Charles Nix

The son of the well-known banker John Hennings Nix, Charles attended Eton College before going to Trinity College, Cambridge. He was in the Eton shooting eight 1890-91. Nix was commissioned into the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1891 and served with the second Volunteer Battalion until he retired with the rank of major in 1908, the same year that he won a silver medal at the London Olympics in the running target, single shot, team competition. At the outbreak of World War II he returned to service on the staff of his old Regiment and was also a small arms inspector at Woolwich. He was subsequently awarded the OBE.

Following the death of their father in 1899, Nix and his bother shared their father’s fortune, which was equivalent to more the £7 million in 2021 terms. Nix’s brother John died in 1927 and Charles inherited the family estate at Tilgate, Sussex. He sold it in 1939 shortly before the outbreak of World War II, when he divided the estate into 74 lots and put it up for sale at auction. The lakes on the estate were bought by world water speed record pioneer Sir Malcolm Campbell, and he used them for trials for his boat Bluebird.

A forestry expert, and prior to selling it, Nix maintained the estate at Tilgate and was a well-known breeder of Jersey cattle. He was also a leading authority on fruit, especially apples and pears, and was for some years on the fruit committee of the Royal Horticultural Society. Nix was also a keen fisherman.