Finance Minister Eugene Cox, Speaker of the House of Assembly Stanley Lowe, and veteran educator Merle Brock Swan Williams were among the Bermudians who have been recognised in this year?s New Year?s honour list.

Mr. Cox, who is also the deputy leader of the Progressive Labour Party, has been made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), Mr. Lowe is an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), and Dr Swan Williams is elevated to a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).

Queen?s Certificates and Badges of Honour will also be given to Bermudians Randolph Furbert, Patrick Mills, Ianthia Eve, Edward Sherlock, and Loris Neverson.

The recipients yesterday expressed shock and surprise at being named by the Queen in the honour?s list.

Mr. Cox was too modest to talk about his award last night, but his daughter Paula, the Attorney General and Education Minister, said her father was honoured.

The official release said Mr. Cox, a former vice-president of Bermuda Electric Light Company, was being awarded the CBE for ?bringing a brilliant mind, proven executive ability and commitment for service to his varied professional, political and communal affairs?.

Ms Cox told yesterday: ?He was touched by it, he really was. He has called all of us and asked how we feel about it and all of us said it was great, because he had that little half smile.

?He is a very humble man and doesn?t like to talk about these things, but all of us feel he has been acknowledged for the amount of his life he has given to the country, whether it is in engineering or in politics.

?We were all watching a James Bond film where they talk of Commander Bond, and my brother Jeremy jokingly asked if we should refer to my father as Commander Cox.

?He feels most honoured and appreciative and I think he thinks it was rather gracious.

?We are all pleased that our father has been recognised because often people get recognised when they are not around, and whatever way you slice it, it is an acknowledgement of public service, and that is what we are gratified about.?

The pro-Independence PLP, has always been against accepting honours from the Queen, but former party leader Lois Browne Evans broke that tradition in 1999 when she was made a dame.

Ms Cox said the PLP?s constitution, which forbade accepting honours, was amended at the last party conference, to acknowledge post-facto Dame Lois?s honour.

Mr. Cox has been a PLP MP for 28 years and was senior vice-president of BELCO when he retired in 1993.

A former engine fitter at the Royal Naval Dockyard, he attended the Ryerson Institute of Technology in Toronto, and gained a degree in mechanical engineering from McGill University in Montreal. He also has a certificate of management from the American Management Association.

A long-serving trustee and chairman of the Board of Governors of Sandys Secondary Middle School, he also attends St. James Church, Sandys and is a member of the Anglican Synod.

House of Assembly Speaker Mr. Lowe has represented Southampton East for the PLP since 1968, and was made Deputy Speaker in 1995.

Born in Southampton and educated at Heron Bay School, Mr. Lowe has life membership of Southampton Rangers and sits on the board of trustees.

During his extensive career he has travelled as far as India representing Bermuda. He was in Atlanta last night and could not be contacted for comment.

Dr. Swan Williams, who was awarded the MBE for her services to education, said yesterday the honour was for all who worked with her.

She began teaching at Berkeley Institute in 1950 and set up the Adult Education School in 1958, which produced 4,000 graduates between 1958 and 1988.

After retiring in 1988, she ran the Clonlara School for Alternative Education from her home, which involves families in every aspect of a student?s life.

At the age of 63, she enrolled in the New Seminary in New York to earn a degree in spiritual counselling, and in 2001 the American International College awarded her an honorary doctorate of humane letters.

She was a founding member of the Bermuda Business and Professional Women?s Club, the spiritual group Foundations of Unity, and the Companion Theatre.

Yesterday she said: ?I am humbly grateful. It has really given me a feeling of satisfaction for a lot of the work that the community has done with me.

Ianthia Eve, who was honoured for her contribution to education in Bermuda, taught for 41 years at Victor Scott Primary School, retiring in 1999. She was deputy principal for three years.

But she is active in her retirement and is a Pink Lady at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, a member of the Charities Commission, and is on the board of the Matilda Smith Williams Seniors home.

She attends Bethel A.M.E. Church where sings in the choir and is a treasurer of the Trustee Board.

She said yesterday: ?I was shocked and surprised when I heard this. I didn?t expect it at all.

?Only my husband knows because you are not supposed to tell a anyone, so my children will be surprised when they read this tomorrow.

Veteran printer Loris Neverson, who worked for many years with , Mid-Ocean News and Bermuda Sun, said she was taken by surprise when she was told about the honour.

?I am very grateful and very happy. When the lady called me to tell me, I almost fainted. I never expected it,? she said.

?I am very grateful and very happy, but I think I have worked hard for it over the years because of all the work I put in at , Mid-Ocean News and Bermuda Sun.?

Mrs. Neverson, who is now curator at St. George?s Historical Society Museum, was given her honour her contribution to preserving Bermuda?s historical heritage.

Randolph Furbert has been bee-keeping for more than 30 years and never tires of sharing his skills throughout the community.

He gives lectures and tours of his facilities ?Honey Bee House? in Hamilton Parish, which is a museum on bee-keeping.

With approximately 265 hives, he is Bermuda?s leading bee-keeper and producer of honey. He took up the trade in the summer of 1972, and has been president of Bermuda Beekeepers? Association.

He was the first Bermudian to wear a beard of bees, when he performed the extraordinary feat at the Agricultural Exhibition in 1986.

Last night, he told : ?It never, ever occurred to me that I would get this, that is why I am so elated.

?I was quite overjoyed to know that someone has been taking notice of what I have been doing and recognising me for it.?

He has travelled the world on bee conventions, visiting places such as China, Australia and South America, and in October this year he was in Nigeria.

Despite working with bees for more than 30 years, Mr. Furbert has rarely been stung.

Former top runner Edward ?Ed? Sherlock was given his award for his service to sport in Bermuda.

Considered one of the finest runners in the Bermuda Day, May 24, Marathon, he won it six times, include five years on the trot between 1956 and 1962.

Mr. Sherlock first entered the race in 1955 and came third in what has been seen by many as one of the most exciting finishes to the contest. The following year he won it for the first time with a time of one hour and 23 minutes.

Although now 72, Mr. Sherlock still keeps fit by running on Horseshoe Bay Beach.

He said yesterday: ?I feel alright. Down through the years when you hear a story like this it makes you feel nice about yourself because all of your labour has not been in vain.?

And he laughed: ?I hoped I would get something like this before I died.?

Patrick Mills, the minister of music at Allen Temple A.M.E., has been honoured for his service to the community.

Mr. Mills has played organ at the church for 54 year and comes from a big musical family.

Mr. Mills, a former prison officer who also plays clarinet, began playing the organ at seven.

He is a long-standing member of the Somerset Cricket Club, playing football and cricket there.

Mr. Mills, who has worked with Island Wide Security since 1980, could not be contacted for comment yesterday.