has been named a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the Queen's New Year's Honours List.

Joining him on the list are international business expert Brian Ralph Hall, who was named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, and Elfrida Louise Chappell, Ross Hastings Franshaw (Blackie) Talbot and Patricia Ruth Haynes, who were named Members of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Police officers honoured are Deputy Commissioner Harold Moniz and Superintendent Campbell Simons who received the Queen's Police Medal and Detective Chief Inspector Carlton Adams, Chief Inspector Jonathan Smith and Chief Inspector Sinclair White who were awarded Colonial Police Medals.

Mr. DeCouto was first elected to the House of Assembly on June 7, 1972, as the United Bermuda Party representative for Smith's North. In 1981 he was appointed Minister of Youth and Sports.

In 1989 he became Deputy Speaker in the House, a position he held until 1993 when he was elected to the post of Speaker.

Other Government service includes stints on the Tourism, Public Transportation, Education and Immigration Boards as well as being a member of numerous Joint Select Committees and Parliamentary Secretary posts.

And Mr. DeCouto has represented Bermuda overseas at a number of Parliamentary workshops, conferences and seminars and up until his retirement he was the joint president of the Bermuda branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

Prior to becoming an MP, he served as a member of the Smith's Parish Vestry from 1955 to 1971 and he continues to serve as a member of the Smith's Parish Council.

Mr. DeCouto was educated at the Whitney Institute, the Gilbert Institute, Warwick Academy and the Bermuda Commercial School.

His working career kicked off in 1943 when he worked at the Department of Agriculture. From there he moved on to Master's Limited, Colonial/Eastern Airlines and Rego Limited Real Estate.

New Year's Honours List He then established DeCouto and Dunstan Real Estate in 1960 and maintained an association with that firm until he retired as President in February, 1992.

Mr. Hall served for many years as one of the principal creative geniuses behind insurance/re-insurance giant Johnson & Higgins and is currently the president of Inter-Ocean Management Ltd.

A graduate of the Harvard Business School's International Senior Managers' Programme and fellow of the British Institute of Management, Mr. Hall is also the chairman of the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies and a senator in Junior Chamber International.

He has a long record of volunteer service on Government Boards including the Insurance Advisory Committee and was recently chairman of the Board of Governors of Bermuda College.

Community activist, generous benefactor and octogenarian, Mrs. Chappell has donated more than a million dollars to various local entities.

These include the Bermuda High School for Girls, Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Council Partners, Bermuda Cathedral, Bermuda National Trust, Summerhaven, Masterworks Foundation, Salvation Army, Bermuda Society for the Blind, Westmeath Senior Citizens' Residence, Menuhin Foundation, Sea Cadets, Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme and Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo.

Her involvement with local organisations also included a term as president of the Bermuda Junior Service League and 15 years on the executive committee of the Garden Club. Mrs. Chappell is also the co-founder of Meeting House Trust.

She also served on the Boards of Education, Agriculture and Social Welfare and still serves as a member of the Committee of Trustees of the Bermuda Foundation.

Born in Britain, Mrs. Chappell represented the Island at the First World Amateur team Championships on a three-person golf team in Paris in 1964 and two years later captained an island golf team to Mexico.

She has also served as a flower judge locally for the Agricultural Exhibition and overseas for events at the New England Spring Show and the Monaco Spring Flower Show.

Fellow octogenarian and Talbot Brothers co-founder, Mr. Talbot was born in Tucker's Town into a family of 11 brothers and sisters and began his musical career singing in Marsden Memorial Methodist Church.

The Talbot Brothers, which he founded with other family members, found fame and fortune in Bermuda and overseas. For more that three decades the group was the Island's most renowned musical ambassadors and in that role they played a significant role in promoting Bermudian tourism.

Their first American tour took place in 1953 and was followed by tours for years after which saw the group perform at New York's 21 Club, Boston's Parker House and the London Palladium, to name a few.

Mrs. Haynes is not part of the list's local quota for the Island in 1999, having been nominated for her award by Governor Thorold Masefield and two former Governors and three Deputy Governors of Bermuda who she served as a private secretary at Government House over the past 16 years.

She came to Bermuda in January, 1972, and worked at a variety of firms before joining Government House in August, 1982, as private secretary to then-Deputy Governor Brian Watkins.

She then served as a private secretary to Deputy Governors Mark Herdman and Brian Canty and in September, 1989, she became private secretary to Major General Desmond Langley followed by Lord Waddington.

She now serves Mr. Masefield and also acts as the Honorary Secretary to the Bermuda Silver Jubilee Trust. She has co-ordinated a number of Royal Visits as well as Bermuda meetings involving US President George Bush and UK Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

Deputy Commissioner Moniz has served the Bermuda Police Service for 39 years since joining in August, 1959. He was promoted to his current rank on April 16 of this year.

Supt. Simons will retire from the Service on January 31, 1999 after 38 years of service. His last position was Operational Officer-in-Charge of Uniform personnel but is presently on pre-retirement leave.

Ch. Insp. Adams joined the Service in 1968 and is now the Officer-in-Charge of the Major Incident Room which handles the investigation of major cases.

Ch. Insp. Smith joined the Service in 1979 and was promoted to his current rank in November, 1994. He is currently the Officer-in-Charge of the Police Training School.

Ch. Insp. Sinclair White is 48-years-old and joined the Service in 1973. He was promoted to his current rank in July, 1996, and is presently the Division Commander of Western Division.

ERNEST DECOUTO -- CBE Brian Hall: OBE Elfrida Chappell: MBE Ross Talbot: MBE Patricia Haynes: MBE Harold Moniz: QPM Campbell Simons: QPM Carlton Adams: CPM Jonathan Smith: CPM Sinclair White: CPM