Sheriffs of Exeter

Nicholas Hilliard (c.– 7 January 1619) was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some larger cabinet miniatures, up to about 10 inches (25 centimetres) tall, and at least two famous half-length panel portraits of Elizabeth. He enjoyed continuing success as an artist, and continuing financial troubles, for forty-five years. His paintings still exemplify the visual image of Elizabethan England, very different from that of most of Europe in the late sixteenth century. Technically he was very conservative by European standards, but his paintings are superbly executed and have a freshness and charm that has ensured his continuing reputation as "the central artistic figure of the Elizabethan age, the only English painter whose work reflects, in its delicate microcosm, the world of Shakespeare's earlier plays."

Dr Thomas Blackall M.A., M.D., FRCP (18 May 1814 – 11 May 1899) was an English physician, son of another renowned physician John Blackall. Born in Devon, he attended Cambridge, before working as a physician in London, and then returning to Devon on the death of his father, where he used his inheritance to purchase the large Spitchwick estate.

Sir George Smith (died 21 March 1619) of Madworthy-juxta-Exeter and Madford House, Exeter, Devon, was a merchant who served as MP for Exeter in 1604, was three times Mayor of Exeter and was Exeter's richest citizen, possessing 25 manors. He was the grandfather of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670) KG and of John Grenville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628–1701).

Ignatius Jordain (1561 – 15 July 1640) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1629.

Robert Pople (8 February 1836 – 6 February 1909) was a publican who was three times Mayor of Exeter, Devon.

John Geoffrey Rowe Orchard (1903 – 5 January 1952) was an English chartered accountant and Conservative Party politician.

Roland Glave Saunders MRVCS, MBE (12 March 1873 — 10 December 1952 (aged 79)) was a veterinary surgeon from Exeter, Devon, who was later elected as Sheriff of Exeter and then six-times Mayor of Exeter.

Sir Walter de Sweynthill (died c. 1340) was an English knight and politician in the reigns of Edward II and Edward III who represented the City of Exeter and Devonshire in Parliament and served as Sheriff of Exeter from 1330 to 1332.

John Peryam (1541 – c. 1618), of Exeter, Devon, was elected four times as a Member of Parliament, for Barnstaple 1584, Bossiney 1586, Exeter 1589 and 1593. He served as Mayor of Exeter. He was the younger brother of Sir William Peryam (1534-1604) of Little Fulford, near Crediton in Devon, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer.

Edward Bridgeman was Sheriff of Devon and Sheriff of Exeter in 1563, and High Sheriff of Devonshire in 1578. He is the ancestor of the Bridgeman Baronets, the Earls of Bradford and the Viscounts Bridgeman.