[1][2] Nicholas was born in a small thatched house near Trefgarn chapel, not far from Solva, Pembrokeshire.
In 1856, he was appointed professor of biblical literature and mental and moral science at the Presbyterian College at Carmarthen.
In 1863 he settled in London, resigning his professorship, and thenceforth, with the aid of Sir Hugh Owen, Lord Aberdare, Archdeacon Griffiths, Rev.
David Thomas (editor of the Homilist), and others, he promoted a scheme for the furtherance of higher education in Wales on non-sectarian principles, and became the secretary of the movement.
As a result of these efforts, the University College of Wales was founded in 1872, when a building at Aberystwyth was purchased.