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	John Shadrach Piercy
	Hundred of Bassetlaw \| Derivation of the Town's name \| General description
	Prefatory observations \| Extracts from the Doomsday Book \| Public and private grants, &c. chronologically arranged
	First establishment of corporations \| Recapitulation of ancient grants, charters, &c. \| Charter of King James I.
	State of the representation \| Contested elections \| Election of 1826 \| List of representatives
	Antiquity of the office of bailiff \| Aldermen of 1607 \| List of bailiffs from 1700 \| Present body corporate
	Places of public worship \| The Parish Church \| The Methodist chapel \| The Independent Dissenters' chapel
	The Free Grammar School \| The National School \| Sleswicke's hospital \| The Alms Houses \| The Dorcas Charity
	Public buildings, works &c. \| The Square, &c. \| The Town Hall \| The Theatre \| The News Room \| The Post Office \| The Bank \| The Workhouse \| The bridge \| The Broad Stone
	The Great North Road \| The Deanry of Retford \| The Chesterfield Canal \| The River Idle \| The Cars and Commons
	Miscellaneous articles \| The Savings' Bank \| Mr Holmes' Room \| Mr John Hudson's Room \| Biographical sketches
	West Retford \| General description \| The Parish Church \| Catalogue of the Rectors \| Holy Trinity Hospital \| The Free School \| Baptists' Meeting House \| Family of the Denmans
	Babworth \| General description \| The Parish Church \| The hamlet of Ranby \| The hamlet of Moreton
	Ordsall \| General description \| The hamlet of Thrumpton \| Whitehouses \| The Parish Church \| Catalogue of Rectors
	Grove \| General description \| Castle Hill Wood \| The Parish Church \| Catalogue of Rectors \| Family of the Eyres
	Clarborough \| General description \| The Parish Church \| Catalogue of vicars \| The hamlet of Bolham \| Hamlet of Welham \| Hamlets of Moorgate and Spittal-Hill \| Hamlet of Little Greenley

	Map 1. The Retford area in 1836
	Map 2. East and West Retford in 1836
	Map 3. Detailed map of East and West Retford (1835)

John Shadrach Piercy (1801-1868)

Portrait of John Piercy: 1801-1868. John Shadrach Piercy was baptised on 9 December 1801 in the Yorkshire village of Rillington, near Malton. His father was the village schoolmaster.

Piercy moved to Retford in 1822 to take up the post of master of the National School on Chapelgate and immediately busied himself with a range of other activities: he became parish clerk for East Retford, and journalist on several local newspapers.

His History of Retford was published in the autumn of 1828, in good time for the Christmas trade! Piercy planned a revised edition but this sadly never materialised.

In the mid-1830s Piercy began to establish himself as a land-surveyor. His life was also touched by scandal in 1852 over accounting irregularities while acting as assistant overseer of the poor: he was forced to resign. He died after a long illness on 22 June 1868 and was buried in Ordsall churchyard.

Source: B J Biggs, J S Piercy, Retford historian, Transactions of the Thoroton Society, vol LXXIX, 1975, 60-71.

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