Bermuda's first Registrar of Companies tops the list of the 14 individuals who were honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours list this year.

The distinguished members of the community were recognised for their service to the community.

Mr. Peter John Hardy and Mrs. Rosalind Watlington were named Officers of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Educator Thomas Neville Tatem, the founding principal of the Warwick Secondary School, was named a Member of the British Empire. And retiring Detective Sergeant Kevin Reeves received the Colonial Police Medal.

The remaining recipients received the Queen's Certificates and Badges of Honour. They include Lionel Pearman, Tamell Simons, Martha Dismont, Toni Robinson, David Frost, Quinton Talbot, members of the Aldana Quintet and Edith Beek.

Peter John Hardy retired as Financial Secretary in 2000 after serving for almost seven years in that capacity, and, for many years before that as Tax Commissioner.

Mr. Hardy was born in England in 1944 came to Bermuda in 1967 to teach at The Berkeley Institute. Three years later he was appointed Bermuda's first Registrar of Companies. In 1973 he was appointed as Bermuda's first Commissioner of Employment Tax and the post title was later changed to Tax Commissioner. Mr. Hardy is currently company secretary with the Gibbons Company.

Mr. Hardy provided policy advice to at least five successive Ministers of Finance. In particular, he played a significant role in developing policies on a wide range of issues arising from OECD initiatives.

He was also a leading light in the Caribbean Action Financial Task Force, which dealt with money-laundering issues as they affected the Overseas territories in the West Indies and North Atlantic.

Mr. Hardy was educated at Hele's School in Exeter; King's College at the University of Durham and the University of Toronto. Mr. Hardy is a member of the Methodist Synod of Bermuda.

Mrs. Rosalind Watlington - one of the first violin teachers on the Island - has given a lifetime of services to the cause of music throughout Bermuda. She is a founding trustee of the Menuhin Foundation and the Bermuda Philharmonic Society Orchestra. She has played in the Orchestra for over 40 years.

Mr. Thomas Neville Tatem is a former deputy principal and teacher of mathematics and science at Berkeley Institute and was the Founding Principal of Warwick Secondary School in 1967, where he served until his retirement from teaching in 1970.

He then joined the Piggly Wiggly Supermarket as a personnel officer. He supervised the Bermuda Census in 1960, 1970 and 1980 and he has been a returning officer at several general elections since 1968. He is a Justice of the Peace and is a Fellow of the Bermuda College and a member of Gideon's International.

Mr. Tatem worships at the Cobb's Hill Gospel Chapel where he has served faithfully as a Sunday school teacher, superintendent and trustee.

Retiring Det. Sgt. Kevin Reeves served in the Bermuda Police Service from 1976 until 2001. He has worked in the Special Branch/Specialist Criminal Investigation Division and Intelligence Support area. During his entire service his dedication to duty coupled with his rather unique technical expertise, determination and leadership, permitted the Service to act sensitively to a myriad of security issues of national significance and pro-actively in the area of drug interdiction.

Managing Editor of the Workers Voice newspaper, Lionel Pearman has served the Bermuda Industrial Union in many capacities, having served as President of the Credit Union, turning it from a deficit position to a profitable operation. He has also served many years on the General Council of the BIU, representing the General Division.

Mr. Pearman is also a sports enthusiast, enjoying softball, golf and football including serving as secretary for The Social Club.

Royal Gazette photographer Tamell Simons is one of the Island's most talented photojournalists. He has for many years covered national events for politics to the sporting arena. His images have appeared in numerous publications, including The Mid-Ocean News, RG magazine, The Bermuda Magazine and the Sydney Sun-Herald.

Founder of the Learning Centre in 1990, Martha Dismont saw it as a low cost tutorial organisation, quickly realising children who were failing at school were often failing because of circumstances in their home life.

An experienced counsellor in the school systems in Bermuda and the USA, Mrs. Dismont began to offer counselling to those children and their families.

The Learning Centre evolved into the Family Learning Centre offering a unique combination of clinical and therapeutic services that strengthen the family unit.

Mrs. Dismont's serves on the Board of Education, is the chair for the Inter-Agency Committee for Children and Families and works with many agencies and Government departments.

Gospel singer, Toni Richardson started singing at the First Church of God when she was 13. She sang in various choirs, groups and eventually became a soloist. She has been referred to as one of Bermuda's best kept secrets, performing 1998 New Year's Eve show featuring the Original Blue Notes; the annual Labour Day Banquet for the BIU, the People's Holiday open air concert in January 1999; and as a soloist at the first concert of the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra in October 1999.

Concert promoter David Frost has been promoting Soca and Jazz for over 20 years, more recently taking an interest in young Bermudian Jazz musicians. In particular, he has taken a keen interest in Aaron Daniels, a promising 12-year-old Warwick Academy student whose ambition is to be a jazz saxophonist.

Through Mr. Frost, Aaron has performed with Stanley Turpentine, Hubert Laws, Dr. Lonnie Smith, attend a jazz camp in the US with the Bermuda National Youth Jazz Ensemble.

Having one arm has not hindered Quinton (Quinn) Talbot in becoming an all-round sportsman, playing sports like cricket, soccer, and golf.

Employed at the Ocean View Golf Course as the pro, Mr. Talbot believes that there is no such thing as "I can't." He has won his division of the National Amputee Gold Championship in the United States five years in a row. He has won the World One-Arm Golf Championship in Britain twice - in Essex, England in 1988, and in Sligo, Ireland in 1991.

As members of the Aldana Quintet - drummer Kenneth Smith, saxophonists Peter Tucker and Earlston Smith - are being honoured fore their long career with the jazz band that they formed in 1955. Originally called the Aldana Sextet, the band has forged a place for themselves in the Island's musical history.

The Aldana Sextet earned a certificate of Appreciation from the Department of Cultural Affairs in 1992. The Aldana Sextet was one of the first local groups to work on the US Bases in Bermuda. The band also did their share of formal dances at local clubs, including debutantes balls, cocktail parties and in the late 1960's they played at the Harmony Hall and Bermudiana Hotel.

Long time charity worker, mother and part-time athlete, Ms Edith Beek has always been determined to help people who are less fortunate than herself. In 1986, Ms Beek first ran the May 24th Marathon Derby in order to raise funds to help the charity STAR. Ironically, it was STAR that would later help Ms Beek and her family in their time of sorrow when her son was diagnosed with HIV.

When she hung up her running shoes she had raised over $30,000 for St. John's Church, Sunshine League, Brangman Home, Allan Vincent Smith Foundation, Hope Homes, Homes for the Aged, and the Asthma & Allergy Relief Centre. The 60-plus grandmother recently said she intends to continue her volunteer work, but in a more "relaxing manner".