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- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
'Duck, Nicholas (1570-1628), lawyer, was born at Heavitree, Devon, the eldest son of Richard Duck (d. 1603) of Exeter and his wife, Joanna, and elder brother of Arthur Duck. He matriculated from Exeter College, Oxford, on 10 July, 1584, aged fou rteen, but took no degree. He then entered Lincoln's Inn and in 1599 was called to the bar. In 1614 he was elected a bencher of his inn and he thereafter divided his time between the inn and the city of Exeter, of which he became a freeman in 16 09. Duck married Grace, daughter of Thomas Walker, alderman of Exeter, and in 1614 he bought Mount Radford, Exeter, from Sir John Doddridge. In 1617 he was made counsel to the corporation of Exeter and in the following year he was Lent reader o f Lincoln's Inn and he became recorder of Exeter. In 1622 he was one of the civic figures who planned the city's strategy of blocking Bishop Valentine Cary's moves to extend his jurisdiction in Exeter. Duck was returned to parliament as M.P. fo r the city in 1625; he served on several committees, including two concerned with religious issues, and he spoke on questions relating to the imprisonment of debtors. He produced some law reports (B.L., Hargrave MS. 51), but they were never prin ted. He died on 28 August, 1628, and was buried in Exeter Cathedral.'
J. M. Rigg, rev. Peter Stein
Sources: W. R. Prest, 'The rise of the barristers: a social history of the English bar, 1590-1640' (1986), 357 · W. P. Baildon, ed., 'The records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn: the black books,' 2 (1898) · J. Foster, 'Alumni Oxoniens es: the members of the University of Oxford, 1500-1714,' (1891-2) · W. T. MacCaffrey, 'Exeter, 1540-1640: the growth of an English county town,' 2nd edn. (Cambridge, M.A., 1975), 218, 224 · M. Jansson and W. B. Bidwell, eds., 'Proceedings in par liament, 1625' (1987).
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1570 - 1628 (58 years)
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