The High Sheriff's Diary - June 2025
In all the information and briefings prior to taking over the Office of High Sheriff there is nothing to prepare you for the actual fact that once you have sworn the oath on the Bible ( in my case a 1701 edition from the family library) and made the declaration of Office you are the High Sheriff, the person out of 1.2 million of inhabitants of our county that has been asked…. and the pride is immense. I was fortunate to make my debut in front of a congregation of 120 including family, friends, dignitaries and villagers in St Mary’s Church in Tissington. It was a special occasion. The Church was full as Under Sheriff Sue Jennings gave a talk about the history of the Shrievalty leading into my appointment and my declaration. We also had to appoint Sue to her role for the forthcoming year and Chris Birds as the Deputy Under Sheriff. Not all counties choose to appoint a Deputy Under Sheriff but we in Derbyshire feel that the role ( and in this case the excellent Chris) complement the work of the Under Sheriff (usually a qualified lawyer).
Francesca beautifully read the lesson from Psalm 1, a piece that speaks of law and order and then after the rousing hymn ‘I Vow to Thee My Country’ I spoke of the history of our family and the Shrievalty. I am the sixth member of our family to hold the role since Derbyshire decoupled from Nottinghamshire in 1567 with Francis taking on the role on 7 December 1602. It was this forebear that built Tissington Hall in 1609 and his son Sir John was High Sheriff in 1624. It was nearly another 200 years before Sir Henry the 3rd Baronet acquired the position in 1815 with his son Sir William 4th Baronet in 1866 and my Great Uncle Sir William 7th Baronet in 1940. Interestingly the latter’s elder brother, Sir Hugo, was High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1909 as a result of our land holding at Warsop.
These are big shoes to fill and I did enquire of Derby historian Max Craven what he could research about what Sir William did in 1940 but he concluded that there was little to report since news in wartime was very much kept under wraps. However I will be writing monthly in this column about my events and engagements as well as promoting all the wonderful people and countryside in the County not forgetting the urban side of Derby, Chesterfield and other towns.
We were indebted also to His Honour Judge Shaun Smith KC who sits at Derby in front of whom I had to make my declaration. From Church we followed the path back to the Hall where refreshments were served in our Wedding marquee and I was made familiar with my ‘Derbyshire sword’ that the outgoing High Sheriff Ian Morgan had presented me with. Both the sword and my Court Dress were paraded around the tables as everyone wanted photographs with the ‘New Sheriff in town.’
It was not long before I had to adorn myself again with the attire of Court Dress as I attended my first engagement at St Mary’s Church Wirksworth for the Civic Service of Mayor of Derbyshire Dales Cllr Peter Slack. I had a few ‘kit problems’ that day as I was still unfamiliar with the lace cuffs that I had bought off Amazon which resulted in a few sticky (or should I say unsticky) moments. But the sword prevailed and Peter raised several hundred pounds for his chosen charity Young Lives versus Cancer as we heard musical reflections from the excellent ‘Raise Your Voices’ Choir.
My Court Dress issues were resolved by a visit to Betty’s Sewing Emporium in Ashbourne and a very satisfactory solution was found for my flailing cuffs that will remain a coutourier secret. But then the challenge to ‘kick off’ the Charity rugby match between a President’s XV and the Commons & Lords XV at Derby Rugby Club was executed with aplomb as my sister Lucy and I watched the parliamentarians win by 8 tries to 4. Many thanks to former MP Pauline Latham who organized the day and raised over two thousand pounds for Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust.
A trip to the Pump House opposite the Crescent in Buxton for the celebration of 50 years of the Samaritans in the local office ended with the presentation of several long service awards to their amazing volunteers. In my year I wish to focus not just on the stresses of urban life but also those in the rural community and the Samaritans have been doing an incredible job in helping the vulnerable from both sectors over the years. I also had time to pop into Radio Derby on the Ian Skye mid-morning show to give a quick run through of what the role involves as well as taking part in the ‘Your Say’ part of the programme.
The first three weeks in this extraordinary role have been busy and the invitations are rolling in. The requests are far-reaching ranging from opening a garden fete to presenting a long-service award to a charity worker in Clay Cross and to assisting a pensioner start his charity walk from Mackworth to Chatsworth in aid of the hedgehog society. I will be seeing a lot of the County in the forthcoming year.