ELIZABETH d'Erlanger has more reason than most to look forward to the new year.

Until last month Elizabeth wouldn't have been very well-known outside antique circles — she works for Sotheby's, the world's oldest art auction house — but that's about to change when she becomes the county's next High Sheriff. Her unpaid role ranks her among the top dignitaries in the area.

The mother-of-five, from Hensleigh, Tiverton, will take office in March and intends to start with all guns blazing.

"It's a huge honour," admitted the 62-year-old. "The first thing I did was find out about it and what it involved and whether I thought I could be any help.

"I was approached by the then High Sheriff of North Devon, Sir Hugh Stucley, four years ago, to see if I would be prepared to do it if I were nominated and your name gets put on the list.

"In Devon they try to move the High Sheriffs around the county so that one year it is someone from South Devon, then Mid Devon, North Devon and East Devon.

"I officially come under North Devon and it has come back to here again."

Elizabeth readily admits that like a lot of people, she didn't know who the High Sheriff was or what one did. The role was originally established in the 7th century at a time when the king was finding it difficult to exercise his influence over all his subjects. He appointed a High Sheriff for each county and the earliest High Sheriff of Devon is believed to have been Richard, son of Baldwin, who was appointed in 1086.

Traditionally, it held many of the powers now vested in Lord Lieutenants, high court judges, magistrates, local authorities, coroners and even the Inland Revenue.

Today a High Sheriff is appointed for each county by the Queen and the Privy Council. Their office is for one year, starting on or after March 25, and they are expected to attend royal visits to their county, see to the care of visiting High Court judges, presenting awards to those who have helped apprehend offenders and generally uphold the rule of law. High Sheriffs are also entitled to act as returning officers in parliamentary elections. When Elizabeth succeeds the present High Sheriff David Fursdon , she will be continuing a long family tradition of civic duty.

Elizabeth, nee Pellow, comes from a family that became known in the Westcountry back in the 1700s through her ancestor Humphrey Pellew, who built the waterside Cornish village of Flushing.

He had four grandchildren, two of whom — Edward and Israel — joined the navy and became admirals.

Elizabeth is a descendent of Edward who moved to Devon in the late 1790s. His successes at sea led him to take on the title of Baron Exmouth of Canonteign in 1796. He built a house called Canonteign, between Chudleigh and Christow, for his eldest son, the first viscount. He never lived there and resided instead at Bittern House in Teignmouth, now the town council offices. However, the house stayed in the family and Elizabeth was born there. It was left to Elizabeth's brother who sold it a few years ago.

From a young age, Elizabeth found herself involved in helping various charity organisations such as Riding for the Disabled. Since getting married at the age of 21, she has been involved with the Red Cross as well as others along the way including Exeter Friendly Society and Marie Curie Cancer Care. With the latter, Elizabeth was chairman of the fundraising committee and in 2000 she raised £10,000 by taking up running and completing the London Marathon in four-and-a-half hours.

Her charity work has always fitted in with her job with Sotheby's. She joined the company in 1989 and is now a consultant to the UK chairman's office.

"I have always been interested in art," revealed Elizabeth. "When my youngest child was about seven I joined Sotheby's and have worked for them in the Westcountry ever since. It had been the most wonderful job. You see beautiful things and meet some fantastic people.

"I have never had formal training but have learnt so much from other experts.

"Over the years I have come across many things of interest. Very early on in my career we had an office in Southernhay in Exeter and a charity shop brought in a breakfast tea set they had just been given. It turned out to be a Sevres tea set which was sold in Geneva for £10,000 to £15,000.

"It's lovely if you find something exciting and often you do."

In March, Elizabeth went part-time which will give her plenty of time to enjoy her new role as High Sheriff.. Her appointment was officially made public last month when she and her husband Robin, a chartered accountant, were invited to a nomination ceremony in London. The next important date in Elizabeth's calendar is March which will be the Declaration Ceremony in which she will swear loyalty and allegiance to Her Majesty at Tiverton Town Hall.

"The nomination ceremony was very formal and it gave you a great feeling of tradition and importance of the role," said Elizabeth.

"I think of the job as being a facilitator in that it is a useful opportunity to meet so many people you would not normally meet and you can put people together.

"I have not met any of the royals so I'm looking forward to that. I would like to meet Princess Anne because I think she does a wonderful job and does it quite quietly. Obviously I am very keen on charities and the High Sheriffs are associated with a charity they set up called Crimebeat which encourages young people to get involved with crime reduction activities and create safer communities. I am also very keen on supporting Exeter homeless charity St Petrock's. I want to make people aware of the wonderful job they do."