The Medieval Sheriffs of Surrey, Sussex and the Sussex Rapes 1066 to 1400 - Introduction.

Author - Michael J. Burchall BA(Hons.), FSG.

The office of sheriff has had a continuous existence in England since Anglo-Saxon times when the sheriff was the king's principal minister in the shires probably from the reign of Athelstan. This study identifies all those persons who occupied the office in Surrey and Sussex before 1400 including for the first time the honorial sheriffs of the five Sussex rapes until the early thirteenth century, giving their parentage, marriages, children and arms as well as numerous references to their activities and it includes extensive referencing for further study. This is the first extensive detailed study of the medieval Sussex sheriffs in particular and for Surrey, adds to and extends David Burn's earlier published listing.
The database is fully searchable by name, place and subject so that disparate references can be gathered together and will be useful tool particularly for medieval historians and genealogists.

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