Mayor &
Sheriff

The Mayor, who was appointed annually, was also a magistrate, coroner, escheater, clerk of the market, a deputy lieutenant and admiral of the port. The sheriff, bailiffs, sword-bearer and sergeants at mace had to attend upon him whenever necessary.
He had a salary of £30.00 and the rights of public fishery within the borough. He was given six shillings and eight pence at Christmas out of public funds to buy a kechyn, a sort of brawn and he was also allowed 200 apples from every cargo coming into the town’s Quay from the Forest of Dean.
As Admiral of the Port the Mayor travels in a water-borne procession to the White Stone at the town’s riverside boundary to exercise his rights of fishery

The town’s prominence as a principal west Wales port seriously declined with the advent of the railway in 1853, which signalled the end of the centuries old river trade.

The Common Seal of the Borough of the Town and County of Haverfordwest is first known to appear in Letters Patent dated 31st March 1315, granting water rights in Dew Street to Walter Drinulle, chaplain. The obverse of the seal bears the legend ‘Sigillum Commune De Haverfordia’ (the Common Seal of Haverford) surrounding a one-masted galley with its sails furled and yard lowered, representing the maritime association of the town. On the forecastle a man stands in front of a banner blowing a horn. In the stern, before another banner a trumpeter appears.

On the reverse side is a fortified gatehouse upon the central tower of which stands a sentinel blowing a trumpet. From the side towers banners fly in opposite directions. On the right-hand of the tower is an eagle and on the left, a lion, while at the base is a wyvern. The legend on the surround reads ‘O Lector Salve Coeli Pateant Tibi Valve’ (O reader hail: may the gates of Heaven stand open for thee).

Armorial Bearings were granted to the borough in 1966 and were based on the devices shown on the Common Seal. 

The upper part of the shield is green and bears a castle flanked by ostrich feathers in silver. The castle indicates that it is a castled town and the feather refers to the grant of a charter to the town by Edward, Prince of Wales in 1479. The lower part has a background of blue and white waves, representing the tidal waters of the River Cleddau and in the foreground is a one-masted galley in full sail with banners and pennant flying, again indicating maritime association.

The crest consists of a tower upon which stands a sentinel sounding a bugle horn and wearing a jacket of white and green, the colours worn by the Prince of Wales’ Welsh troops fighting in the French campaigns. The supporters on either side of the shield are on the left the red dragon of Wales, its raised wings emblazoned with the arms of the see of St David and on the right is the black lion with gold collar and chain derived from the Arms of Philipps of Picton, a family closely associated with the town. The motto is taken from the Seal.

The Mayor of Haverfordwest is a splendid figure in sable trimmed scarlet robes and a magnificent badge and chain in gold, which were presented to the borough in 1887 to commemorate the Jubilee of the reign of Queen Victoria by George Leader Owen of Withybush and his wife.

The mayoral chain consists of a series of links of the letter ‘H’ signifying Haverfordwest, which hold together small rectangles on which are engraved the names of those who have held the office of Mayor since 1887. The enamelled shields bear the arms of monarchs who granted the borough its charters. In the centre is a medallion bearing a portrait of Queen Victoria from which the badge hangs. 

The badge consists of a round Celtic shield with crossed mace and faces, an enamelled medallion and four roundels. The medallion bears the fortified gatehouse that appears on the reverse of the Common Seal around which is inscribed the words ‘ Borough of Haverfordwest’. Beneath this is a ribbon scribed ‘Cymru Am Byth’ (Wales Forever). 

The roundel above the medallion bears a Tudor rose, recalling that Henry Tudor marched through Haverfordwest on his way from Dale to Bosworth

Since the abolition of mayors by the Local Government Acts of 1972, Haverfordwest has a Town Mayor who presides at meetings of the Town Council and whose duties are otherwise largely ceremonial.

On 30th April 1479 Edward, Prince of Wales decreed that the town should have a Mayor and a Sheriff and two Bailiffs, and conferred on the town the status of a county. That status was confirmed by the Act of Union of England and Wales in 1543, which gave it the right to hold its own assize. In 1545 it was granted the right to have its own Custos Rotulorum, or master of the rolls and its own Member of Parliament. In 1761 it was granted its own Lord Lieutenant. However these privileges have disappeared with time. 

As a county, Haverfordwest had its own Sheriff and that office continues, as one of fifteen City and Town Sheriffs in England and Wales and alone with Carmarthen, in Wales. 

In early times the Sheriff was involved with the legal process, from the courts to the goal. He was also instrumental in conducting Parliamentary elections in the Borough.

A well documented story dating back from 1741 regarding the capacity of the sheriff’s powers involves a woman called Dorothy Rees from Prendergast who was caught stealing a flannel petticoat worth sixpence. The Sheriff had to arrange her transportation to America for seven years and before this she was stripped to the waist and marched through the streets from the goal near St Thomas Green to her home in Prendergast. This punishment had to be supervised by the Sheriff. 

The Sheriff was elected at the first Hundred Court held after the Feast of St Michael, either from the 24 common council-men or from the burgesses at large, and was as  often chosen from the one body as from the other.

The Sheriff waited upon the Judge of Assize and when no crime had been committed in the borough, he presented the Judge with a pair of white gloves, a ceremony last performed in 1995. He appointed an Under Sheriff who carried out the judicial work.

The Sheriff received £10 to provide a breakfast on Whit Monday for important citizens of the Town and would see that donkeys and ponies were at hand for them to ride later in the day to Portfield for special races and sports. At Cuckoo Lane novices went through an initiation ceremony at the Bumping Stone, where a fee was demanded. They later rode back through the streets of the town to a special dinner provided by the Mayor.  He also received a quota of 200 apples from each shipload of apples arriving at the quay-usually from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.

The Shrievalty Association of Haverfordwest was formed in 1996.A Sheriffs Service is held at St Mary’s Church in April each year and this is followed by a Sheriffs breakfast.

The Sheriff wears a silver-linked chain inscribed with the names of those who have held office from the middle of the last century onwards. From the chain hangs a badge showing the reverse of the Town Seal. There is a representation of a fortified gatehouse with side towers. On the central tower is a trumpeter flanked by flying banners and on the base a slain wyvern. On one side is a lion and on the other an eagle. The badge is suitably inscribed and bears the town’s motto. The badge and chain were presented by former Sheriffs in 1953 to commemorate the Coronation of Her Majesty the Queen. 

Many of the Sheriff’s traditional roles have developed into ceremonial ones as their relevancy has altered over the years. He appears with the mayor on formal occasions. The National Association of City and Town Sheriffs of England and Wales held its annual general meeting at Haverfordwest in 1995, 2007 and again in 2024.