< Previous | Contents | Next >
PREFACE.
IN offering this book to the inhabitants of Retford, I wish to express my gratitude for the great kindness I have received from the numerous persons to whom I have applied for assistance and information. My thanks are especially due to the Rev. T. Gough and to Miss Johnson for the photographs from which the illustrations have been made; to Mr. E. A. E. Lambert, of the Grammar School, for making an accurate drawing of Henry Smyth's tombstone; to Mr. E. Wilmshurst, for details about the stained glass; to Dr. H. R. Beale, for typewriting my manuscript; to the Vicar, Canon Ebsworth, for constant help and advice; and above all to the late Mr. J. S. Piercy, who published the History of Retford in 1828. When Mr. Piercy died, he left behind him a large amount of manuscript containing copious extracts from the town documents, as well as a mass of valuable information which he had laboriously collected during a lifetime's researches. This manuscript is now owned by the Town Clerk, Mr. W. P. Jones, who has very kindly allowed me to make full use of it. It has been an invaluable guide, and has saved me an immense amount of labour.
I have tried to verify every statement made in the book, and trust that errors may be found to be few. If some things are omitted that might be of value to antiquarians, they must remember that the book is mainly intended to interest the public of Retford in their Corporation Church.
For any opinions expressed I am alone responsible.
ARTHUR A KIDSON
KING EDWARD VI SCHOOL,
November, 1905.
Plan of East Retford church.