190 Sherifis of Wiltshire. - 
from error), an attempt has been made not only to supply certain 
vacua, but to add to the historical value of the names, by annexing 
to each, so far as opportunity has permitted, a brief notice of the 
family or place with which the Sheriff was connected. 
The absence from the list, of the names of some of the principal 
County Families, especially in modern times, is accounted for by 
the circumstance that members of Parliament are exempt from 
serving the office. 
On the Office in general, and the difficulty of defining with pre- 
cision the exact year of each Shrievalty, one or two observations 
may be useful. 
The Saxon governor of the county was the Earl, (Comes). The 
Shire-reeve or Sheriff, is an officer of great antiquity, attributed 
by historians to Alfred. His Latin name was Vice-comes; not, as 
being subject to any other superior than the king, but as appointed 
by him to supply the place of the Earl (swpplere vicem Domini) in 
such territory as had no Earl placed in them; or if they had, these 
were still subject to the king’s immediate jurisdiction. The effect 
of the first appointment of Shire-reeves upon the peace and morality 
of the kingdom, is gravely stated by Ingulphus, Abbot of Croyland, 
to have been such, that if a traveller left ever so large a sum of 
money in the fields or open roads over night, he would be certain 
to find it the following day; even a month afterwards. If so, it is 
to be feared that the Sheriff’s moral influence is now much less 
than it used to be. Before the 9 Edward IT. (1315), Sheriffs were 
elected by the Freeholders at the County Courts, in the same way 
as Knights of the Shire were chosen down to the time of the 
Reform Act. In some counties (as at one time in Wilts), the 
office was hereditary. But popular elections growing tumultuous, 
they were put an end to in the year above-mentioned (9 Edward 
IL.), by a statute which enacts that the Chancellor, Treasurer, and 
Judges are to meet on the Morrow of All Souls (“crastino ani- 
marum’) in the exchequer chamber, and shall nominate Sheriffs. 
The day was afterwards altered to that which is observed at present, 
the Morrow of St. Martin, November 12th. The Crown selects 
one of the three nominated, who receives his appointment (until 
