7.00 pm Evening W/P - Speaker Prof. Suzanna Rose

The High Sheriff for the county of Berkshire lives in Henley. Professor Suzanna Rose was sworn into the post almost a year ago and spoke about her year of office to members of Henley Rotary Club at their meeting at Henley Golf Club on Tuesday evening.

In view of the prestige of the speaker, Rotarians had invited their partners to join them on this occasion, as well as two or three other guests.

Professor Rose, who attended in her full regalia, explained that High Sheriffs must live in the county or within seven miles of it, so her situation in Henley adequately covered that requirement. She and her husband Clive, who accompanied her to the dinner on Tuesday, previously lived in Twyford before moving to Henley about ten years ago. She is the current president of the Berkshire branch of the Red Cross, an organisation for which she has worked as a volunteer for over 35 years.

She explained the history of the office, which dates back over 1,000 years, created to cement the relationship between the Crown and the community. It was a much older office than that of Lord Lieutenant, now the permanent representative of the Queen in a county.

The name of each new High Sheriff is “pricked” annually by the monarch, a custom that dates back to the time of Elizabeth I, to prevent fraud. Professor Rose, who is the sixth woman to hold the post, told her audience that she has to pay for everything herself, including persuading a friend to act as her unpaid secretary to manage her diary.

There is a permanent Under Sheriff, who is at present Jonathan Gater, a partner in the Reading law firm of Blandy & Blandy, who have provided Under Sheriffs since 1837.

She described some of the highlights of her year, including Royal visits (including meeting the president of the United Arab Emirates), the mock trials competition held on Saturday mornings at Reading Crown Court, her reception at White Waltham, Armed Forces Day at the Forbury Gardens in June last year, visiting the Maidenhead Food Bank, spending four hours with the Fire and Rescue Service, all in all a total of 200 functions.

After a number of questions, Professor Rose, who was originally trained as a nurse and a health visitor before specialising in behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy and taking her doctorate at the University of London, was thanked for her talk by club president Roger Sayer.

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Earlier a short report on the attendance of nine club members and partners at the District 1090 conference at Torquay last weekend was given by the club’s president-elect, Barry Prior, as well as a most amusing contribution by Natalia Smythe, wife of Rotarian Michael Smythe.