Early life and education Hollis was educated at
Plympton Grammar School, at
Girton College, Cambridge (BA), the
University of California and
Columbia University (both where she was
Harkness Fellow from 1962 to 1964), and at
Nuffield College,
Oxford (MA, DPhil). While in the United States, Hollis was active in the
civil rights movement, picketing segregated restaurants and helping hold
voter registration drives in
Mississippi. She was married to
Martin Hollis, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia from 1965 until his death in 1998: they had two sons.
Academic career She was a lecturer in modern history, reader and Dean at the
University of East Anglia in
Norwich from 1967 until 1990. Amongst her academic publications was
Ladies Elect: Women in English Local Government, 1865–1914, about the work of the Women's Local Government Society. She became Patron of this society when it was re-formed. She served as a National Commissioner for
English Heritage from 1988 until 1991.
Political life Patricia Hollis contested the
Great Yarmouth constituency for Labour at the
February 1974 general election, the
October 1974 election and at the
1979 general election. Hollis served on the
Press Council from 1988 to 1990. and was a director of
Radio Broadland from 1983 until 1997. She was created a life peer as
Baroness Hollis of Heigham, of Heigham in the City of
Norwich on 1 June 1990 and was an Opposition
Whip in the House of Lords between 1990 and 1995, and Opposition Spokeswoman on Housing, Local Government, the Environment, Disability and Social Security from 1990. While in opposition she carried through the Lords the proposals for pension sharing on divorce which have now become law. Hollis was
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the
Department for Work and Pensions (previously
Department of Social Security) from 5 May 1997 to the 2005 reshuffle, an honorary fellow of
Girton College, Cambridge and the author of several books on women's history and on labour history. Her book
Jennie Lee - a life (1997), won the
Orwell Prize for political biography and the
Wolfson History Prize for the history book of the year. Hollis died in October 2018, aged 77, following a long illness. • On 2 June 2001 she was awarded the
honorary degree of
Doctor of the University by the
Open University. • She was appointed as a
deputy lieutenant for the
County of
Norfolk, allowing her the post-nominal Letters "DL" for life. • She was awarded the
Freedom of the City of
Norwich by the
Norwich City Council. ==References==