Gerald Hollis

Gerald 'Gerry' Hollis (16 May 1919 – 23 November 2005) was a British rugby player, Royal Navy officer and Church of England priest. He served as Archdeacon of Birmingham from 1974 to 1984.[1]

Sporting career

Hollis played rugby union at a senior level. As a student at Christ Church, Oxford, he was captain of the Oxford University RFC in the late 1930s. During World War II, he played for Sale, the Barbarians, and captained the Combined Services team.[1] Later, he co-wrote with Mark Sugden a coaching manual titled Rugger: Do it this way.[2]

Military service

Hollis was prohibited from active service during World War II as he was colour blind.[2] However, he was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1942. He served as a physical training officer at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon.[1] The college was moved to Eaton Hall, Cheshire between 1943 and 1946, because of Nazi bombings.[3]

Religious life

At the end of hostilities, Hollis felt drawn to holy orders. He trained for ordination at Wells Theological College. He was ordained into the Church of England in 1947 and then served his curacy at St Dunstan's, Stepney.[1] In 1950, he moved to South Yorkshire where he worked as a parish priest under Leslie Hunter, Bishop of Sheffield.[2] He first served as curate-in-charge of a new housing estate build in Rossington, Doncaster.[1] In 1952, he additionally began ministering at the Doncaster Works; this was part of a slowly building link between the Church and industry which resulted in the formation of the British industrial mission. In 1954, he moved and became the parish priest of Armthorpe; he continued his railway ministry in addition to his new parish.[1]

In 1960, he was appointed Vicar of Rotherham, and therefore the vicar of All Saints Church, Rotherham.[2] In 1970, he was additionally appointed Rural Dean. The same year he was appointed an Honorary Canon of Sheffield Cathedral.[1] On 25 September 1974, he was appointed Archdeacon of Birmingham and left Yorkshire for the Midlands.[4] He was known to travel to visit the churches in his archdeaconry on foot.[2] He served as a member of the House of Clergy of the General Synod of the Church of England from 1975 to 1984.[1]

He retired from the church in 1984.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Venerable Gerry Hollis". The Daily Telegraph. 13 January 2006. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Duncan, John (2 November 2006). "THE VEN. GERARD HOLLIS". The Church Times. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Eaton Hall National Service Officer Cadet School". Cheshire Military Museum. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 46355. p. 8018. 27 September 1974. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
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