Barry J Biggs (historian)
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Barry J Biggs | |
|---|---|
| Add a Photo | |
| Born | 1932 Leicester |
| Died | 2003 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Educator, historian |
Barry J. Biggs (1932-2003) was an educator, author of books on methodism and local history, and Methodist lay pastor.
Life
Barry John Biggs was born in Leicester in 1932, graduating from the University of Leicester with a degree in history following National Service in the navy. He gained a teaching diploma from Durham University and a PhD from the University of Nottingham.[1]
Between 1956 and 1961 he taught at Darwen Grammar School (now Darwen Vale High School), then at Wesley College, Ibadan, Nigeria between 1961 and 1963. In 1963 he moved to teach at Eaton Hall College of Education (a teacher training college), located in the village of Eaton, where he was principal lecturer until its closure in 1980. During this time he lived in Retford, Nottinghamshire. Afterwards he became Warden of the Lambeth Methodist International House, worked for four years for the Shaftesbury Society (now Livability), and was the Senior Tutor on the East Midlands Ministry Training Course. After his retirement he became a local lay pastor at Colsterworth.[2][3]
Biggs was best known as a prolific and notable author of books and articles on the history of Methodism and North Nottinghamshire - particularly of the Retford area.[4] He did significant amounts of primary research and his books and articles are now frequently cited by contemporary historians, while his histories are held in major collections as far afield as Australia and the US. His 1970 history of methodism in Retford (The story of the Methodists of Retford and District) was cited as a primary source by Historic England in their listing of the Methodist Chapel in Grove Street, Retford.[5]
Biggs donated an important collection of photographs assembled during his research work to the local studies library in Retford.[6]
He died in April 2003.[7]
Works
Nottinghamshire
'The Pre-Census Population of North Nottinghamshire Parishes' (1972)
'Early Victorian Schools in North Nottinghamshire' (1977)
'Living in East Markham', Retford and District Historical and Archaeological Society (1977) - co-authored with Hardy, B.
Retford
'Looking at old Retford' (1968)
'Anthony Metcalfe - printer, bookseller and publisher' (1969)
'The Story of the Methodists of Retford and District' (1970)
'The disciplined society: early Victorian preachers in the Retford Wesleyan circuit' (1971)[8][9]
'A Cannon for Retford' (1972)
'Francis Clater, Farrier' (1972)
'J. S. Piercy, Retford Historian' (1975)[10]
'Walking in Old Retford: Route 1, Cannon Square to Town Hall Yard' (1976)
'Two "Battles" in Regency Retford' (1976)
'Early Victorian schools in north Nottinghamshire' (1977)[11] [12]
'Town Criers of Nineteenth Century Retford' (1978)
'The lost windmills of Retford' (1978)
'Retford Emigrants in South Carolina, 1847-57 (1982)
'Charles Hopkinson, Victorian Millwright and Engineer of Retford' (1993)
Methodism[13]
'In the Heart of the City: 150th anniversary of Bishop Street Methodist Chapel 1815-1965' (1965)
'The First Methodist of Retford' (1967)
'The Story of the Methodists of Retford and District' (1970)[14]
'The Disciplined Society: Early Victorian Preachers in the Retford Wesleyan Circuit' (1971)
Hayton Methodist Chapel, 150 Years: Anniversary Souvenir, 1823-1973 (1974)[15]
'Methodism in a Rural Society: North Nottinghamshire, 1740-1851' (1975) Ph.D. thesis[16][17]
'Rockley Methodist chapel, 1875-1975: Centenary Souvenir' (1975)
'Everton Methodism Past and Present' (1976)
'Grove Street Methodist Church, Retford, Notts: Centenary, 1980 (1980)
'Early Methodists in N.E. Notts', Heritage. Journal of the East Midlands Branch of the Wesley Historical Society (1984)
'Early Preachers in a Rural Area', Epworth Witness and J. of the Lincolnshire Methodist History Society.
'The Wesleys and the Early Dorset Methodists' (1987)
'Saints of the Soil: Early Methodism in Agricultural Areas', Proc. of the Wesley Historical Society (1992)[18]
'Uriah Longbottom and John Tudsbury (Two Nineteenth Century Retford Primitive Methodists)' (1995)
'Ellen Gretton and Her Circle' (1999)
'Churches, Chapels, and the Parish Communities of Lincolnshire 1660 - 1900' (2000)
'Methodist Excise Officers' (2000)[19]
References
- ↑ "Dr Barry J. Biggs". A dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ "Dr Barry J. Biggs". A dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ Griffiths, E.R.; Ableson, E.L.; Morgan, E.R. (February 1980). Eaton Hall 1946-1980.
- ↑ "A NOTTINGHAMSHIRE BIBLIOGRAPHY: PUBLICATIONS ON NOTTINGHAMSHIRE HISTORY BEFORE 1998" (PDF). Thoroton Society. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ "National Heritage List for England: Methodist Church, Grove Street". Historic England. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
- ↑ Andrew Nicholson. "Retford - graphic and photographic". Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway.
- ↑ "The Methodist Church Nottingham and Derby District Local Preachers Book of Remembrance" (PDF). Nottingham and Derby Methodist District. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ BJ Biggs (1971). The disciplined society - early Victorian preachers in the Retford Wesleyan circuit. Thoroton Society Transactions.
- ↑ "Bibliography of urban history". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
- ↑ "John Shadrach Piercy (1801-1868)". Nottinghamshire History. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
- ↑ B J Biggs (1977). Early Victorian schools in north Nottinghamshire'. Transactions of the Thoroton Society 81.
- ↑ Paul Elliott & Stephen Daniels (8 October 2025). Pestalozzianism, natural history and scientific education in nineteenth-century England - the Pestalozzian institution at Worksop, Nottinghamshire.
- ↑ Clive D. Field. "Bibliography of Methodist Historical Literature, 1974-2011. Writings on the History of British and Irish Methodism" (PDF). Biblical Studies. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ "The Nottinghamshire Bibliography Online". Notts History. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ "Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society" (PDF). Biblical Studies. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ Clive Field. "Methodist prosopography: sources and exemplars of collective biography in British Methodism". Research Gate. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ Clive Field. "'The social composition of English Methodism to 1830: a membership analysis'". Research Gate. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ "SAINTS OF THE SOIL: Early Methodism in Agricultural Areas" (PDF). Biblical Studies. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ "Methodist Excise Officers" (PDF). Biblical Studies. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
External links
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