Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls, a Yorta Yorta man born on 09th December 1906 at
Cummeragunja Mission in New South Wales, was the youngest of 5 children born to Herbert Nicholls and Florence Atkinson. Raised on the mission, Sir Doug completed his schooling there which as was common at the time was to a grade 3 standard. At the age of thirteen Sir Doug began working with his Uncle as a tar boy and general hand on sheep stations, before later taking a job with dredging teams, constructing levees on the Murray River.

After his brothers, Dowie and Wally Nicholls, signed up with Tongala Football Club in 1924, Sir Doug followed, being joined in 1925 by Billie Muir, Lynch Cooper, and the Briggs Brothers, Aaron, Eddie, Les and Selwyn. Through playing for Tongala the boys from Cummeragunga all got jobs working for the Victorian Water Commission re-modelling channels, where their coach from Tongala Football Club, Leo Stockdale, was a water bailiff and also their boss.

Tongala local Andy Kelly had the responsibility of driving his big yellow car down to the Yambuna punt each Saturday morning to collect the boys, before filling them with steak and eggs and dropping them off to play for Tongala that afternoon. After games they would stay overnight at the Railway Hotel before returning home the following day.

Eventually Sir Doug secured a job working with Dave Rowlands as a cartage contractor driving a four-in-hand truck, whilst living in a small hut behind the Railway Hotel and eating most of his meals with the Rowlands’.

After a couple of seasons playing football in Tongala, Sir Doug moved to Melbourne in 1927 hoping to play football at a higher level. Initially trialling for Carlton in the VFL, he played a handful of games for Carlton’s Reserves Team before leaving due to the constant racism he faced from both spectators and teammates alike. Whilst nervous due to the level of racism that he had faced at Carlton, Sir Doug went on to sign with Northcote in the VFA where he was also given a job by Northcote Council as a groundskeeper at the oval where they played.  Playing for Northcote he quickly became known as an energetic and speedy wingman capable of spectacular feats, despite being one of the shortest players at 157cm and weighing in at just 65kg.

By 1929 Sir Doug was a regular starter for Northcote and was a member of their premiership winning team that year, whilst also winning the Nyah and Warracknabeal Gifts showing his talents as a sprinter. Continuing to play for Northcote in the VFA Sir Doug played in losing grand final teams in 1930-31, whilst also polling third in the Recorder Cup (what is now the Liston Trophy).

Wanting to earn more than a seasonal wage, Sir Doug signed a three-year contract with Jimmy Sharman’s travelling boxing show where his skills as a boxer were put on display. As was popular as the time the boxing matches were a spectacle with bouts matching opposites - locals against tent boxers, white against black, and often men of different sizes facing off against one another. Sir Doug often became the focus of racially motivated taunts and challenges in the boxing tent, with crowds often hurling racial abuse toward him.  Despite showing talent, Sir Doug was a far better footballer than he was boxer, being described by a local paper at the time as ‘slow and awkward’ but packing a ‘good wallop’.

In 1932, the Fitzroy Victorian Football League club came knocking, and Jimmy Sharman, being known as a man who treated his fighters fairly, agreed to release Sir Doug from his contract so that he could pursue his opportunity to play football at the highest level.

Whilst accounts of what happened on Sir Doug’s first day at Fitzroy Football Club differ slightly, they all tend to agree on a certain level. Having endured racial comments and behaviours at previous clubs, legend has it that Sir Doug distanced himself from teammates, changing separately to the rest of the team, unsure how his new team mateswould react to having a First Peoples man on their team. When Haydn Bunton Senior, fresh off of winning the Brownlow Medal, walked into the Fitzroy clubrooms, and saw his new team mate, a mass of nerves and changing by himself, he walked over to Sir Doug and placed his bag down next to him, giving him a soft squeeze on the shoulder as if to say that everything would be ok, before beginning to change next to him, like he would any other man. This small act of kindness saw Sir Doug and Haydn Bunton Snr become fast friends, a friendship that would last for many years.

Round 1 of 1932 saw Sir Doug make his debut against Carlton, the team that had ostracised him years previously. Injury saw him manage only two more games that year. Having recovered from injury, Sir Doug became a constant fixture in the Fitzroy team during the 1933 season, going on to represent the VFL in a match against the VFA in 1934, before becoming the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander player to represent the Victorian Interstate Team in 1935. Playing his 50th game for Fitzroy in Round 13 of 1936, Sir Doug managed only a single senior game in 1937, before a bout of influenza saw him relegated to the Fitzroy Reserves Team, where he went on to win the Best and Fairest award that year.

1938 would see Sir Doug return to Northcote in the VFA, where knee injuries in 1939 would force him to retire from playing football. Sir Doug later returned to Northcote as a non-playing coach for the 1947 season.

Whilst this may seem like the end of the story of Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls, it could easily be argued that it was only just beginning.

Following the death of his mother Florence, Sir Doug deepened his Christian faith, being baptised at the Northcote Church of Christ in 1935, he set upon a path that shaped his lifelong ministry.

1935 also saw Sir Doug become a founding member of William Cooper’s Australian Aborigines’ League (AAL) where they began lobbying Members of Parliament to have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples affairs made a Federal matter, not a small task by any means as this would require a referendum and a change to the Australian Constitution. 26th January 1938 saw Sir Doug participate in the Day of Mourning protest in Sydney, where First Peoples leaders from across Australia joined to demand a change to the Constitution that would see all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people raised to ‘full citizen status and equality within the community’.

With William Cooper’s retirement in 1940, Sir Doug took over as Secretary of the AAL to continue the push for First People to be recognised in the Australian Constitution.

On 02 June 1941 Sir Doug enlisted with the Citizen Military Forces, training at Seymour and Bonegilla before being posted to the 29th Battalion where he served as batman to Major Frank Corr. Sir Doug’s military service was short lived though, as he was discharged on compassionate grounds on 22nd January 1942 at the request of the Fitzroy police due to escalating tensions between servicemen and First Peoples families living in crowded and dilapidated housing in Fitzroy. Returning to Fitzroy, Sir Doug worked as a Social Worker within the Fitzroy First Peoples community caring for all of those that he could.

In April 1942 tragedy struck with Sir Doug’s brother Howie being killed in a road accident, leaving Howie’s wife Gladys a widow with three children to care for. On 26th December 1942 Sir Doug went on to marry Gladys at Moama Methodist Church in what was deemed a caring gesture that developed into a loving partnership.

In January 1943 Sir Doug initiated ‘Aboriginal Sunday’, which featured a gum leaf orchestra and choir. This service moved to being held in July in 1955 and eventually evolved into what we now know as National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) week.

With his wife Gladys, Sir Doug continued to help those in need, working to improve the lives of First Peoples in the Fitzroy area. Being ordained as a Churches of Christ Minister, Sir Doug set up the first Aboriginal Church of Christ in Australia conducting a ministry from a chapel in Gore Street, Fitzroy. Sir Doug and Gladys relied on donations, a small honorarium, as well as Sir Doug’s employment as team coach and curator at the Northcote Football Ground to fund their activities, with this later being supplemented by income from grocery and opportunity shops established by Gladys in the 1950’s. They formed an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Girls’ Hostel in 1956, for which they acted as house parents, and bought holiday units for the use of First Peoples at Queenscliff.

During this time Sir Doug continued to champion First Peoples rights as well as advocating on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations around Australia. In 1957, along with other activists, he formed the Victorian Aborigines Advancement League which worked against assimilation policies and raised awareness nationally of the issues and challenges that First Peoples faced at that time. Later in 1957 Sir Doug was approached by Jessie Street about bringing in the Victorian Aboriginal Advancement League to form a federal council to campaign for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. This led to Sir Doug becoming a foundation member of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in 1958.

The work of these different bodies, as well as intense lobbying by people such as Sir Doug, led to the 1967 Australian referendum where 90.77 percent of the Australian population voted in favour of changes to the Constitution so that like all other Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be counted as part of the population and the Commonwealth would be able to make laws for them.

Across his life Sir Doug was recognised for his achievements throughout his lifetime. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1957, Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1968, and was knighted twice, the first time being in 1972. The National Tribal Council (1970-1972), a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples political body, also declared Sir Doug Bapu Mamus (a Torres Strait term for headman).

Despite the accolades and everything that Sir Doug achieved in his life, he never forgot Tongala, taking time to attend “Back To” celebrations held in the town in 1973.

On 1st of December 1976, Sir Doug became the first (and as of 2025, only) First Peoples person to serve as Governor of a State when he was appointed Governor of South Australia. On 20th of March 1977 he hosted Queen Elizabeth II during her royal tour where she bestowed on him a second knighthood, making him a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO).

Having suffered a stroke on 25th January 1977, ill health forced Sir Doug to relinquish his role as Governor of South Australia with him stepping down from the role on 30th April 1977. After stepping down as Governor of South Australia, Sir Doug continued to preach in Fitzroy up until his death on the 4th June 1988 in Mooroopna. In recognition of his accomplishments, he was honoured with a State Funeral before being laid to rest at Cummeragunja Cemetery.

In remembering Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls, we honor a life that transcended boundaries—between faith and activism, sport and service, justice and reconciliation. Whilst short in stature, he was a giant amongst men, standing tall in his unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. His tireless efforts as an athlete, pastor and statesman left an indelible mark on Australia's moral landscape. More than a leader, he was a bridge between cultures, a voice for the voiceless, and a testament to the power of humility, conviction, and grace. As we reflect on his legacy, we are reminded that true leadership exists in the courage to stand for what is right and the compassion to uplift those around us.

Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls KCVO OBE MBE