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Thanks, ErikaH.
Oh well!

Image for the 1917 burial is on FMP

He was 58 years old and a Railway Company mechanic

That's not the right man, sadly.

The digital image of that death cert says:

he died on 12/4 /1924 at Mental Hospital, Stone, of "senile decay".
The informant was a medical officer at the hospital.

His address was Station Terrace, Great Linford, Newport Pagnell, Bucks.
He was a general labourer.

Looking at censuses -
he was with his sister Emma Nicholls in Great Linford in 1921 - a retired boilermaker.

They were both born in Great Linford. Parents: Thomas and Ann.

NICKOLLS, EMMA mmn ELLIOTT
GRO Reference: 1846 M Quarter in NEWPORT PAGNELL UNION Volume 06 Page 404

NICHOLS, JOSEPH mmn ELLIOTT
GRO Reference: 1839 J Quarter in NEWPORT PAGNEL UNION Volume 06 Page 401

Found this on FamilySearch

Name Joseph Nicholls
Age 84
Birth Year (Estimated) 1840
Event Type Death
Event Date 1924
Event Place Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
Event Place (Original) Buckinghamshire
Page Number 937
Volume 3A

Thanks again to all.

There's no image or other info about this death on Ancestry or FamilySearch.
Probably not him, but frustrating not to know!:

Joseph Nicholls
in the India, Select Deaths and Burials, 1719-1948
Name Joseph Nicholls
Gender Male
Death Date 25 Dec 1917
Burial Date 26 Dec 1917
Burial Place Sewi, Bombay, India [that'll be SEWRI ]
FHL Film Number 523905

Thoughts.........Just in case you are at a loose end

Location of British Army Infantry and Cavalry Regiments 1878-1891
4th Battalion was in Burma December 1888 but in Parkhurst (I.O.W) by January 1891
Discharged in Hampshire ??

British Newspaper Archive - Any reports of Joseph's death as a soldier?

The Rifle Brigade Chronicle 1890 to 1920
https://archive.org/search?query=The%20Rifle%20Brigade%20Chronicle
A thankless task searching these in the hope that the death of a Rifleman or other significant event involving Joseph was recorded
Also available on FMP

British Army muster rolls and pay lists c.1730-1898
Reference: WO 16/2887
Description: 4th Bn Rifle Brigade
Date: 1886-1889
Kew only- It could identify whether or not he was still on the payroll

Records of payments made to pensioners living overseas, WO 22 and WO 23
or FMP

GRO- Soldiers Wills, if he died

PIN71- War Pension files, prior to 1914

4th Battalion

1873 India
1878 Afghanistan
1881 North West Frontier
1885 Jhansi
1885 Calcutta
1888 Dinapore
1888 Burma
1913 Dagshai


https://archive.org/details/riflebrigadechr00owngoog/page/n95/mode/2up?view=theater

British Army, Worldwide Index 1871
Great Britain
New
Transcript of Joseph's record
First name(s) Joseph
Country Great Britain
Last name Nichols
National Archives reference WO 12/10206
Service number 1621
Period 01/04/1871-30/06/1871
Rank Private
Record set British Army, Worldwide Index 1871
Unit or Regiment 4th Battalion, The Prince Consort’s Own Rifle Brigade
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
HQ location Shorncliffe
Subcategory Regimental & Service Records
Year 1871
Collections from Great Britain, UK None

I've been out for the evening, and come back to all these replies!
Many thanks, both of you.

I don't have access to the Army Census.
As ErikaH has indicated, I think the man at Shorncliffe in 1871 is "my" Joseph because his birthplace is given as Buckingham.
Akeley is only a couple of miles from Buckingham.

"My" Joseph is not the man who married in Chatham.
This is that couple in 1911:

Joseph Nicholls
in the 1911 England Census
Name Joseph Nicholls
Age in 1911 43
Estimated Birth Year abt 1868
Relation to Head Head
Gender Male
Birth Place Camden Town, London, England
Civil parish Chatham
County/Island Kent
Country England
Street Address 58 Charter St, Chatham, Kent
Marital Status Married
Occupation Labourer
Registration District Number 47
Sub-registration district Rochester and Chatham
ED, institution, or vessel 23
Piece 3907
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship
Joseph Nicholls 43 Head
Emma Nicholls 43 Wife
Mary Beard Nicholls 22 Daughter
Ethel Beard Nicholls 18 Daughter
Henry Nicholls 13 Son



The man who died in 1891 in Bedford isn't him, either;

Joseph Nicholls
in the UK and Ireland, Find a Grave® Index, 1300s-Current
Name Joseph Nicholls
Gender Male
Birth Date 1842
Birth Place Bedford, Bedford Borough, Bedfordshire, England
Death Date Apr 1891
Cemetery Foster Hill Road Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place Bedford, Bedford Borough, Bedfordshire, England
Has Bio? Y
Father Joseph Nicholls
Mother Elizabeth Nichols


Ho hum - it's probably another dead end.
Thanks for trying!

Here's a stretch

British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960 for Joseph Nicholls

Name Joseph Nicholls
Event Marriage
Gender Male
Marriage Date 12 Oct 1895
Marriage Place St Peter, Chatham (Kent)
Spouse Emma Elizabeth Beard


England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915

Name Emma Elizabeth Beard
Registration Year 1895
Registration Quarter Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration District Medway
Inferred County Kent
Volume 2a
Page 1009

EH- Thank you

The India General Service Medal (1854) Roll, 1854-1889

Full Name Nichols, J
Nationality British
Rank Name Private
Service Number 5461 *******
Clasps Awarded Burma 1887-89 *******
Service British Army
Regiment Rifle Brigade
Battalion 4th Battalion

The man on 1871 census was born 1840 in Buckingham.

AG
Please, could you clarify what compels you to believe that Joseph is 5461 The Rifles??
Was it something specific? An address/family/DOB ?

For example, UK, Worldwide Army Census, 1861 has another 5 possibles

UK, Worldwide Army Census, 1861

Nichols, Joseph
Service Number: 4549
Service: British Army
Primary Unit: 28th Co Royal Engineers

Nichols, Joseph
Service Number: 1735
Service: British Army
Primary Unit: 9th Lancers (Queens Royal)

Nichols, Joseph
Service Number: 78
Service: British Army
Primary Unit: 2nd Foot Guards (Coldstream)

Nichols, Joseph
Service Number: 115
Service: British Army
Primary Unit: 2nd Battalion 20th Foot (East Devonshire)

Nichols, Joseph
Service Number: 23
Service: British Army
Primary Unit: 2nd Battalion 6th Foot (Royal 1st Warwickshire)

"he's in the army camp at Shorncliffe, Kent. "4th Bat Rifle Brigade " . This Joseph appears on the 1871 Army Census as Service Number 1621
(I am aware of Army renumbering in the 1920s, and the TF in 1917.)

plus, there is also this chap

Nichols, Joseph
Service Number 4590
Unit: 31st Company, Royal Engineers

Have you discounted the death in AMJ 1891 in Bedford?

I haven’t cross-referenced with census……………

Nothing on FMP’s military records with that service number. If, by chance, he was demobbed over there, he could have stayed on.

Looking at the history of the 4th Btn, they were in England? in 1889 - Devonport c1892 and Dublin in 1896.
They were in S A 1901/2 - presumably the Boer War
Disbanded in 1922

I'll be grateful if anyone can spot Joseph after 1887-89, please, especially his death.


NICKOLS, JOSEPH mmn HOLTOM
GRO Reference: 1841 M Quarter in BUCKINGHAM Volume 06 Page 344

Joseph Nichols
in the England & Wales, Christening Index, 1530-1980
Name: Joseph Nichols
Gender: Male
Christening Date: 5 Apr 1841
Christening Place: Akeley, Buckinghamshire, England
Father: Andrew Nichols
Mother: Rachel Nichols


1841 & 1851: in Akeley with parents and siblings.

Joseph Nichols
in the 1851 England Census
Name Joseph Nichols
Age 10
Estimated Birth Year abt 1841
Relation Son
Father's Name Andrew Nichols
Mother's Name Rachel Nichols
Gender Male
Where born Akeley, Buckinghamshire, England
Civil parish Akeley
County/Island Buckinghamshire
Country England
Registration District Buckingham
Sub-registration district Leckhampstead
ED, institution, or vessel 6
Neighbors
Household schedule number 50
Piece 1724
Folio 64
Page number 12
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship
Andrew Nichols 41 Head
Rachel Nichols 34 Wife
George Nichols 16 Son [born as Holtom, 1834, before mother's marriage ]
Joseph Nichols 10 Son
Henry Nichols 2 Son

He's not with his parents in 1861.

1871: he's in the army camp at Shorncliffe, Kent. "4th Bat Rifle Brigade " .

This appears to be Joseph in 1887-89:

J Nichols
in the UK, Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1949
Name J Nichols
Service Date 1887-1889
Service Place India
Campaign or Service Burma
Regiment or Unit Name 4th Battalion Rifle Brigade
Regimental Number 5461

Perhaps he died out there.

I don't have high hopes of a definite answer.
Joseph Nicholls is a fairly common name. If he returned to the UK, he could have died anywhere.


His mother emigrated to the USA between 1871 and 1880, and his brother Henry also went in 1873.
His father must have gone, too, as he's with Rachel on 1880 US census in Brooklyn, even though Rachel was calling herself a widow in 1871 in Akeley.