The Sheriffs of

Sheriffs are the oldest office under and upholding all matters relating to the Judiciary and pre-date the . Originally known maintaining law and order. Their responsibilities as the King’s or the Reeve, his duties conferred by the Crown through from the included keeping the King’s peace and the collection Privy Council can be summarised as: of the taxes and rents due to the King, as well as commanding the local militia. - attending Royal visits to the county; attending on High Court on circuit and ensuring their well- After the Conquest the administration of the being; acting as Returning Officer for parliamentary was placed under various Earls, but as the work elections; proclaiming the accession of a new increased the authority and duties shifted to the Sovereign and maintaining the loyalty of subjects , further increasing his importance. By the to the Crown; and appointing an Under Sheriff and 12th century the powers exercised by the Sheriff had carrying out various ceremonial functions. become more routine, and by the 16th century his role had become Following the Courts Act largely ceremonial. 2003, the High Sheriff’s ancient responsibility for the Until 1575 the Sheriff for enforcement of High Court Buckinghamshire was also the of Execution, via Under Sheriffs Sheriff for , but after and executed by the Sheriffs’ that date they were severed and Officers, was transferred to the each County had its own separate newly appointed High Court and distinct Sheriff. Enforcement Officers.

The appointment of a High Sheriff Today’s High Sheriffs aim to is a royal prerogative, and the support voluntary and statutory Queen adheres to this principle bodies engaged in all aspects tenaciously. Once a year, usually of law and order. They take a in March, she holds a ceremony to special interest in the activities appoint her High Sheriffs, marking of such statutory bodies as the each appointment by ‘pricking’ the , the Prison Service, and candidates name on a parchment the Probation Service. roll with a long needle, called a bodkin. The romantic tradition As early as 1330 it had been laid is that Elizabeth I was doing her down that the Sheriffs should needlework in the garden when have sufficient land in their the list was brought to her and, Sir L.C.J., M.P. counties to sustain the office. as she had no pen available, she Sheriff of Buckinghamshire (1625) Up to 1700 the Sheriff was used her needle. However there is almost always a local landowner, evidence that Henry VIII also pricked the list. Whatever although he very often had connections with the court, the origin, Elizabeth II uses a silver bodkin to prick the and was chosen from the same class as Members of list to this day. Parliament. After this date the Sheriff was chosen from a wider circle which included holders of quite The appointment of each High Sheriff is endorsed small estates, prominent citizens of Aylesbury and by a prescriptive Royal Warrant, which “requires you London businessmen who had settled in Bucks. For to take the Custody and Charge of the said county, instance Ansell, Bennett, Clayton, Dormer, Garrard, and duly to perform the duties of High Sheriff thereof Hoare, Proby and Verney were all descendants of during Her Majesty’s Pleasure, whereof you are duly Lord Mayors. However the landed families provided to answer according to law.” a substantial number of Sheriffs. For instance the Cheneys supplied 12, the Hampdens 20, the The confirmation of the royal appointment occurs Tyringhams 8 and the Verneys 6. within each county at a Declaration Ceremony when the outgoing High Sheriff formally hands over the The current High Sheriff is Mrs Amanda Nicholson who office to his successor, who makes a solemn oath read English at Oxford University and was awarded in front of the Presiding of the County. In an honours degree. This was followed by a Master’s Buckinghamshire this ceremony traditionally occurs in degree in Creative Writing at University early April, at the County Court in Aylesbury. before tutoring courses in Barnet and at Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education. The High Sheriffs’ responsibilities were consolidated by The Sheriffs Act 1887, which is still in force. High From ‘The Sheriff of Buckingham’ by Elliot Viney Sheriffs represent the Sovereign in their counties in Notes extracted by Keith Turner