High Sheriff of Berkshire
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The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'.
The title of High Sheriff is therefore much older than the other crown appointment, the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, which came about after 1545. Between 1248 and 1566 Berkshire and Oxfordshire formed a joint shrievalty (apart from a brief period in 1258/9).
Unlike the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, which is generally held from appointment until the holder's death or incapacity, the title of High Sheriff is appointed / reappointed annually. The High Sheriff is assisted by an Under-Sheriff of Berkshire.
List of High Sheriffs of Berkshire
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- Before 1066 Godric, first recorded Sheriff of Berkshire
- 1097 Hugh de Buckland
- 1264 John de St Valery
- 1270 Nicholas de Hendred
- 1313 Philip De La Beche
- 1398 Sir Richard Abberbury the Younger
- 1400 Thomas Chaucer
- 1435 Thomas Fettiplace
- 1475 Sir Thomas De La Mare
- 1480 Sir Thomas De La Mare
- 1481 Sir William Norreys
- 1486 Sir William Norreys
- 1489 Sir Thomas De La Mare
- 1502 John Williams
- 1509 Sir William Essex
- 1518 Sir William Essex
- 1519 Thomas Englefield, Justice of the Common Pleas - son of Sir Thomas Englefield and father of Sir Francis Englefield
- 1524 Sir William Essex
- 1538 John Williams
- 1540 Sir William Essex
- 1544 John Williams
- 1547 Sir Francis Englefield
- 1553 John Williams
- 1555 Sir Richard Brydges
- 1562 Henry Norris
- 1571 John Winchcombe III (1519-1573)
- 1641 Tanfield Vachell
- 1675 John Breedon I
- 1690 Bartholomew Tipping IV
- 1700 John Breedon III
- 1713 Benjamin Child
- 1729 William Noake
- 1738 William Trumbull
- 1740 Benjamin Griffin
- 1755 Sir Mark Stuart Pleydell
- 1786 William Poyntz of Midgham
- 1795 William Thoyts
- 1797 Bartholomew Tipping VII
- 1809 Sir Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe
- 1818 Robert Palmer
- 1829 John Walter
- 1838 Winchcombe Henry Howard Hartley
- 1839 Mortimer George Thoyts
- 1846 William Stephens
- 1866 John Blandy-Jenkins
- 1905 Alfred Palmer
- 1907 Sir Edward Arthur Barry, 2nd Baronet
- 1910 Alexander Felix Clarke of Midgham
- 1912 Alexander Henderson, 1st Lord Faringdon (1850-1934)
- 1917 Basil Guy Oswald Smith
- 1934 Sir Robert Andrew Stransham Black, 2nd Baronet of Midgham Park
- 1957 Edward Langton Iliffe, 2nd Baron Iliffe (1908-1996)
- 1958 John Lycett Wills
- 1963 Hugh Waldorf Astor
- 1965 Gordon William Nottage Palmer
- 1995 Sir William Benyon
- 1999 Michael John Benjamin Todhunter
- 2000 James Henry Lavallin Puxley
- 2002 Timothy Dawson
- 2003 Malcolm Kimmins
- 2004 Anthony West
- 2005 Mary Bayliss