times}}</ref> Having failed the Eleven-plus exam to attend grammar school, he attended the local Secondary Technical School.<ref name="obit - tele" /> He later transferred to a grammar school, Portadown College, following the advice of a priest during a Boys' Brigade holiday.<ref name="obit - times" /><ref name="obit - Portadown Times">{{cite news|title=11-plus 'failure' was installed an Oxford Provost by the Queen|url=http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/your-community/11-plus-failure-was-installed-an-oxford-provost-by-the-queen-1-5798858|accessdate=3 July 2014|work=The Portadown Times|date=15 January 2014}}</ref>

In 1956, he matriculated into Trinity College, Dublin to study Hebrew and Semitic languages.<ref name="obit - times" /><ref name="obit - Church of Ireland Gazette">{{cite web|title=Letters to the Editor – Professor Ernest Nicholson|url=http://www.coigazette.net/?p=1876|publisher=The Church of Ireland Gazette|accessdate=4 July 2014}}</ref> He graduated Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1960, which was promoted to Master of Arts (MA) in 1964.<ref name="bio - Royal Irish Academy">{{cite web|title=Recent Bereavements |url=https://www.ria.ie/about/membership/deceased-members.aspx |website=Deceased Members |publisher=Royal Irish Academy |accessdate=4 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714185852/https://www.ria.ie/about/membership/deceased-members.aspx |archivedate=14 July 2014 }}</ref> He then undertook postgraduate study at Glasgow University. He completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1964 under the supervision of Cecil Weir.<ref name="obit - tele" /><ref name="bio - Royal Irish Academy" /> He later trained for ordination at Westcott House, Cambridge, an Anglican theological college, completing it in 1969.<ref name="crockford" />

==Career==

===Academic career=== Nicholson began his academic career in 1962 when he returned to his alma mater Trinity College, Dublin as a lecturer in Hebrew and Semitics.<ref name="obit - tele" /> In 1967, he moved to the University of Cambridge where he became a university lecturer in Old Testament Studies and a fellow of University College.<ref name="obit - Oxford Mail" /> In 1969, he changed colleges and became a fellow of Pembroke College.<ref name="obit - times" />

In 1979, he moved to the University of Oxford. He was granted a chair as Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture and became a Fellow of Oriel College.<ref name="obit - tele" /> In 1990, he became the 50th Provost of Oriel College;<ref name="obit - Oxford Mail" /> he was installed by the college's Visitor, Queen Elizabeth II.<ref name="obit - times" /> He served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1993 to 2003.<ref name="obit - tele" />

He retired from academia in 2003 and was appointed Professor Emeritus of the University of Oxford.<ref name="obit - tele" />

===Ordained ministry=== Nicholson had been a choirboy while at school in Northern Ireland.<ref name="obit - Portadown Times" /> In 1969, he was ordained a deacon in the Church of England at Ely Cathedral.<ref name="obit - times" /> He was ordained a priest the following year.<ref name="crockford">{{Crockford| surname = Nicholson | forenames = Ernest Wilson | id = 19928 | accessed = 23 June 2018}}</ref> When he joined Pembroke College, Cambridge, he served as a college chaplain and dean of its chapel between 1973 and 1979.<ref name="obit - Portadown Times" /><ref name="crockford" />

In retirement, Nicholson held Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Oxford from 2010 until his death in 2013.<ref name="crockford" />

==Later life== After his retirement in 2003, he remained living in Oxford.<ref name="obit - Portadown Times" /> In November 2012, he was diagnosed with liver cancer.<ref name="obit - times" /> He died on 22 December 2013 at the age of 75.<ref name="obit - times" /> His funeral was held on 10 January 2014 at St Peter's Church, Wolvercote, Oxford.<ref>{{cite web|title=Reverend Professor Ernest Nicholson, Provost of Oriel College 1990–2003 |url=http://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/content/reverend-professor-ernest-nicholson-provost-oriel-college-1990-2003 |publisher=Oriel College, Oxford |accessdate=3 July 2014 |date=7 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715004952/http://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/content/reverend-professor-ernest-nicholson-provost-oriel-college-1990-2003 |archivedate=15 July 2014 }}</ref> A memorial service was held on 29 March 2014 at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford.<ref>{{cite news|title=Memorial Services – Nicolson Ernest|url=http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/announcements/deaths/memorial/11056329.NICOLSON_ERNEST/|accessdate=3 July 2014|work=The Oxford Times|date=6 March 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life== In 1962, Nicholson married Hazel Jackson. They had met while at the same school and, after she tutored him in Latin for his university entrance exam, they entered a relationship. Together they had four children; Rosalind, Kathryn, Jane, and Peter. His son predeceased him, having died from an epileptic seizure in 2011.<ref name="obit - times" />

==Honours== In 1987, Nicholson was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA).<ref name="bio - British Academy">{{cite web|title=NICHOLSON, Revd Professor Ernest (26/09/1938-22/12/2013) |url=http://www.britac.ac.uk/fellowship/directory/dec.cfm?member=2300 |website=British Academy Fellows |publisher=British Academy |accessdate=3 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714150119/http://www.britac.ac.uk/fellowship/directory/dec.cfm?member=2300 |archivedate=14 July 2014 }}</ref> in 1988 was president of the Society for Old Testament Study. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by St Peter's College, Oxford.<ref name="St Peter's - Death of Revd Prof Ernest Nicholson">{{cite web|title=Death of Revd Prof Ernest Nicholson |url=http://www.spc.ox.ac.uk/article/21/296/death_of_revd_prof_ernest_nicholson.html |website=News |publisher=St Peter's College, Oxford |accessdate=5 July 2014 |date=10 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714132014/http://www.spc.ox.ac.uk/article/21/296/death_of_revd_prof_ernest_nicholson.html |archivedate=14 July 2014 }}</ref> He was awarded the 2009 Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies by the British Academy.<ref>{{cite web|title=Burkitt Medal 2009 |url=http://www.britac.ac.uk/about/medals/Burkitt_Medal_2009.cfm |website=Prizes and medals |publisher=British Academy |accessdate=4 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714121320/http://www.britac.ac.uk/about/medals/Burkitt_Medal_2009.cfm |archivedate=14 July 2014 }}</ref> In 2010, he was elected Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA).<ref name="bio - Royal Irish Academy" />

He was appointed Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.<ref name="bio - Royal Irish Academy" />

==Works== *''Deuteronomy and Tradition'' (1969) *''Preaching to the Exiles'' (1971) *''Exodus and Sinai in History and Tradition'' (1973) *''God and His People: Covenant and Theology in the Old Testament'' (1986) *''The Pentateuch in the 20th century: the legacy of Julius Wellhausen'' (1998) *''A Century of Theological and Religious Studies in Britain, 1902–2002'' (2003), editor *''Deuteronomy and the Judaean Diaspora'' (2014)

==References== {{Reflist|30em}} {{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{s-bef|before=James Barr}} {{s-ttl|title=Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford|years=1979–1990}} {{s-aft|after=John Barton}} {{s-bef|before=Zelman Cowen}} {{s-ttl|title=Provost of Oriel College, Oxford |years=1990–2003}} {{s-aft|after=Derek Morris}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Ernest Wilson}} Category:1938 births Category:2013 deaths Category:20th-century British biblical scholars Category:People from Portadown Category:People educated at Portadown College Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Category:Academics of Trinity College Dublin Category:Fellows of University College, Cambridge Category:20th-century English Anglican priests Category:Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge Category:Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Category:Fellows of the British Academy Category:Deaths from liver cancer in England Category:Members of the Royal Irish Academy Category:Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Category:Oriel and Laing Professors of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture Category:Anglican biblical scholars Category:Alumni of Westcott House, Cambridge Category:Presidents of the Society for Old Testament Study Category:Scholars and academics from County Armagh Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow Category:21st-century British biblical scholars