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Billy Nicholls was born at Tabulam in about 1869, possibly to Billy Nicholls Senior who was a gold miner in the Tabulam district and an Aboriginal woman named Ellen Walker.  Billy started as the tracker at Copmanhurst on the Clarence River in September 1908 replacing Carty Cregg.  Previously, Billy had worked as a stockman for George Barnier at Moleville (12km north of Grafton).  In late 1907, the police suspected that one of the calves at Molveville was stolen and called the Grafton Tracker, Tommy Gordon, in to investigate.  Gordon found that the calf had been brought over to Moleville by Barnier from nearby Saltwater Creek.  Billy initially denied being involved but later said in court that he had helped his employer with the calf.  It turned out that the calf already belonged to Barnier and he was found not guilty.  Billy was admonished by the court for having given false information to the police, but this did not stop them employing him as the tracker at Copmanhurst.[ref]SLNSW Tindale Woodenbong Genealogy – Sheet 3; Clarence and Richmond Examiner 24 December 1907: 5, 15 February 1908: 4 & 14 April 1908: 2; NSW Police Gazette 15 January 1908: 27; Police Salary Register – Trackers, 1908-1910 State Archives and Records Authority of NSW 3/2994, Reel 1973.[/ref]

In March 1909, the Copmanhurst police received word of a terrible boating accident at Newbold.  A fresh water surge had overturned a boat on the Clarence River carrying two Aboriginal people, a man named Clancy and a toddler named Alister Jackson.  Clancy attempted to swim to the riverbank with Alister in his arms but lost grip.  The poor boy sank below and drowned.  Billy Nicholls was called in to retrieve the body.  He also acted as the undertaker at Alister’s funeral at Copmanhurst which took place the following day.  It is the only recorded case of Billy’s career, although a song about Billy’s capabilities as a tracker was later recorded by the anthropologist Malcolm Calley.[ref]Clarence and Richmond Examiner 23 March 1909: 4; AIATSIS papers of Malcolm John Chalmers Calley, 1954-1969, MS 2900 IIG  Item 17 (iii) (b) and (e).[/ref]

Billy Nicholls remained as the tracker at Copmanhurst until November 1910 when he was replaced by Tommy Gordon who was transferred from Grafton.  He moved with his wife Susan Beaton (whom he had married at Drake) to the Aboriginal settlement at Baryulgil.  Billy passed away at Baryulgil in 1927 – his funeral was attended by members of the Mundine family.  Roland Robinson later recorded a story about Billy from Ethel Gordon (nee Bawden), wife of Tommy Gordon.  According to Ethel, Billy had gone without permission to a mountain which was sacred to her father.  His intention was to find gold which he believed was buried there.  He didn’t find the gold, but the spirits sent him blind for breaking Aboriginal law.[ref]DC of William Nicol 1927/009031; Roland Robinson  The Man Who Sold His Dreaming 1965, Currawong Publishing, Sydney: 101-104.[/ref]

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