Nicholas was born about 1709, likely in Herefordshire, but his birthplace has not yet been found. His ancestors had lived near the border of Herefordshire and Shropshire in England for many generations and very likely were Welsh. His father was born in Bury Hinton, in Richards Castle Parish, Herefordshire, and he married a woman whose name is not known after he left Herefordshire for parts unknown. He and his father were listed as a beneficiary in the will of his uncle, John Davies (the younger), in Herefordshire, 14 November 1727. The birthplace of Nicholas and his 2 brothers Francis and Samuel is still a mystery. Philip Ballard of Reading, Berkshire, with the support and encouragement of other Davies family cousins, is responsible for all that is currently known of Nicholas' origins. To him we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Nicholas probably immigrated to Virginia between 1723 and 1726, at a likely age of 15 or 20, from the British Isles. By 1730 he had become a merchant in Henrico Co, Virginia.

He married the widow Judith Fleming in Goochland Co, Virginia, 24 December 1733. She was the daughter of Charles Fleming and Susanna Tarlton of New Kent County. Nicholas signed a marriage contract with Judith Fleming in Goochland Co, Virginia, 19 December 1733. A copy of a marriage settlement, dealing with the fate of her extensive pre-marital property holdings, 24 Dec 1733 may be seen in Am.Pub.U., No.1, vol.7, p.99 The surety was Middleton Shaw and the witness was H. Wood. The actual marriage bond, recorded in Goochland Co, confirms that her maiden name was Judith Fleming, that she was widow of Thomas Randolph, and the sureties on the marriage bond were her two brothers, Tarleton and John Fleming Randolph.

She had first married Col. Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe in 1712, but he died in 1730, leaving her with 3 children. Col. Randolph, of the powerful Randolph family, had befriended young Nicholas, making him his business assistant and giving him a start in the mercantile business. When Judith and Nicholas married, he was barely 20 while Judith was about 44, a May-December marriage. They did not have children. She died sometime before 1743, before she was 54.

By 1744, he married Catherine Whiting Clayton, born in Ware Parish Gloucester about 1724, the daughter of Dr. John Clayton, the Founder of American Botany and of Elizabeth Whiting. They were to have only one child, Henry Landon Davies, born about 1745 in Goochland Co, Virginia.

Nicholas had become a justice of the peace in Goochland Co by 1741, justice of the peace in Cumberland Co in 1748 and Sheriff of Cumberland Co in 1750. He was a member of the Grand Jury in Williamsburg in 1747, and a churchwarden for Southam Parish.

Nicholas was a large and successful dealer in lands, locating, entering, patenting, transferring and selling them. He gradually acquired a vast domain in what is referred to as "Middle Virginia". At one time his various entries extended from Muddy Creek in Cumberland Co to the Scotch-Irish Falls near Blue Ridge in Bedford Co. In 1743 these entries were transferred to the country above Lynchburg, and in October 1753 Dr. William Cabell made for him an extensive plotting of his lands on both sides of the James River between Judith Creek and Scotch-Irish Falls, the same being 31,850 acres. His huge land grant on both sides of the James River included the upper part of Bedford Co and the lower part of Amherst Co. Robert Davis, a kin of Cabell, had earlier enjoyed the use of a good portion of these lands but had failed to patent and register them. Dr. Cabell, while surveying land for Nicholas, tried to protect the interests of Davis by registering them in Robert's name as a prior survey before he registered the land for Nicholas. Discovered in this apparent betrayal of trust, both Cabell and Davis were sued by Nicholas, and all the land became the property of Nicholas. Davis left the state, landless, for some time, and Cabell gave up surveying. The bad blood between the Davis and Davies families remained for many generations, although time and the intermarriage of the two families ended the chill.

An analysis of the very many land transactions of Nicholas Davies would be a book in itself. Arthur Beverly Davies, III, Esq. of Virginia has made a thorough study of the transcribed records of these deeds and transfers, and one hopes that this will later be published.

After Bedford Co was formed in 1754, he and Catherine moved to his vast land holdings there. He is said to have named the nearby mountain "Fleming" in honor of Judith's maiden name (others disagree), and he named the stream that ran through it "Judith". Later he named an adjacent mountain "Katesboro" after his second wife, Catherine. He built a log cabin on the summit for a hunting lodge and named it "Eagle Eyrie". This later burned and was replaced by a tavern which was operated by 2 generations of Ogdens. After changing hands several times, in 1950 it was sold to the Virginia Baptist Assembly, and it is now called the Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center .

"Pebbleton", the later home of Nicholas Davies, still stands. It was built not long after the formation of Bedford from Lunenburg Co in 1754, perhaps built by 1780. It is 11 miles west of Lynchburg on the Holcomb Rock Road, about 1/2 mile north of the road to Natural Bridge. It was purchased in 1920 by Allen F. Johnston of South Carolina, who wanted a country place for his horse, Martha, and in 1925 they renamed it "Martha's Farm". In 1935 it was bought by the Perkins family as "Rocklawn", and in 1959 it was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Harris. It is now called "Boxwood Lawn" after the many English boxwoods along its front.

Although too old to perform military service in the Revolutionary War, he is listed by the D.A.R. as a Patriot Ancestor, because records show that he provided 800 pounds of beef and 559 pounds to Thomas Murray at New London, for use by the Revolutionary forces. (Abercrombie vol.1, pp.103, 108, and 115).

He made a will in Bedford Co, Virginia, 1794, but no copy of the will survives. His son and only heir, Henry Landon Davies, tried to have Nicholas declared incompetent (de lunatico inquinendo) 26 August 1794 on the grounds that he had been "deprived of his reasoning and understanding for ten months or more". The court dismissed the motion pending a hearing, but Nicholas died within a month. When the will was presented for probate, son Henry again protested the will on the grounds of the above incompetence, and after interviewing witnesses, the judge refused to admit the will for probate, appointing Henry as Administrator of the estate. (Bedford Co, Virginia: Court Order Book, vol.10, pp. 325, 339 and 340)

It is said that Nicholas was in processing of disposing of his estate by liberating his slaves and by offering 200 acres of his property to any man who would grow apples on the land (Chope, Personal Communication). From his son's standpoint, Nicholas was eccentrically giving away the rich estate which should have come to Henry intact. Consistent with this, a letter exists dated 6 August 1794 from Thomas Jefferson to Nicholas. The latter had asked Jefferson's advice, earlier that summer, about his proposed deeding of Amherst and Bedford lands for charitable purposes, which deed Jefferson called faulty. Jefferson further commented on the rift between Nicholas and Henry and hoped it would be patched up (courtesy of Gail Pond, Archivist for The Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest).

Nicholas died 28 September 1794 at "Pebbleton" in Bedford Co, Virginia, at 85 years of age. His estate is said to have been worth £40,000. Henry L. Davies signed the newspaper death notice on 30 September 1794.