John Nicol

John Nicol (1755-1825) was a Scottish sailor who in 1789 sailed on Lady Juliana, a ship that transported convict women to Port Jackson in New South Wales, Australia.

In 1794 Nicol was impressed into the Royal Navy, and subsequently fought at the battles of Cape St Vincent and the Nile on HMS Goliath.

With the resumption of the Napoleonic Wars, Nicol lived in constant fear of being impressed, and thus left Edinburgh for rural Scotland.

[4] In 1822, Nicol was approached by John Howell, a 'polyartist' whose numerous inventions included a device for trimming the leaves of books, in addition to a flying machine, and a prototype submarine.

His method seems to have involved befriending impoverished men and then noting down their stories; Howell assigned all royalties from publication to the subjects themselves.