The high sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the lord-lieutenant the prime office under the Crown as the sovereign's personal representative.
The high sheriff remains the sovereign's representative in the county for all matters relating to the judiciary and the maintenance of law and order.
Bristol is unusual in having had county corporate status since medieval times (1373).
The Lord Mayor and one or sometimes two sheriffs served as part of its civic governance.
On 1 April 1996 Avon was abolished, allowing the city of Bristol to become a unitary authority and gain its ceremonial independence and county status as the County of City of Bristol, with the royal appointments of Lord-Lieutenant and High Sheriff.