Background
Nickalls was born on 23 January 1877 at North Weald, Essex, the son of Sir Patteson Nickalls, a stockbroker, and his wife Florence.
Nickalls was born on 23 January 1877 at North Weald, Essex, the son of Sir Patteson Nickalls, a stockbroker, and his wife Florence.
He was educated at Rugby School. He went to New College, Oxford, played in the Varsity Match for the Oxford University Polo Club in 1895-1896-7 and graduated with a Bachelor in 1897.
There he was in the cricket XI from 1892 to 1894 and in the rugby XV in 1893. In 1900, he was gazetted to the Durham Light Infantry and served in the Second Anglo-Boer War. He took part in the Relief of Ladysmith and the Battle of Colenso.
Nickalls played polo for England in the 1902 International Polo Cup matches.
He captained the Enghsh team against America in 1909 in the Weschester Cup with a handicap of +8
Nickalls served on the Western Front in World War I in the Northamptonshire Yeomanry. He wrote an account of fox hunting behind the lines in 1916.
Nickalls died on 10 September 1946 at the age of 69.
He retired from the army in 1901 and became a member of the London Stock Exchange. He was a member of the winning teams in the Roehampton Trophy in 1904 and 1905.