Artist Clare Granger has become the first High Sheriff of North Yorkshire to be appointed by His Majesty King Charles III.

Ms Granger, who lives near Harrogate, and who was a solicitor before she became an artist, took over the role from James Lambert OBE at a ceremony this week at York Crown Court.

Attending the ceremony was the Deputy Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Philip Ingham; Lady Justice King DBE, and HHJ Sean Morris, the Recorder of York. Ms Granger's chaplain is the Reverend Nicholas Mercer, Rector of Bolton Priory, Bolton Abbey.

High sheriffs represent the monarch in matters relating to law and order whereas lord-lieutenants are the sovereign’s personal and military representatives.

Ms Granger will seek to raise awareness of the value of the arts in the areas of mental health and the criminal justice system.

In her declaration speech she said: “We are all aware how many people are suffering with their mental health particularly following the pandemic. The arts have a huge role to play in helping people to find a way of coping.”

She also spoke of the need to support the very valuable work of the police in the county.

Ms Granger qualified as a solicitor and worked in York before changing her career and becoming a professional artist. She was amongst the first intake of women at Downing College, Cambridge where she read Law. While at Downing, she rowed in the first ever Downing women’s boat.

She studied fine art at Harrogate College and portraiture at the Charles Cecil Studio, Florence, and has been represented by a London Gallery for 20 years.

She is a school governor at Queen Margaret's School for Girls in York and is a champion of the charity, Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS). She is also a patron of Henshaws, a charity which supports people with a range of disabilities.

She added: “I am deeply honoured to have been appointed to this role and I look forward enormously to meeting, thanking and supporting, where I can, the judiciary, those who work in the emergency services and the wonderful volunteers who are working so hard in our county."