George Hollis

Who was George Hollis?

George Arthur Hollis was Bishop of Taunton from 1931 to 1945. Born on 17 April 1868 he was educated at Keble College, Oxford and ordained in 1894. He began his ecclesiastical career with a curacy at St James Wednesbury followed by a spell as Perpetual Curate of St Bartholomew Armley. After this he was Vicar of Headingley and then the Principal of Wells Theological College before a 14 year stint as Suffragan Bishop of Taunton. He died on 20 March 1944. His son Christopher was MP for Devizes from 1945 to 1955, and another son Sir Roger was Director General of MI5 from 1956 to 1965. Of grandchildren, Adrian Hollis, Roger's son, is a chess champion and classics don, while another is, like George, a bishop, Christopher Hollis's son, the Right Revd. Crispian Hollis who is the Bishop of Portsmouth for the Catholic Church.