The High Stewardship

The High Stewardship

The High Stewardship of the Liberty of St Edmund is presided over by Frederick Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol, who is the present Hereditary High Steward. The head of the Hervey family (Marquesses and Earls of Bristol) have been the Hereditary High Stewards since 1806. The present Hereditary High Steward, Frederick Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol has a direct bloodline of descent to all previous Hereditary High Steward’s spanning 900 years to Maurice de Windsor in the 1100s.

The emblem of the High Stewardship is made up of the Hervey trefoil and St Edmunds crown. The Hervey trefoil is taken from the Arms of the Marquess of Bristol and has been part of the Arms of the Marquesses and Earls of Bristol and Hervey family as far back as Hervey de Yuon in the 1100s, the ancestor of the present Frederick Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol. St Edmunds crown adorned with arrows symbolises his Royal reign, and the manner by which he died.

St Edmund, the King of East Anglia, was the first Patron Saint of a united England. He died a martyr and was known as a lover of truth and justice, brave, wise, humble, charitable, and virtuous.

The Liberty of St Edmund, which encompasses the whole area of the former county of West Suffolk, was at the centre of his kingdom, named after him, and where his remains lay for centuries (and still may) in the Abbey Gardens of Bury St Edmunds.

The High Stewardship presided over by the Hereditary High Steward, Frederick Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol, is a continuation of the highest decree to uphold St Edmund’s virtues, which remain as necessary, valuable, and scarce now as they did over 1000 years ago. His reputation, integrity, and commitment to all that is good and principled will be carried through bridging the ancient and the modern world.