page_title: Retford
section_title: Historians
hierarchical_section_title: Retford / History / Historians
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Dr. Robert Thoroton (1623–1678), of Car Colston, Nottinghamshire, England, antiquary and author of The Antiquities of Nottinghamshire (1677). Namesake of The Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire
context_page_description: Retford, also known as East Retford, is a market town in Nottinghamshire, England, 31 miles from Nottingham, and 23 miles west of Lincoln. The population at the 2011 census was 22,013. The town is in the valley of the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal passes through the centre. The village of Ordsall, west of the River Idle and the East Coast Main Line railway, and the former hamlet of Thrumpton are suburbs. Retford is administered by Bassetlaw District Council, which itself is now a non-constituent partner member of the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority. Retford is twinned with Pfungstadt, Germany.
context_section_description: John Shadrach Piercy was born in Rillington, near Malton and moved to Retford in 1822 to teach at the National School (a school that traditionally had strong links with St Swithun's church) on Grove Street. While living in Retford, Piercy wrote 'The History of Retford in the County of Nottingham (1828)'. This is an important work because it contains references to material that has subsequently been lost. Jones & Co Solicitors hold the Piercy Manuscript.
  Robert Thoroton was a physician and country gentleman who published a history of Nottinghamshire in 1667 entitled 'The Antiquities of Nottinghamshire'. In 1796 a new edition was published by John Throsby (1740–1803), who added an additional volume. Retford is mentioned in Volume 3. pp. 274–280.
  B.J. Biggs was the Principal Lecturer in History at Eaton Hall College and a keen local historian. He wrote a number of histories of Retford including 'Looking at Old Retford', Published by Eaton Hall College (1968), with drawings by CT Boothby; 'Living in Old Retford', Published by Eaton Hall College (1973); 'The Lost Windmills of Retford', Published by Eaton Hall College (1978).
  Other histories include:
  'In the Shadow of the Workhouse', Maurice Caplan (1984)
  'The Book of Retford', James Joffey (1991), pub Barracuda Books
  'The Early Days of Retford Workhouse', Dorinda Clark (1969), Eaton Hall College of Education
  ‘The Origins of East Retford’, M W Bishop, Transactions of the Thoroton Society, 82 (1978)
  'English small town life. Retford 1520-1642', David Marcombe (1993), Department of Adult Education, University of Nottingham
  ‘1246 and all that! A look at Retford’s historic charters’, Dolby, M (1997), Retford & District Historical & Archaeological Society Review
  'The Lay Subsidy of 1334', Glasscock, R. E., British Academy Records of Social and Economic History n.s. II, 1975
  'A history of Retford. The growth of a Nottinghamshire borough', A Jackson (1971), Eaton Hall College of Education
  'Retford Through Time', Nicola Davison Reed (2012), Amberley Publishing
  'A History of East Retford Church', Arthur A Kidson (1905)
caption: Dr Robert Thoroton, Nottinghamshire antiquarian
exif: {}