West Retford

The Library at East Retford is nearby and will prove useful in your research.

• A cemetery of over 5 acres was formed on the Great North Road in 1854. It contained one mortuary chapel.
   
• Although the cemetery is in this parish, it is known as the East Retford Cemetery and was under the administration of the East Retford Town Council's Burial Board.
   
• Andrew HILL has a photograph of the Entrance to Retford cemetery on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2010. And, yes, that is St. Joseph Catholic Church next to the entrance.
   
• Andrew HILL also has a photograph of the Chesterfield Canal alongside the cemetery on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2010.
   
• You can search for buried relatives at the Retford cemetery Find a Grave site.
   

• The parish was in the East Retford sub-district of the East Retford Registration District.
   
• There was a special census of West Retford in 1794. Typically, in those days the entry would show head of household's surname and a count of people in the household. There is a 23-page booklet available from the Nottinghamshire Family History Society, "West Retford - 1794 Census," by J. B. Bailey, publ. 1996.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel.
   
• The church was restored in 1864.
   
• The church chancel was lengthened in 1890.
   
• The church seats 400.
   
• Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Michael's Church on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2005.
   
• For more history, pick up a copy of "St. Michael the Archangel's Church, West Retford," which is a history of the church, publ. by Church Publishers, 1961, about 17 pages.
   

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1770.
   
• The International Genealogical Index (IGI) includes records from this parish for the period 1622-1841.
   
• A Baptist chapel was built here before 1869.
   
• There is a relatively recent Roman Catholic Church dedicated to Saint Joseph. B. HILTON has a photograph of St. Joseph's Church on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2005.
   
• Alan MURRAY-RUST also has a photograph of St. Joseph's Church on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2015.
   

• The parish was in the East Retford sub-district of the East Retford Registration District.
   
• Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
   

West Retford is a village and was a parish on the west bank of the River Idle, across from East Retford. The parish covered 1,000 acres.

If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A1 motorway north to Ranby and turn right onto the B6079 trunk road. Continuing east through Babworth, and West Retford is dead ahead. It is hard to distinguish West Retford from East Retford these days, but everything west of the Idle River is the old parish and village of West Retford.
   
• Neil THEASBY has a photograph of the Chesterfield Canal in West Retford on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2020.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from West Retford to another place.

George COBB was born on 25 Feb 1700 in West Retford, Notts, England.
He married Anne CARLISLE on 03 Sep 1730. George and Anne had the following children:
i. THOMAS COBB was born on 17 Nov 1731 in West Retford, Notts, England.
ii. ANN COBB was born on 15 Oct 1733 in West Retford, Notts, England.
iii. JOHN COBB was born on 18 Feb 1736 in West Retford, Notts, England.
iv. SARAH COBB was born on 18 Jan 1738 in West Retford, Notts, England.
v. GEORGE COBB was born on 26 Nov 1742 in West Retford, Notts, England.
vi. JOHN COBB was born on 03 May 1747 in West Retford, Notts, England.

• West Retford Hall is actually in East Retford parish. It is a grade II historic building, built in 1699.
   
• Alan MURRAY-RUST also has a photograph of West Retford Hall on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2015.
   

• See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK695821 (Lat/Lon: 53.331406, -0.95753), West Retford which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

• The village had a hospital (Holy Trinity Hospital) for sixteen "decayed" tradesmen, founded in 1665 by John DARREL, M.D., Esq. and built in 1671 It was rebuilt in 1832-34. It is not known what records may have survived as the laws did not require the records to be archived. The hospital was still in operation in 2015. It is not a "hospital" in modern terms, it is a residency home for select elderly people. "Sheltered accommodation" in modern terms.
   
• B. HILTON has a photograph of Trinity Hospital on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2005.
   
• Graham HOGG has a photograph of Trinity Hospital on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2012.
   
• Richard CROFT also has a photograph of Trinity Hospital of 1832 on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2017.
   
• Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of Trinity Hospital entrance on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2015.
   
• The hospital is a Grade II listed building with British Heritage.
   
• The Retford Hospital and Dispensary was on Thrumpton Lane.
   
• The Retford Municipal Borough Infectious Disease Hospital was on New Street.
   

On the wooden War Memorial in St. Michael's Church are the following names (all of whom fell in "the Great War"):

1. Stanley Adwick
2. William Booth
3. Noel Button
4. John Chapman
5. Charles Martin Chapman
6. Reginald William Clark
7. George Davison
8. Walter Davison
9. William Eyre
10. Walter Fuguel
11. Charles Henry Grant
12. Horace Edgar Higgs
13. James Ernest Hindley
14. Trevor John Holliday
15. Benjamin Canning Huntsman
16. Alfred Nicholson
17. Arthur Slingsby
18. George James Smith
19. James Smith
20. Walter Edwin Stockdale
21. Edwin Hutchinson Taylor
22. Harold Willis
23. Walter Willis
24. Reginald Prince Wintour

There were three newspapers in Retford in 1912:

1. The Retford, Worksop, Isle of Axholme & Gainsborough News, 14 Bridgegate, East Retford: publisher: Charles BUTLER, district manager; published Friday.
    
2. The Retford, Gainsborough & Worksop Times, Market square, East Retford: publisher: Bennett JACKSON, manager; published Friday.
    
3. The Retford & Worksop Herald, 8 Exchange Street, East Retford: George A. SMITH, managing editor; published Tuesday.
    

• This parish was an ancient parish in Nottingham county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• The parish was in the Hatfield division of the ancient Bassetlaw Wapentake (Hundred) in the northern division of the county.
   
• On 1st April, 1921, this parish was abolished and amalgamated with the Civil Parish of East Retford and, by in large, became the West Ward of East Retford.
   
• The petty session court for Retford Petty Session District was held every Saturday at the courthouse just after lunch.
   
• District governance is provided by the Bassetlaw District Council.
   

• Colin CHEESMAN has a photograph of Trinity Hospital on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2019. Originally established as almshouses in 1674 following an endowment from the will of Dr. John DARREL of West Retford.
   
• Bastardy cases would be heard at the Retford petty session hearings every Saturday.
   
• After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a part of the East Retford Poor Law Union.
   

Year	Inhabitants
1801	483
1811	542
1821	571
1831	593
1841	618
1851	653
1871	691
1881	816
1891	821
1901	782
1911	881

• A National School for both sexes was built here in 1860.
   
• Ashley DACE has a photograph of Retford Oaks High School on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2010. This is a relatively new school built in the parish in 2007. It closed in 2012 and re-emerged as Retford Oaks Academy.
   
• On the northern edge of the parish is the Elizabethan Academy