Francis Burkitt 

Francis Burkitt was born in Cambridge and brought up in Grantchester, two miles south-west of the city; his great-grandfather was Professor of Divinity and his grandfather lectured in Prehistoric Archaeology, both at Cambridge University.  He lives in Grantchester with his wife Joanna, and they have three children.  Francis read Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge and then embarked on a career in the City of London, advising large UK companies on their finances, which he has recently retired from.

Francis was a South Cambridgeshire District Councillor for 12 years, and as part of that role he served on the Greater Cambridge Partnership, becoming its Chair.  Using his financial knowledge, he was a Non-Executive Director of the Cambridge Building Society and is a member of Trinity College’s Investment Committee.

He is active within the church, being a Canon of Ely Cathedral and Senior Non-Executive Member of its Chapter, and also a member of Bishop’s Council with a particular focus on looking after the Diocese’s Glebe Land and investments.

He was a Trustee of the conservation charity Cambridge Past, Present and Future, and is a Trustee of The Arbory Trust, which runs an environmentally-friendly woodland burial site near Cambridge.  He has fund-raised for Red Balloon, the Cambridge-based educational charity for severely-bullied children, as is currently Chair of the Campaign Board for the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital (part of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust).  In 2024 the Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire appointed Francis as one of her Deputy Lieutenants for the county.

Francis tries to keep fit by running 10k’s round the countryside near his home, accompanied by his family’s beloved dog Twiglet, and completed the Cambridge Half Marathon in 2025 in a reasonably-respectable time.  However, his greatest athletic passion is for the Grantchester Boxing Day Barrel Race, which he’s competed in every year for the past 20 years, occasionally even being on the winning team (see photo – in red wig).

Francis will focus his Shrieval Year on all aspects of the ‘justice system’ – the police, courts and tribunals, prisons and the probation service, including the prevention of crime, assistance for victims and the rehabilitation of offenders.   He will also focus on the towns and villages round the County, and the many charities and voluntary organisation that serve our communities.  

He believes that, in our modern busy world, we often don’t have or take enough time to properly thank the people who work for the public good – whether in the various parts of the justice system, or in other areas of civic, charity or community life, the uniformed services or healthcare services – and he’s looking forward to being able to spend his time as High Sheriff thanking as many people as possible on behalf of the wider community of Cambridgeshire.

High Sheriffs’ Chaplain: Reverend Andrew Hurst

High Sheriffs’ Chaplain: Tom Broad & George Haslope