West Retford, Nottinghamshire Genealogy

Guide to West Retford, Nottinghamshire ancestry, family history and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census, birth, marriage and death records.

Parish History
RETFORD, WEST (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of East Retford, Hatfield division of the wapentake of Bassetlaw, N. division of the county of Nottingham, ¼ of a mile (W.) from East Retford. The parish is separated from East Retford by the river Idle, and intersected by the Chesterfield canal.

Additional information:

West Retford St Michael the Archangel is an Ancient Parish in the Market Town of Retford in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire.

The Parish Church of St Michael the Archangel has been designated a grade B listed building British listed building

See also Retford Wikipedia

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

From 1837 this parish was within East Retford registration district Certificates may be obtained for post 1837 events : Bassetlaw The Register Office County Council Offices Chancery Lane Retford DN22 6DG Phone:01777 708631 Fax:01777 860667 Email:bassetlawro.cc@nottscc.gov.uk

Church records
West Retford parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Records are also available at the Nottinghamshire Archives.

Census records
Nottinghamshire Census

1811 Census - West Retford. Census of West Retford taken on 10 March 1811, showing given name, and surname head of household, and number of males, and females in each household, This was done for taking an account of the population of Great Britian. Taken from Nottinghamshire Archives Ref PR 8024, transcription in Nottinghamshire Family History Soc. Magazine, vol. 95, page 14-15, FHL Ref 942.52 D25n

West Retford 1794 Census. This census was taken 17 March 1794, fdorename, surname, and number of males and females in hoursehold. Original held at Nottinghamshire Archives Ref PR 8024, transcription in Nottinghamshire Family History Soc. Magazine vol. 105, page 22-23, FHL Ref 942.52 D25n

Poor Law Unions
East Retford Poor Law Union,Nottinghamshire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Nottinghamshire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain