High Sheriff of County Londonderry explained

The High Sheriff of County Londonderry is King Charles III's judicial representative in County Londonderry. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the ruling monarch, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258.^[1] Besides his judicial importance, he has ceremonial and administrative functions and executes High Court Writs.^[2]

History

The first (High) Shrivalties were established before the Norman Conquest in 1066 and date back to Saxon times.^[3] In 1908, an Order in Council made the Lord-Lieutenant the Sovereign's prime representative in a county and reduced the High Sheriff's precedence.^[4] Despite however that the office retains his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in a county.^[2]

While the office of High Sheriff is present in the counties of Northern Ireland, it ceased to exist in those Irish counties which formed the Irish Free State in 1922.

High Sheriffs

• 1696: Robert Harvey of Londonderry^[5]
• 1780: Mossom Boyd^[6] (also Sheriff of City of Londonderry)
• 1817: James Major and Richard Harvey^[7] (also Sheriffs of City of Londonderry)
• 1818: John Thompson and Richard Babington^[7] (also Sheriffs of City of Londonderry)
• 1819: Thomas Kennedy^[8] (also Sheriff of City of Londonderry)
• 1821: Joshua Gillespie and Marcus Gage^[8] (also Sheriffs of City of Londonderry)
• 1828: William Lenox-Conyngham (also Sheriff of City of Londonderry)
• 1829:
• 1830:
• 1831:
• 1832:
• 1833: Anthony Babington of Creevagh (also Sheriff of City of Londonderry)
• 1834:
• 1835: Anthony Babington of Creevagh (also Sheriff of City of Londonderry)
• 1836: Henry Darcus and Archibald McCorkell of Glengalliagh (also Sheriff of City of Londonderry)
• 1842: Henry Richardson
• 1846: Henry Hervey Bruce
• 1846: John Barré Beresford, of Learmount
• 1848: John Stephenson of Fort William, Tobermore^[9] (also Sheriff of City of Londonderry)
• 1849: James Johnston Clark (also Sheriff of City of Londonderry)
• 1850: Robert Peel Dawson
• 1854: Robert Leslie Ogilby of Ardnargle^[10]
• 1857: William Edward Scott of Willsboro^[5]
• 1858: Samuel Maxwell Alexander of Newtownlimavady (also Sheriff of City of Londonderry)
• 1859: William Fitzwilliam Lenox-Conyngham of Springhill House^[5]
• 1860: James Thomas Macky of Castlefin^[5]
• 1861: Rowley Miller of Moneymore^[11]
• 1862: John Adams of Ballydevitt^[5]
• 1863: George Skipton
• 1866: Conolly Thomas McCausland of Drenagh^[5]
• 1867: James R. Montgomery
• 1868: Henry Kyle of Laurel Hill^[5]
• 1869: Sir John Hill, 4th Baronet, of St. Colombs^[12]
• 1870: Robert Jackson Alexander
• 1871:
• 1873: Alexander Shuldham of Flowerfield^[5]
• 1875: James Jackson Clark of Largantogher^[5]
• 1877: Robert Lyon Moore^[13]
• 1878: Bartholomew McCorkell of Richmond^[5]
• 1880: George Cather of Carrickhugh, Limavady^[14]
• 1882: Adolphus John Spencer Churchill Chichester
• 1883:
• 1886: Andrew Alexander Watt of Thorn Hill^[5]
• 1887: Robert Alexander Ogilby of Pellipar, Dungiven^[5]
• 1888: Conolly William Lecky Browne-Lecky of Derry^[5]
• 1889:
• 1894: Bartholomew H. McCorkell of Richmond^[5]
• 1895: John Cooke^[15]
• 1898: John Arthur Wellesley O'Niell Torrens of Somerset, Co Londonderry^[5]

21st century

Notes and References

1. Book: John David Griffith Davies . Frederick Robert Worts . England in the Middle Ages: Its Problems and Legacies . A. A. Knopf . 1928 . 119 .
2. Book: Alexander, George Glover . The Administration of Justice in Criminal Matters (in England and Wales) . 1915 . The University Press . 89 .
3. Book: Morris, William Alfred . The Medieval English Sheriff to 1300 . registration . Manchester University Press . Manchester . 1968 . 0-7190-0342-3 . 73 .
4. Book: Millward, Paul . Civic Ceremonial: A Handbook, History and Guide for Mayors, Councillors and Officers . 2007 . Shaw . 978-0-7219-0164-0 . 163 .
5. A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Ireland, 1912, Bernard Burke
6. Web site: Donegal Annual, 2007. County Donegal Historical Society. 4 October 2013. 4 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220052/http://www.donegalhistory.com/old/DA59.pdf. live.
7. Book: Reports from Commissioners Volume 4 (Ireland). 1824.
8. Web site: The Registered Papers of the Chief Secretary's Office: National Archives . Csorp.nationalarchives.ie . 2021-12-18 . 5 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210805083254/https://csorp.nationalarchives.ie/ . live .
9. Web site: The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954). Trove. 3 August 2013. 18 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211218101728/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12904589. live.
10. Visitation of Ireland By Joseph Jackson Howard, Frederick Arthur Crisp
11. Web site: Provincial Directory- County Londonderry. 19 August 2012. 16 September 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120916003526/http://www.lennonwylie.co.uk/PDLMT.htm. live.
12. Complete Baronetage, p.396
13. Web site: Cavan Weekly News, 1877. 15 August 2012. 12 October 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081012102341/http://www.irelandoldnews.com/Cavan/1877/JAN.html. live.
14. Web site: Ulster Counties Directory. Lennon Wylie. 27 April 2011. 2 October 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111002173523/http://www.lennonwylie.co.uk/PDLMT1880.htm. live.
15. Kelly's Handbook, 1916