The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient office, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. [1] High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales. The High Sheriff of Lancashire is the representative of the monarch in the county, and is the "Keeper of The King's Peace" in the county, executing judgements of the High Court through an Under Sheriff.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the High Sheriff was a powerful political position; the sheriffs were responsible for the maintenance of law and order and various other roles. Some of its powers were relinquished in 1547 as the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire was instated to deal with military duties. It was in 1908 under King Edward VII of the United Kingdom that the Lord Lieutenant position became more senior than the High Sheriff. Since that time the High Sheriff has broadly become an honorific title, with many of its previous roles having been taken up by High Court judges, magistrates, coroners, local authorities, and the police.
The sheriff conventionally serves for a term of a year, with the term of office starting in March. Unlike other counties, the honour in Lancashire is bestowed by the monarch in their role as Duke of Lancaster, by pricking the Lites. This page lists persons to have held the position, and is divided by sovereign state and Royal house. Another list of sheriffs of Lancashire from 1087 to 1886 is compiled in Edward Baines's "History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster". This names many other individuals for the earliest years of the office. [2]
In April 2015 Amanda Parker of Browsholme Hall, Clitheroe, became High Sheriff and launched a website to promote the office: highsheriffoflancashire
Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is Blackpool, and Preston is the administrative centre.
Baron Hesketh, of Hesketh in the County Palatine of Lancaster, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1935 for Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 8th Baronet, who had previously briefly represented Enfield in the House of Commons as a Conservative. As of 2010 the titles are held by his grandson, the third Baron, who succeeded his father in 1955. Lord Hesketh held junior ministerial positions in the Conservative administrations of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. However, he lost his seat in the House of Lords after the House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the upper chamber of Parliament.
Baron Clitheroe of Downham in the County of Lancaster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in the 1955 Birthday Honours for the Conservative politician Ralph Assheton, who had previously served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury. He was the son of Ralph Cockayne Assheton, for many years a member of the Lancashire County Council, who had been created baronet of Downham in the County of Lancaster, on 4 September 1945. Three months after being raised to the peerage, Lord Clitheroe succeeded his father in the baronetcy. As of 2017, the titles are held by the first Baron's son, the second Baron, who succeeded in 1984.
Lancashire is a county of England, in the northwest of the country. The county did not exist in 1086, for the Domesday Book, and was apparently first created in 1182, making it one of the youngest of the traditional counties.
John Horrocks was an English cotton manufacturer and Member of Parliament for Preston.
Hoghton Tower is a fortified manor house two-thirds of a mile (1 km) east of the village of Hoghton, Lancashire, England, and stands on a hilltop site on the highest point in the area. It takes its name from the de Hoghton family, its historical owners since at least the 12th century. The present house dates from about 1560–65.
This is a list of Sheriffs of Cheshire.
Rufford Old Hall is a National Trust property in Rufford, Lancashire, England. Built in about 1530 for Sir Robert Hesketh, only the Great Hall survives from the original structure. A brick-built wing in the Jacobean style was added in 1661, at right angles to the Great Hall, and a third wing was added in the 1820s.
Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe,, was an English aristocrat and politician.
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.
Westmorland in North West England was abolished in 1974 following Ted Heath's Local Government Act 1972. Westmorland became a part of Cumbria along with Cumberland, parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire, including the Furness peninsular. In 2022 Westmorland was reconstituted as Westmorland and Furness following the abolition of Cumbria County Council. Westmorland and Furness have no High Sheriff as Cumbria has remained the ceremonial county.
This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire.
The Hoghton or Houghton, later Bold-Hoghton, later de Hoghton Baronetcy, of Hoghton Tower in the County of Lancashire, is a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 22 May 1611 for Richard Hoghton, Member of Parliament for Lancashire. The Hoghton family had been landowners in Lancashire since the reign of King Stephen and had been Knights of the Shire for Lancashire since the 14th century. The second Baronet represented Clitheroe and Lancashire in the House of Commons and was a Royalist leader during the Civil War. The third and fourth Baronets both sat as Members of Parliament for Lancashire. The fifth Baronet was Member of Parliament for Preston and East Looe while the sixth and seventh Baronets represented Preston. The eighth Baronet assumed the additional surname of Bold. In 1892 the ninth Baronet resumed, by Royal licence, the ancient family surname of de Hoghton.
Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School is a coeducational Church of England secondary school located in the Latchford area of Warrington in the English county of Cheshire.
Thomas Birch, c. 5 June 1608 to 5 August 1678, was an English landowner, soldier and radical Puritan who fought for Parliament in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1649 and 1658.
Martholme is a Grade I listed medieval manor house standing on the banks of the River Calder 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) from Great Harwood, Lancashire, England and 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Blackburn.
Sir Gilbert Hoghton, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1614 and 1640. He was a Royalist leader during the English Civil War.
The Banastre Rebellion was an uprising in Lancashire, England, in 1315 against the Earl of Lancaster and his supporters. A group of disaffected knights decided to revenge themselves on the Earl of Lancaster by attacking his chief retainer and their rival, Sir Robert de Holland. The group was led by Sir Adam Banastre of Bank Hall, Bretherton, who had extensive landholdings in the county, Sir William de Bradshaigh of Haigh Hall and Sir Henry Lea of Charnock Richard. The cause of their grievance was that the powerful earl, the dominant force in the north-west of England, appeared to be favouring the Holland family to their disadvantage.
Robert Hesketh was an English MP and High Sheriff.