A CEREMONY that will find its way into the county's history books has taken place in Hereford.

A new Chief Steward and Honorary Recorder of the City of Hereford – posts which have origins that lie deep in the city’s history and reflect the authority under which Hereford City Council holds its power – have been appointed.

The Chief Steward is an ancient office – the right to appoint one granted directly by the sovereign – and today is described as 'an officer of great dignity and some influence, but with practically no duties or emoluments’.

However, as a prominent member of the House of Lords, the Chief Steward works ‘in the interest of the city and the cause of its people’ by ensuring its interests are not overlooked in the corridors of power.

Taking up the post is the Lord Lisvane (Robert), Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, Deputy Lieutenant for Herefordshire and a former clerk of the House of Commons.

Knighted in 2012, Lord Lisvane was given a peerage for public service in 2014. His family has long connections with the Marches – his mother was descended from Einion ap Collwyn (known as 'Einion the Traitor' for allegedly letting the Normans into Wales in 1087).

He and his wife Jane, the Reverend Lady Lisvane, have lived at Blakemere for 40 years in the house where his parents began their married life.

Meanwhile, the post of Honorary Recorder – a modern version of the historic Recorder, who dispensed justice in the city at the Court of Quarter Sessions – has been filled by His Honour Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins QC, who was appointed a circuit judge in July 2004 and sits regularly at Hereford Crown Court.

Judge Pearce-Higgins moved from London to Herefordshire with his wife and four children 25 years ago, to the house where his wife was brought up and her parents had lived since 1956.

Changes to the legal system mean that the post of Recorder is now honorary and usually held by a circuit judge.

The office of Chief Steward of the City of Hereford was previously the Lord Temple-Morris of Llandaff and of Leominster and the Honorary Recorder was His Honour Judge Toby Hooper QC.