A FORMER Bangor woman has been awarded The Order of Australia by King Charles III.
Elizabeth Harding, née McIlveen, has been awarded the medal for her services to youth, especially the Girls’ Brigade. The Order of Australia is the Australian equivalent to an OBE.
Elizabeth is the youngest daughter of Jack and Leila McIlveen, late of Ardenvohr Street, Belfast. She was a member of the Girls’ Brigade Company at Cregagh Methodist Church on the Cregagh Road and after getting married in 1968 moved to Bangor and became a helper in the Carnalea Methodist Girls’ Brigade Company.
In 1974, Elizabeth moved with her husband and their two year-old daughter to Canberra Australia where in 1982 she became an officer in the Girls’ Brigade Company at Hughes Baptist Church.
She progressed to be State Treasurer, Deputy State Commissioner, State Commissioner, Deputy National Commissioner and then National Commissioner. Each appointment was for six years and some of them overlapped.
She represented Australia at events and conferences in New Zealand, Tonga, Singapore, Thailand and Northern Ireland.
