Vigors, Nicholas Aylward (1785?–1840), zoologist, soldier, and liberal MP, was probably born in 1785 (although some sources claim 1787) at Old Leighlin, Co. Carlow, eldest surviving son of Capt. Nicholas Aylward Vigors, 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment, of Old Leighlin and Belmont, Co. Carlow, and his first wife, Catherine (d. March 1802), daughter of Solomon Richards of Solsborough, Co. Wexford. As the only male child of the marriage, he became heir to the property over his four sisters, Frances (who died in infancy), Anne, Frances Richards, and Matilda. His stepmother, Mary Jane Browne (whom his father married in 1803), daughter of Col. John Browne, 13th Light Dragoons, bore three sons, all of whom had distinguished legal and military careers.
Vigors matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford, in November 1803, and in November 1806 was admitted to Lincoln's Inn. Leaving Oxford in 1809 without graduating, he joined the Grenadier Guards as an ensign and served from 1810 in the Peninsular war, and was wounded at Barossa (5 March 1811). Repatriated to England, he resigned his commission and continued his studies at Oxford. In timely support of his intentions he had written An enquiry into the nature and extent of poetick licence (1810; 2nd ed. 1813). After a lengthy undergraduate career, he received his BA degree in 1817 and master's in 1818. He devoted much of his time to zoology, a modern and highly fashionable discipline in nineteenth-century scientific circles. Specialising in ornithology and entomology, he became a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1819, to whose Transactions he was a contributor.
In 1826 he became FRS and was a founding member of the Zoological Society (of London), established in that year by Stamford Raffles, the renowned founder of Singapore. Vigors donated his collection of preserved fauna to the Society (which opened the zoological gardens at Regent's Park in 1828 that subsequently became London Zoo) and served as its secretary until 1833. Vigors's fellowships extended to the Society of Antiquaries, the Geological Society, and the Historical Society. He was a member both of the Royal Institution and of the RIA. He wrote many journal articles for these bodies, mainly on ornithology; collaborated with leading zoologists including Sir William Jardine and Prideaux John Selby in preparing their Illustrations of ornithology (1825–39); and in the same discipline contributed to The zoology of Captain Beechey's voyage (1839). He was editor of the Zoological Journal between 1828 and 1835.
His activities in London did not divert his attention from Ireland, as he inherited Old Leighlin and Belmont on his father's death in 1828 and decided to enter politics. He was distinguished for the manner of his election to parliament, if not the content or frequency of his speeches. Taking the liberal point of view, he was championed in the 1830s by Daniel O'Connell (qv) who saw in him a friend of the newly enfranchised Roman catholic electorate. Vigors was initially elected repeal MP for Carlow borough in the general election of December 1832. As the repeal candidate in the general election of 1835, he was again supported by O'Connell, who had also backed (unsuccessfully) Alexander Raphael (1775–1850), an English Jewish convert to catholicism, for Co. Carlow. Vigors was narrowly defeated by the tory Francis Bruen (1793–1863). O'Connell had hoped he might stand in Co. Mayo, if only to retain a seat there. However, in June 1835 Vigors and Raphael won an unexpected by-election for Co. Carlow, resulting from the unseating (by petition) of the conservative MPs, Col. Henry Bruen (1792?-1852) and Thomas Kavanagh (1767–1837). Vigors and Raphael in turn were unseated by petition in August 1835, and Bruen and Kavanagh reinstated. Undeterred, Vigors was returned in February 1837 as liberal/repeal MP for Carlow county, in the by-election caused by the death of Kavanagh. In the subsequent general election of August 1837, he was again returned with another liberal, John Ashton Yates (1782–1863).
Vigors was also appointed deputy county lieutenant and continued in parliament, speaking little but active on committees. He died 26 October 1840 at his London home on Chester Terrace, Regent's Park. He had been an honorary DCL (Oxford) since 1832 and had remained unmarried. He was buried at home in St Lazerian's cathedral at Old Leighlin.