The High Sheriff's Diary - MAY 2025
It is early March and we are in the final countdown to my installation as High Sheriff on April 3rd. There is a meeting ‘of minds’ at the offices of Boxall Brown & Jones on Pride Park as the present High Sheriff Ian Morgan the Under Sheriff and her Deputy plan the next few weeks as Ian steps down and I take on the role. The ‘pricking’ of my name is due in Court on the 12th March and it is only then that I am able to officially take on the role. The next day I attend Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide football game in the town and I am frequently asked as to how I feel about the coming year…’auspicious’ is my answer!
A sad yet uplifting trip to the City of York as Fiona and I attend the funeral of our great friend James Fawcett, lost too soon at the age of 60. James and his wife Lara had been at Tissington in January for a very jolly party and , indeed, had stayed up with me ‘sorting the world out’ until 2 in the morning. A hugely successful maltster from Tadcaster , a great shot an inspiring cricketer and an fulsome poet , James had died suddenly of a heart attack at Green Park Tube on a trip to London. The Minster hosted over 900 to his funeral with readings from his children Mungo, Bevan and Tallulah as well as the most brilliant eulogy from Chris Legard. Yorkshire has lost a great person , we have lost a great friend but Lara and the children have lost the most loving husband and father. RIP James.
It is mid-March and the invitations are rolling in for my forthcoming year. Not only will I be exploring the whole of the County but getting out and about in the East Midlands as the six High Sheriffs from the region ask all of us to various events at interesting places from Derby to Grimsby. I have learnt that Chapel en le Frith will be celebrating 800 years as a town this summer with a service of thanksgiving and I have been asked to the Ukrainian Remembrance Day in June. This is equivalent to British Legion’s Armistice Day where Derbyshire Ukrainians remember all those who gave their lives in defence for a Free and Independent Ukraine from the 2nd World War to the present day conflict with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth year . Quite a variety of events.
With ten days to go Fiona and I have to miss the annual Shrievalty Dinner at Morley Hayes Hotel as we are bidden to a 120th birthday party in Wales where my twin sisters Selina and Sarah share a birthday. It is a cracking affair and the party , with old friends, goes well into the night and we return home on the Sunday to a mountain of paperwork and another late night…although this time it is in the Office!
A week to go and to celebrate the past year of the outgoing High Sheriff we meet Ian Morgan halfway between our two homes at the Bluebell Inn in Kirk Langley. It is a jolly evening as Fiona and I are told of the stories, situations mishaps and extraordinary people he and his wife Sylvia have met over the past shrieval year. Derbyshire has some wonderful causes which involve amazing individuals and many were rewarded with High Sheriff’s Awards by Ian at a ceremony at Derbyshire Cricket Club last month. Ian also gave me some tips on the official Court Dress and I should have a speech, if only quite short, tucked away in my back pocket!!
Thursday 3 April approaches and all is in place for the Installation and Declaration Service at our Church St Mary’s in the village. I need a bible on which to swear my allegiance to the Crown and I have found the most magnificent bible from 1701 that our ancestor Lord St Helens has written in. The bible is the size of a microwave and will need two of us to transport from the library to Church( I have Freddie and Francesca prepped). We have asked 120 people to the service, the majority from Tissington with a representation from our property in Warsop in Nottinghamshire but the Church should be full. My final issue is that I have to find a six-frill Jabot to complete my Court Dress but I am told a trawl of the internet should suffice. I look forward to carrying on the family tradition after Sir William in 1940 and be the next FitzHerbert to be our County’s High Sheriff.
The High Sheriff's Installation Gallery
