The Office of the Sheriff was first established in Australia by the Charter of Justice in 1824. Prior to this, the duties of the Sheriff were performed by the Provost Marshal of the Colony of New South Wales. The 1824 Charter also created the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. For the first time, the colony of New South Wales had three branches of government - Executive, Administrative and Judicial. This division of government continues to this day.

In 1824, New South Wales included the whole of the eastern half of Australia, as well as Van Dieman’s Land (now called Tasmania). Sheriffs were appointed in the colonies of Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania after their separation from New South Wales, and also in the colonies of South Australia and Western Australia. These colonies later became Australian States, and there is now a Sheriff in every State of Australia.

The office of the Sheriff is the second oldest public position in English law. The only public offices older than the Sheriff are the positions of King and Queen. Prior to the Norman conquest of England in 1066, King Alfred the Great divided England into Shires (called ‘soires’) to improve the administration of the country.

These Shires were the equivalent of today’s local councils. A Reeve or overseer was appointed to administer the Shires on behalf of the King. The combination of the words ‘soire’ and ‘reeve’ (soire-reeve) eventually became known as Sheriff.

In the early days, Sheriffs had significant authority in the administration of law and order in the Shires. Their role included many functions that today would be undertaken by the armed forces and police.

Permanent armies were not introduced in Europe until the 19th century. Before this, if an army was needed to defend the country from invasion, it was gathered from among the general public. Gathering an army in times of war was one responsibility of the Sheriffs of England. Halsbury’s Laws of England, one of the earliest written collections of English law, said that the Sheriff was “a conservator of the King’s peace”. It was the “... duty of the Sheriff to … defend his County against invasion by the King’s enemies...”

A permanent police service also did not exist in England until the 19th century. As a result, all law enforcement work was part of the general responsibility of the early Sheriffs. The Sheriff had the power to “suppress unlawful assemblies and riots, to apprehend offenders, and to pursue and arrest felons and for that purpose to raise the hue and cry.”

Halsbury’s Laws of England states that every person in a County was legally bound to be “ready at the command of the Sheriff and at the cry of the County to arrest a felon.” This was called raising ‘the hue and cry’. The idea of deputising members of the public to go after suspected criminals was carried on in colonial America for many years. The head of the police service in many areas of the United States of America are still called Sheriff to this day. Today, Sheriffs in Australia play a very different role to the Sheriffs of old.

There have been 23 Sheriffs, including the current Sheriff Chris Allen, and three Acting Sheriffs in New South Wales since 1824.

While some of the responsibilities of the Sheriff remain the same, there have been substantial changes in that time. The historical records of New South Wales state that the duties of the Sheriff in 1824 were to:

• Execute all the judgments, decrees and orders of the Supreme Court;
• In criminal cases, carry out the death sentence and any minor sentences the Court might pass;
• Discharge the duties of the Coroner;
• Act as the Marshal of the Admiralty;
• Arrange for the transmission of prisoners under sentence to iron’d gangs in the interior, Goat Island and the streets of Sydney;
• Run the gaols; and
• Arrange the reception and disposal of prisoners returned from penal settlements.

• Administer the Sheriff’s Office;
• Serve summonses and enforcement orders, warrants and orders of the Supreme, District and Local Courts, and other tribunals and courts in New South Wales;
• Serve and enforce orders within the borders of New South Wales on behalf of Commonwealth courts, including the High Court, Federal Court and the Family Court of Australia;
• Arrange security for the Supreme Court, District Court, certain Local Courts and a range of tribunals; and
• Administer the jury system in New South Wales.

T. Macquoid Sheriff of New South Wales 1829 - 1841	C.E.B. MAYBURY Sheriff of New South Wales 1896 - 1917	D.M. LENNON Sheriff of New South Wales 1985 - 1997	G. BYLES Sheriff of New South Wales 2003 - 2007