Gerald Hine-Haycock
Devon has a new High Sheriff (August 2020), the retired television journalist Gerald Hine-Haycock, whose family have a long history on the River Dart. He grew up in Kingswear, taught at Churston Grammar School, joined Westward Television in Plymouth in the 1970s and, after thirty years working as a presenter and television journalist for the BBC in Bristol, returned ten years ago to live in the South Hams. His appointment by the Queen is the latest in the line of Devon High Sheriffs which dates back in an unbroken succession to Baldin de Moeles who was appointed just after the Battle of Hastings in 1066.Being High Sheriff is the oldest secular office in the country after the monarchy, ranking second to the Lord Lieutenant in the county.
The office of High Sheriff is an independent , non-political appointment for a single year. They must own a home in the county and can’t be serving in the military or be a magistrate. Otherwise almost anyone can be nominated. Because the emphasis is largely on supporting the forces of law and order, Gerald has to give up his role as Chairman of the Independent Monitoring Board at Channings Wood Prison outside Newton Abbot that he had held for six years. He also left the Parish Council where he lived to ensure he was strictly independent. Now two months into his appointment, he tells us how he has had to adopt this ancient role thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Four years ago, completely out of the blue, I was asked to be the High Sheriff of Devon for 2020-21. The time in between has been spent asking former Devon High Sheriffs how you do it; attending what my wife always referred to as High Sheriff School where we were told what the role involved, and planning and planning and planning for the three hundred or so events which we had been told to expect during “our” year. And above all, trying to remain calm and work out what I really wanted to achieve during the year. I also had to extract myself from any roles which might cause a conflict of interest—no more parish council meeting, no more involvement with prisons, no more publicly-expressed political opinions. Then, out of the blue, three days before I was due to take over the Shrievalty in Devon, the lockdown began, and the year, as it did for millions, began to fall apart.
High Sheriffs are the personal appointment of HM the Queen, one each year for each county in a role that dates back nearly eleven centuries Each High Sheriff is “pricked” by the Queen in a ceremony at which she literally “pricks” a piece of vellum alongside your name with a silver bodkin dating back to the 16th century. The reason for the hole is that it makes it a lot harder to rub out your name - something some Sheriffs would attempt in medieval times as they were responsible for collecting most taxes, and any shortfall became their personal responsibility. Even today, the role is an unpaid one - we were firmly instructed: “not a penny may fall on the public purse.”
So what is the purpose of the High Sheriff? Again, the original definition of the role puts it best: “to uphold and lend active support to the principal organs of the Constitution, the Royal Family, the Judiciary, the police, the emergency services and all recognised Church and faith groups.” That means in practice helping the Lord Lieutenant with Royal visits to the county; being responsible for the well-being of all High Court judges when they preside in Devon, sitting in Court alongside them and entertaining them away from their day job. Another vital part of the job is supporting charities and the voluntary sector throughout Devon, High Sheriffs make their own prestigious awards for those who have gone beyond the call of normal duty - and there will be special recognition for the unsung heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic. Judges can also instruct the High Sheriff to pass on cash awards to members of the public who have helped convict offenders - these can consist of several hundred pounds a time. The High Sheriff is also the Returning Officer for a county, declaring the results at a General Election, delivering legal writs and it is said, even presiding over public hangings – a role that thankfully was officially abandoned in 1965. And among the portfolio of other important responsibilities, the High Sheriff has the job of announcing publicly the name of the new monarch to a county, when the previous one passes on.
It’s been a very odd year so far. The first month was largely spent undoing all the arrangements for the planned year. The Declaration Service, when the role of High Sheriff passes from one holder to the next, includes the oath of loyalty to the Crown and the promised to serve the people of the county.. Mine was to have been a special service in my beautiful local Church at Littlehempston, on the outskirts of Totnes. There would have been dignitaries and representatives from across Devon, from Charities, religious leaders, the legal profession and the forces of law and order. Instead it consisted of me on a mobile phone all alone reading my oath to a Justice of the Peace in Plymouth. At least I got to wear my seventeenth century “court dress”, complete with velvet knickerbockers, frock coat, patent leather shoes and flattering black tights. In my hand a sword and on my head a cocked hat. The planned lunch came down to a smoked salmon sandwich and a glass of fizz, but at least the sun poured down on our self-isolating.
But despite the serious disappointments, the year is turning out in a way that no other High Sheriffs could ever have dreamed of, thanks to Zoom, Skype, Webex and other applications that I hadn’t even heard of pre-lockdown.. I’ve “sat” alongside a High Court Judge in Bristol as he delivered his verdict, talked to nearly a hundred police cadets virtually at their Monday evening session on lost property and missing persons; recorded video messages for VE Day and Armed Forces Day; written countless grateful pieces to staff through the in-house magazines of the emergency services: put the wonderful charity Food4Heroes, which helped feed NHS staff, in touch with possible sources of funds., and received briefing’s from Bishops, Lord Mayors, MPS, the Chief Constable and prison governors. You’re never quite sure who will be on the other end when the phone rings but without exception the access and friendliness of all these busy people has been extraordinary.
So, what of the rest of the year? As lockdown eases, invitations to major events throughout Devon are coming in. Charities are eager to show how they have survived and keen to enrol support from any quarter. The courts at all levels are beginning to swing back into action and requesting the attendance of the High Sheriff; and I’ll be visiting and supporting many of the “Blue Light” services, from the police and fire-service to the air ambulance and coastguards. I look forward to going on patrol with the police and drug squad, attending church services in prisons around the county, finding out how the Border Force operates and visiting some of the many military units around this huge county.
Whilst this may have been an unusual and challenging year so far, things will improve as life slowly returns to normal. And I will be doing my best to uphold the ancient role and traditions on behalf of the Crown that have existed in Devon without a break since the time of the Magna Carta.”
To contact the High Sheriff or find out what he is currently doing, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/highsheriffdevon
First published in By The Dart magazine in August 2020
