Bishop Nixon had the distinction of being Van Diemens Land's first Anglican Bishop having arrived in the colony in 1843. A description of Nixon recorded in the 1840s reads thus:

He was in fact an excellent artist and a talented musician, and displayed some of his works in one of the first exhibitions in Australia, which opened in Hobart in 1845. He was married three times and had thirteen children, although not all of them were with him in Hobart.

In 1850, for the sum of 1500 pounds, he purchased Cairn Lodge from Robert Pitcairn, renamed it Bishopstowe, and set about adding a music room and other extensions to the house in order to accommodate the numerous prayer meetings and other associated Church gatherings.

In 1862 he left for England in poor health and although intending to return to Bishopstowe (today known as Runnymede), ill health forced him to retire to Italy where he spent the rest of his days, dying on the 7th April, 1879.

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