Bedfordshire resting place of New York's first English Governor

The small Bedfordshire town of Ampthill (about 7 miles south of Bedford) seems an unlikely resting place of the first English Governor of New York. Richard Nicolls was the military officer sent to take New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664.and became the first British Governor of New York, remaining in the role until 1668.

His initial military experience came from the English Civil War when he was commander of a Royalist horse troop. After the Restoration of the Monarchy his loyalty to the Royalist cause was rewarded with the post of Groom of the Chamber to the Duke of York, the future King James II and younger brother of King Charles II. 

He left Portsmouth in May 1664 and by early September his initial mission was achieved. He returned to England in 1668 and continued in the service of the Duke of York. Four years later he was killed on 28th May 1672 in a naval skirmish with the Dutch in Southwold Bay, off the coast of Norfolk. His monument in Ampthill's St Andrew's parish church is said to incorporate the Dutch cannonball that took his life.

Sharing the same surname was Mathias Nicolls (1630-1687), who some sources say was a nephew of Richard. He played a key administrative role in establishing British rule in the new colony of New York. He was Mayor of New York in 1672-4 and built Plandome Manor on Long Island, sadly demolished in 1998.