The High Stewards

High Stewards

Frederick Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol is also the present Hereditary High Steward of the Liberty of St Edmund. The first High Steward was a certain Ralph and was appointed by William I, King of England (1028-87), better known as William the Conqueror. The Office of High Steward became a hereditary title in 1115 with the de Windsor family. The Liberty of St Edmund covers almost the entire area of the former County of West Suffolk.

The role and history of the Hereditary High Stewards

The Office of Hereditary High Steward of the Liberty of St Edmund is unique. The Royal Grant of the Liberty by Edward the Confessor, King of England (1003–66) to Abbot Baldwin of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds in the 11th century replaced the courts of the King by those of the Abbot throughout the Liberty. 

The role of the Hereditary High Steward was to administer the Liberty on behalf of the Abbot in much the same way as the role of a Sheriff acted in other areas on behalf of the Crown.  The Liberty was excluded from the Sheriff’s jurisdiction.

The High Steward had considerable influence and power, and was also known as the Chief Steward, or Capital Seneschal. The Office of the Hereditary High Steward has been described as a ‘Sergeanty’.

The duties of the Hereditary High Steward included the return and execution of writs, the levying of fines and amercements, and appearing yearly at the Exchequer to render his account. The Hereditary High Steward undertook the annual accounting to the Exchequer for the Liberty, in the same way that it would have been the Sheriff’s responsibility outside the Liberty. 

The Office of the Hereditary High Steward related to all the royalties enjoyed by the Abbey.  The duties of the Hereditary High Steward extended to overseeing the Courts of the Liberty and of each Hundred (replacing the Courts of the Crown), and to the arrest and custody of prisoners. The Hereditary High Steward was also responsible for the general administration of the area on behalf of the Abbot, who held the Liberty from the Crown. The Hereditary High Steward’s role was to maintain the good governance of law and order within the Liberty.

During the 1300’s the Hereditary High Steward's fee for holding a great court in person was one mark. If the Abbot was absent when the court was held, the Hereditary High Steward travelled with eight horses and thirteen men, and received fodder for his horses, wine, ale, wax candles, and meat for his hounds and his falcons. Reasonable expenses were also allowed when he went to the county court at Ipswich on the Abbot's behalf or to the Exchequer to render his account.

Pre 1500 Hereditary High Stewards

Albold, Abbot from 1114 to 1119, gave the lands and Office of High Steward held by Ralph to Maurice de Windsor and his heirs. It is at this point that the High Stewardship became hereditary. He was succeeded in 1115 by his nephew, Ralph de Hastings, who in turn was succeeded by his nephew, William de Hastings.

William de Hastings son and heir, Henry de Hastings, was brought before Abbot Samson to claim the Hereditary High Stewardship with its customary dues. Since he was still a minor, he was considered too young to take up the Office and was offered half of the perquisites if he would appoint a Deputy Steward. The minority of Henry de Hastings lasted until 1188. He went with Richard I, King of England to the Holy Land and died childless.

The Office of the Hereditary High Steward descended to John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (1262-1313). The heirs of the Hastings family continued to hold the Office until the 16th century.

The Howard Hereditary High Stewards

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (1473–1554) was Hereditary High Steward by 1536. There are references to Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, as Steward of “the franchises of Bury” in 1536 and 1546, in which in the latter year he was said to “have an inheritance.”

Thomas Howard 4th Duke of Norfolk (1536–72), son of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and grandson of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk inherited the title as his father predeceased his grandfather.

Thomas Howard, Baron de Walden (1561–1626) and Henry Howard inherited jointly in 1603 via a Royal Grant which was an act of confirmation rather than of restitution. In the next month Lord Howard de Walden was created Earl of Suffolk. James Howard, 3rd Earl of Suffolk (1619–88) was the last Howard to hold the Office of the Hereditary High Steward, which he did until his death in 1688.

The Jermyn and Davers Hereditary High Stewards

Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn (1633–1703) gained the High Stewardship in 1688 from James Howard, 3rd Earl of Suffolk. At that time the profits of the Office of the Hereditary High Steward were estimated at £70 per annum.

Sir Robert Davers, 2nd Baronet (1653–1722) married Mary Jermyn, daughter of Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn. Sir Robert Davers was succeeded by his son, Sir Robert Davers, 3rd Baronet (circa 1684-1723), who bequeathed the Office of the Hereditary High Steward to his younger brother Sir Jermyn Davers, 4th Baronet (1686–1743).

Sir Jermyn Davers, 4th Baronet was succeeded by his sons Sir Robert Davers, 5th Baronet (1735-63) and Sir Charles Davers, 6th Baronet (1737-1806). At the beginning of the nineteenth century the courts were still held every three weeks in the name of Sir Charles Davers, and any inhabitant within the liberty had the right to apply for the recovery of debts under 40 shillings.

The Hervey Hereditary High Stewards

The Davers baronetcy became extinct with the death of Sir Charles Davers, 6th Baronet in 1806. Sir Charles Davers’ sister, Elizabeth Davers, had married Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol (1730-1803). Upon the death of Sir Charles Davers, the Hereditary High Stewardship with his other estates devolved upon his nephew, Frederick Hervey, 5th Earl of Bristol, later 1st Marquess of Bristol (1769-1859).

Frederick Hervey, 2nd Marquess of Bristol (1800-64) succeeded as the Hereditary High Steward from his father in 1859, and in turn was succeeded by his son, Frederick Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol (1834-1907) in 1864.

Certain powers of the Hereditary High Steward remained even during this period, with Frederick Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol appointing the Governor of Bury St Edmunds Gaol in the 1870s.

In 1907 Frederick Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol was succeeded by his nephew Frederick Hervey, 4th Marquess of Bristol (1863 – 1951) as High Steward. In turn Frederick Hervey, 4th Marquess of Bristol was succeeded by his younger brother Herbert Hervey, 5th Marquess of Bristol (1870–1960).

Herbert Hervey, 5th Marquess of Bristol was succeeded by Victor Hervey, 6th Marquess of Bristol (1915-85), who was succeeded by two of his sons as the High Steward. First by John Hervey, 7th Marquess of Bristol. (1954-99), and subsequently by Frederick Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol, who is the present Marquess of Bristol and Hereditary High Steward.