Diana Elisabeth Kemp-Welch, lady wearing hat, with Little Hallingbury Parish Council.
The Role of High Sheriffs
There is a High Sheriff for each county in England and Wales, though the Shrieval Counties ("Shrieval" means anything to do with a Sheriff) are no longer co-terminous with administrative areas, representing a mix between the traditional counties and more recent local authority areas.
Sheriffs' functions are largely representational. They attend judges sitting in local courts and provide hospitality for them, and many are active in local and national schemes that reflect their historical functions, in particular National Crimebeat which seeks to keep young people from going into crime and the new DebtCred scheme, which aims to improve standards of financial literacy, so that people are more aware of the dangers of debt, how to avoid it, and how to cope with it.
Appointment
High Sheriffs are appointed for a year. The post is unpaid (except for a nominal court attendance allowance), and the general expenses of the office are borne personally by the holder. The system of appointing Sheriffs reflects the antiquity of the office. It is the responsibility of each High Sheriff to provide the names of people suitable to serve in the future. These names are added to the list of Sheriffs, and every November at a ceremony in the High Court the Lord Chief Justice and three other judges formally add as many new names for each county as are needed to ensure that there are Sheriffs in nomination for each of the next three years. A Sheriff needs to own property in the county for which he or she is nominated. The following March The Queen, at a meeting of the Privy Council, formally selects one of the three nominated Sheriffs to serve for the next twelve months by literally pricking a hole through his or her name on the List with a bodkin.
Although the method of appointing Sheriffs may not conform to best practice in public appointments it should be seen against the background of an unpaid voluntary job whose functions are largely ceremonial, and of which the expenses can be considerable. Nonetheless the Government has encouraged, through the Association of High Sheriffs of England and Wales, a more inclusive and transparent selection system. Most Counties now have Committees comprising the Lord Lieutenant, the High Sheriff for the previous year, the current High Sheriff and the High Sheriff in nomination for the coming year, as well as community representatives, so that a systematic selection process can be carried on with an element of continuity and consistency.
High Sheriffs of Essex
1265–1267:
Richard de Southchurch
William Harris
Hierome Weston
George Corwin
1600: Sir Thomas Meade
1618–1619: Sir Thomas Bendish, 1st Baronet
1630–1631: Sir Thomas Bendish, 1st Baronet
1654–1655: Sir John Barrington, 3rd Baronet
1663–1664: Sir Thomas Smith, 1st Baronet
1693: Edward Ball
Joseph F. Lescher
Thomas Fowell Buxton
Bailey Bartlett
1710: Sir Henry Bendish, 4th Baronet
1760–1761: Sir Charles Smyth, 5th Baronet
1771–1772: Charles Raymond
1791: Donald Cameron
1809: John Rutherforth Abdy
1865–1866: Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard, 2nd Baronet, of
Belhus, Romford
1866: Arthur Pryor
Denis Alfred Jex Buxton
1875: Sir Thomas Neville Abdy, 1st Baronet, of Albyns,
Romford
1884: Sir William Neville Abdy, 2nd Baronet
1885–1886: Robert H. M. Elwes, of Stoke-by-Clare
Sir Robert Wigram
Abraham Clark
1889–1890: Sir William Bowyer-Smijth, 12th Baronet, of
Hill Hall, Theydon Mount
1890–1891: Amelius Richard Mark Lockwood, of Bishop's
Hall, Stapleford Abbots
1891–1892: Richard Beale Colvin, of Monkham's Hall,
Waltham Abbey
1892–1893: William Swaine Chisenhale Marsh, of Gaynes
Park, Epping
1894–1895: Horace George Egerton-Green, of King's Ford,
Colchester
1895–1896: Henry Joslin, of Gaynes Park, Upminster
1896–1897: George Courtauld, of Cut Hedges, Halstead
1898–1899: Edward Kensit Norman, of Mistley Lodge,
Manningtree
1899–1900: Henry Collings Wells, of Broomfield Lodge,
Broomfield
1901–1902: Ernest James Wythes, of Copped Hall, Epping
1902–1903: Robert Cunliffe Gosling, of Hassobury,
Bishops Stortford
1903–1904: Colonel Richard Percival Davis, of New House
Farm, Walton-on-the-Naze
1904–1905: James Noah Paxman, of Stisted Hall, Braintree
1905: Victor Buxton
1907–1908: Charles Ernest Ridley, of The Elms,
Chelmsford
1908–1909: William Nocton
1912–1913: James Tabor, of The Lawn, Rochford
1913–1914: C. J. Round
1914–1915: H. B. Dickenson
1915–1916: Sir Drummond C. Smith, Baronet
1919–1920: J. J. D. Botterell
1920–1921: M. F. Hughes-Hughes
1922–1923: Lt.-Col. F. H. D. C. Whitmore, CMG, DSO
1923–1924: Major G. G. Gold
1924–1925: Lt.-Col. Sir Frederic Carne-Rasch, 2nd
Baronet, of Woodhill, Danbury
1928–1929: Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 5th Baronet, of
Woodredon, Waltham Abbey
1929–1930: Brig.-Gen. K. J. Kincaid-Smith, CB, CMG, DSO
1930–1931: Brig.-Gen. J. T. Wigan, CB, CMG, DSO
Robert E. Cahill
1934: Lt.-Col. Edward North Buxton, MC, of Wallsgrave House,
Loughton[1]
1936: Captain G. M. Strutt
1941–1942: Major J. K. Swire
1942–1943: Colonel R. C. O. Parker, TD
1943–1944: Major Hubert Ashton, MC
1946–1947: W. W. Otter-Barry
1947–1948: Brig.-Gen. Claud Edward Charles Graham
Charlton CB CMG DSO
1948–1949: Lt.-Col. J. O. Parker, TD
1949–1950: Lt.-Col. V. A. Gascoyne-Cecil
1950–1951: Lt.-Col. V. S. Lawrie
1951–1952: Major G. N. Capel-Cure
1952–1953: Colonel F. Collingwood Drake, OBE, MC
1953–1954: Augustine Courtauld
1954–1955: Lt.-Col. P. V. Upton, MBE, TD,
1955–1956: S. R. Allsopp, CBE
1956–1957: Lt.-Col. J. G. Round
1957–1958: N. S. Pryor
1958–1959: Lt.-Col. W. D. Gosling, MBE, TD
1959–1960: Major M. B. Hoare
1960–1961: C. H. A. Butler
1967–1968: G. E. Ruggles-Brise, TD
1968–1969: Major N. N. Norman-Butler, TD
1969–1970: Hon. R. C. Butler
1970–1971: Lt.-Col. M. F. Strutt, MC, TD
1971–1972: A. J. V. Arthur, MBE
1972–1973: Aubrey Leland Oakes Buxton, MC
1973–1974: G. C. S. Curtis, OBE
1974–1975: Col. G. R. Judd, TD
1975–1976: R. E. Tritton
1976–1977: Lt.-Col. R. W. Collins-Charlton, OBE
1986–1987: M. D. M. Kaddie
1987–1988: J. A. S. Neave
1988–1989: L. F. Ratcliff, DSO, DFC, AFC
1989–1990: L. A. Jordan
1996–1997: P. T. Thistlethwayte
1997–1998: Robert F. Erith TD
1998–1999: R. G. Newman
1999–2000: George Ronald Capel-Cure
2000–2001: J. G. S. Coode-Adams
2001–2002: G. Courtauld
2002–2003: D. Boyle
2003–2004: Mark Thomasin-Foster, CBE
Christopher Pertwee
2005–2006: Jennifer Tolhurst
2006–2007: C. D. Stewart-Smith, CBE
2007–2008: Diana Elisabeth Kemp-Welch