High Sheriff of County Londonderry
The High Sheriff of County Londonderry is Queen Elizabeth II's judicial representative in County Londonderry. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the ruling monarch, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his judicial importance, he has ceremonial and administrative functions and executes High Court Writs. History. The first (High) Shrivalties were established before the Norman Conquest in 1066 and date back to Saxon times. In 1908, an Order in Council made the Lord-Lieutenant the Sovereign's prime representative in a county and reduced the High  Sheriff's precedence. Despite however that the office retains his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in a county. While the office of High Sheriff is present in the counties of Northern Ireland, it ceased to exist in those Irish counties which formed the Irish Free State in 1922.