The new High Sheriff for Cheshire is Diana Barbour of Tattenhall

Dec 3 2009 by Antonia Merola, Chester Chronicle

THE new High Sheriff for Cheshire took her place in history during a nomination ceremony in London that dates back to Saxon times, before the Norman Conquest.

Diana Caroline Barbour, of Tattenhall, will assume office next year and become one of the latest holders of the oldest continuous secular office under the Crown in Britain.

In one of the most ancient official ceremonies still practised in this country, dating back more than 1,000 years, judges and court officials gathered at London’s High Court to preside over the formal nomination of 51 High Sheriffs and their deputies from all over England and Wales.

The nominations took place as part of a time-honoured tradition staged in the country’s finest court room, the Lord Chief Justice’s Court at London’s Royal Courts of Justice, before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, the President of the Queen’s Bench Division, Lord Justice May and Mrs Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice Henriques

In Saxon times, sheriffs – or Shire Reeves as they were originally known – of each county went to the Kings or Queens Court, known in Latin as the Curia Regis, to give account for the money they collected on behalf of the monarch.

Now, High Sheriffs no longer collect money for the monarch, but their annual attendance at court has continued and is used to mark the annual nomination of the new sheriffs.

Though the role is unpaid, High Sheriffs rank among top dignitaries in their areas. They are expected to attend at royal visits to their counties, as well as being entitled to act as returning officers in parliamentary elections.

Before the sheriffs take up office next March, another ancient ceremony will also take place, this time at the Privy Council in London.