This is a list of Sheriffs and, since 1998, High Sheriffs of Herefordshire
The position of Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in each county, but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that the Sheriff's remaining functions are now largely ceremonial. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 the office previously known as Sheriff was retitled High Sheriff. [1] The High Sheriff changes every March.
Under the same act of 1972, Herefordshire and Worcestershire were merged to form the new county of Hereford and Worcester, and as a result the office of Sheriff of Herefordshire was replaced by that of High Sheriff of Hereford and Worcester. However, in 1998 the new county was dissolved, restoring Herefordshire and Worcestershire and creating the offices of High Sheriff of Herefordshire and High Sheriff of Worcestershire.
The Website of the High Sheriffs' Association of England and Wales stated in 2021 that the role was a "non-political Royal appointment", for one year, and unpaid. [2]
A nearly complete list of the High Sheriffs of Herefordshire from 1155 to 1647 can be found in The history of the worthies of England, Volume 1, pp. 83–94.
Bromyard is a town in the parish of Bromyard and Winslow, in Herefordshire, England, in the valley of the River Frome. It is near the county border with Worcestershire on the A44 between Leominster and Worcester. Bromyard has a number of traditional half-timbered buildings, including some of the pubs; the parish church is Norman. For centuries, there was a livestock market in the town.
John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux, KG, was a close companion of Edward, the Black Prince, and an English peer during the reign of King Richard II.
The history of Herefordshire starts with a shire in the time of King Athelstan, and Herefordshire is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1051. The first Anglo-Saxon settlers, the 7th-century Magonsætan, were a sub-tribal unit of the Hwicce who occupied the Severn valley. The Magonsætan were said to be in the intervening lands between the Rivers Wye and Severn. The undulating hills of marl clay were surrounded by the Welsh mountains to the west; by the Malvern Hills to the east; by the Clent Hills of the Shropshire borders to the north, and by the indeterminate extent of the Forest of Dean to the south. The shire name first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle may derive from "Here-ford", Old English for "army crossing", the location for the city of Hereford.
Leominster was a parliamentary constituency represented until 1707 in the House of Commons of England, then until 1801 in that of Great Britain, and finally until 2010, when it disappeared in boundary changes, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Colonel John Birch was an English soldier and politician from Manchester, who fought for the Parliamentarian cause in the First English Civil War, and sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1646 and 1691.
The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972.
Richard de Capella or Richard of the Chapel was a medieval Bishop of Hereford.
Sir Thomas Coningsby was an English soldier and Member of Parliament, notable for his diary of military action in France in 1591, and his feuds over local representation in Herefordshire.
Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham and Weobley was a loyal supporter of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York during the Wars of the Roses. He was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1449 to 1451.
The office of High Sheriff of Hereford and Worcester came into existence with the county of Hereford and Worcester on 1 April 1974 under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972. The office subsumed that of the much older offices of Sheriff of Herefordshire and Sheriff of Worcestershire. The office was abolished in 1998 and the functions of the High Sheriff of Hereford and Worcester returned to the offices of the Sheriff of Herefordshire and Sheriff of Worcestershire, both of which were renamed High Sheriff. During its existence the office of High Sheriff of Hereford and Worcester remained the sovereign's representative in the county for all matters relating to the judiciary and the maintenance of law and order. The High Sheriff changed every March.
This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire.
William Smallman of Kinnersley Castle, Herefordshire was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640.
Fitzwilliam Coningsby was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1621 and in 1640. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.
Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham and Weobley was a prominent knight in Herefordshire during the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV. He represented Hereford in Parliament, and gave rise to the Devereux Earls of Essex and Viscounts of Hereford.
Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham was a prominent knight of Herefordshire during the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V. He is the ancestor of the Devereux Earls of Essex and Viscounts of Hereford.
Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham was a prominent knight in Herefordshire during the reign of Edward III. He was a member of Parliament, sheriff, and Justice of the Peace for Hereford.
Sir William Devereux of Bodenham was a prominent knight in Herefordshire during the reign of Edward III, and an important member of the retinue of the Earls of Hereford. He is the ancestor of the Devereux Earls of Essex and Viscounts of Hereford.
King's Pyon is a village and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, and is approximately 8 miles (13 km) north-west from the city and county town of Hereford. The closest large town is the market town of Leominster, 6 miles (10 km) to the north-west. The parish includes the Grade I listed church of St Mary the Virgin.