Annie Brewster, the Mayor of St Albans in 2013, has been appointed by the King as the new High Sheriff of Hertfordshire.
She becomes the first female Mayor of St Albans and the first female chairman of Hertfordshire County Council to take on this historic position that originated under the reign of King Edgar (959-975).
Her Declaration Ceremony took place on Wednesday, April 17, in St Albans Cathedral.
The office of High Sheriff is the oldest continuous non-religious office under the Crown, dating back over 1,300 years to Anglo-Saxon times.
Today, High Sheriffs bring together a wide variety of people within the county, supporting its judges, police, magistrates, prison and probation services, emergency services, local authorities, church and faith groups.
Annie has lived in in Hertfordshire all her life and has two sons with her husband, Paul. She has served her community in Wheathampstead for over 17 years, being a parish, district and county councillor.
Following the ceremony, the High Sheriff said: "I am so excited to be given this amazing historic honour and cannot wait to work with all the wonderful people who underpin our mighty county.
"As a local magistrate, trustee of the domestic abuse charity ‘Future Living' and an ex-politician, I have a good idea about the county's challenges but I am about to learn so much more.
"It will be the greatest privilege to recognise and celebrate all the work being done by a huge number of people, so many of them volunteers, and to shout about all that at is good about Hertfordshire …. wearing a slightly different hat!"
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