Frederick B. Nichols

"Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Nichols was best known as an engraver and a mining engineer.  He apprenticed as an engraver in New York before starting his own business around 1845.  He invented and patented a process of relief engraving in 1848, but gave up engraving in 1858 to work on inventions.  Nichols moved to Nova Scotia in 1865 with a particular interest in gold fields and worked as a chemist, mining engineer and professor of geology.  He returned to New York in 1884, where he resumed engraving for a year.  As of 1906, he was retired and living in Bridgeport."-

It is likely Nichols' work as a mining engineer led to the production of a series of watercolors portraying some of the key gold mining districts and industrial hubs of Nova Scotia.  With his background in engraving, he may have considered using these paintings as a basis for prints to publicize the Nova Scotia goldfields." - Art Gallery of Nova Scotia