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.
Contents
List of Sheriffs of Hertfordshire
Prior to 1567 the Sheriff of Essex was also the sheriff of Hertfordshire.
Elizabeth I
Anno 9 Elizabeth (ie 1566 or 1567): 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, 3rd Bt. – 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
2026: Anna Louise Rankin, Rickmansworth
Website
High Sheriff of Hertfordshire