High Sheriff of Hertfordshire
The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, the title of Sheriff of Hertfordshire was retitled High Sheriff of Hertfordshire. The High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown in England and Wales, their purpose being to represent the monarch at a local level, historically in the shires.
The office was a powerful position in earlier times, as sheriffs were responsible for the maintenance of law and order and various other roles. It was only in 1908 under Edward VII that the Lord Lieutenant became more senior than the High Sheriff. Since then the position of High Sheriff has become more ceremonial, with many of its previous responsibilities transferred to High Court judges, magistrates, coroners, local authorities and the police.
Below is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Hertfordshire.
List of Sheriffs of Hertfordshire
Prior to 1567 the Sheriff of Essex was also the sheriff of Hertfordshire.Elizabeth I
Anno 9 Elizabeth : This County was severed from that of Essex, and found Sheriffs by themselves.Before 1567: see Sheriff of Essex.
Commonwealth
- 1648 Francis Flyer
- 1648 Rowland Hale
- 1650 John Rowley of Berkway
- 1651 Thomas Keightley of Hertingfordbury Park
- 1652 John Fotherley
- 1654 Humfrey Shatcrosse of Hatfield
- 1654 Sir John Barrington
- 1655 Sir John Reade
- 1658 Sir John Wittewrong, 1st Baronet
William and Mary
- 1689 Thomas Shatterden – Hatfield
- 1689 John Plumer – Blakesware
- 1690 Sir John Garrard, 3rd Baronet of Lamer
- 1691 George Hadley – East Barnet
- 1692 Sir John Bucknall of Oxhey Place, Watford
- 1693 Sir James Read – Hatfield
- 1694 William Dyer – Newenham
William III
- 1695 Sir Thomas Rolt – Sacomb
- 1696 John Gape of Harpsfield Hall, St Albans
- 1697 John Billers – Thorley
- 1698 Thomas Auncel – Ickleford
- 1699 Henry Gore – Gilston
- 1700 George Nodes – Shephall
- 1701 Thomas Blackmore
Anne
- 1702 Robert Hadsley – Munden
- 1703 Edmond Field – Stansted
- 1704 Philip Boteler – Watton
- 1705 Joseph Huntsman
- 1706 Barnard Halpenny
- 1707 Abraham Houblon replaced by Sir Richard Houblon – London
- 1708 Richard Sheppard
- 1709 Henry Houblon – London
- 1710 William Robinson Lytton of Knebworth House then William Berners of Moore Place, Much Hadham
- 1711 Henry Ewer
- 1712 William Smith
- 1713 Charles Felton
George I
- 1714 Henry Long – Bayford
- 1715 John Duncomb
- 1716 William Bucknall
- 1717 Pulter Forester – Bradfield
- 1718 James Fleet – Tewin
- 1719 John Nichols
- 1720 Sir Charles Buck – Watford
- 1721 Edward Radcliffe – Hitchin
- 1722 Thomas Kentish – St Albans
- 1723 John Seer – Yardley
- 1724 Henry Sibley – Yardley
- Thomas Sibley
- 1725 Samuel Poynter – Kelshall
- 1726 Richard Warren – Tewin
George IV
- 1820 John Earley Cook – Nunsbury
- 1821 Joseph Timperon – New Barnet
- 1822 Thomas Daniell – Little Berkhampstead
- 1823 Robert Sutton – Rossway, Northchurch
- 1824 Patrick Haydon – Colney Chapel
- 1825 Thomas Nash Kemble – Gubbins Park
- 1826 Sir George Duckett – Roydon
- 1827 Joseph Andrew Latour – Hexton Manor
- 1828 Sir Culling Smith – Bedwell Park
- 1829 Charles Phelips – Briggins Park
William IV
- 1830 William Hale – King's Walden
- 1831 Augustus Smith – Ashlyns Hall first appointed, replaced by Thomas Robert Dimsdale, Baron Dimsdale – Camfield Place
- 1832 Robert Plumer Ward – Gilston Park
- 1833 George Jacob Bosanquet – Broxbourne Bury
- 1834 Wiliam Robert Phillimore – Newberries
- 1835 William Robert Baker – Bayfordbury
- 1836 William Blake – Danesbury
Edward VII
- 1901 Major-General Apsley Cherry-Garrard, of Lamer Park – Wheathampstead
- 1902 Evelyn Simpson – Baldock
- 1903 Henry Tylston Hodgson – Harpenden
- 1904 Sir Edgar Reginald Sebright – Beechwood
- 1905 Thomas Fenwick Harrison – King's Walden Bury
- 1906 Hellier Gosselin-Grimshawe – Bengeo Hall
- 1907 Benjamin Samuel Faudel-Phillips – Hertford
- 1908 Arthur Salvin Bowlby – Gilston Park
- 1909 Edward Ernest Pearson – Brickendonbury
- 1910 Sir Alfred Reynolds – Ayot Bury
George V and Edward VIII
- 1935 Lt Colonel Wilfred Hubert Wild – St Albans
Edward VIII and George VI
- 1936 Col Sir Geoffrey Selby Church – Hatfield
George VI
- 1937 Arthur Edwin Cutforth – Sawbridgeworth
- 1938 Henry Fowell Buxton – Ware
- 1939 Capt Sir Cecil Gustavus Newman – Royston
- 1940 Capt Reginald Henry Abel-Smith – Hatfield
- 1941 Major Albert Pam – Broxbourne
- 1942 Sir Felix Cassel – Luton
- 1943 Col William Hilton Briggs – Watford
- 1944 Michael Bruce Urquhart Dewar – Hitchin
- 1945 Capt Sir Humphrey Edmund de Trafford – Royston
- 1946 Sir Patrick Ashley Cooper – Hexton Manor
- 1947 Capt Francis Pawle – Ware
- 1948 Brig Edward Henry Beddington – Much Hadham
- 1949 Brig Walter Hugh Crosland – Little Berkhamsted
- 1950 David Bowes-Lyon – St Paul's Walden Bury
- 1951 Col Sir William Henry Dyke Acland – Welwyn
List of High Sheriffs of Hertfordshire
Charles III
- 2023: Margaret Elizabeth Green
- 2024: Anne Patricia Brewster, Gustard Wood
- 2025: Nicholas Fowell Buxton, Ware