The City Sheriffs and their Chain Gangs
There's a new Sheriff in Town (well two actually) Any good cowboy and western film will feature that square jawed character who stands for law and order - the City Sheriff. In the wild west the Sheriff relied on his badge, his revolver, his horse, and a good dose of common sense to keep the peace. His office was usually next to the courthouse, and there were invariably cells for holding wayward townsfolk. This familiar trope of the spaghetti western finds it origins in the City of London where there are many parallels to be draw, but as ever the City of London likes to be different from other towns and elects two new Sheriffs to hold office every year, a right it has held since time immemorial. Who were the first Sheriffs in London? The office of Sheriff is undoubtedly the oldest in the City's vast treasure chest of ancient offices, it predates that of the Lord Mayor (1189), and the Aldermen (earliest record 1111). Its origins reach back before the Norman Conquest to Anglo-Saxo...