Holland William Hobbiss was born in Birmingham, England on 8 February 1880. He was articled to Alfred John Dunn (1879?-1957) from 1896 to 1900 and remained with him as an improver for six months. During this period he also attended Birmingham School of Art. He worked as an assistant to Henry Williams (1842-?) in 1900, and to Arthur Thomas Bolton (1864-1945) from 1901. In 1903 he qualified as an architect and in 1904 was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA). He commenced independent practice as an architect in Birmingham in 1905 and over the next three decades designed numerous buildings in and around the city, notably public houses and churches. From c.1950 he was senior partner in the practice Holland W. Hobbiss & Partners.
Several of his buildings were decorated by the Birmingham sculptor William James Bloye (1890-1975). He was also in partnership with M. A. H. Hobbiss.
In 1914 Hobbiss won First Prize in the "Country Life: National Competition for Essex Type of Cottage and in 1931 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA). From 1956 to 1958 Hobbiss was President of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists.
His address was given as 6 Gordon Place, London in 1903; 28 Victoria Street, London in 1904; and 33 Newhall Street, Birmingham in 1906 and 1939. He died in Birmingham on 22 July 1970. His son, Maurice Antony Holland Hobbiss (1915-1982) was also an architect.
Norton Memorial Hall, Saltley, Birmingham (1905); St. Mary's Church House, Acocks Green, Birmingham (1907); St Mark's Church House, Washwood Heath (1909-10); extension to Saltley Training College (1912); The Fox and Goose public house, Washwood Heath (1913); St Mary Magdalene, Birmingham (1916); St Cadoc Mission Church, Birmingham (1923); St Giles Church in Rowley Regis, near Dudley, with Arthur Stansfield Dixon (1856-1929), (1923-24); The Antelope public house in Birmingham (1924); Holy Cross, Birmingham (1925); Church of St. Gregory the Great, Birmingham (1926-28); Ideal Benefit Society building, Edgbaston (1930-31); Christ Church, Ward End, Birmingham (1934-35); St Mary and St John, Birmingham (1934-35); crematorium and chapel at Lodge Hill Cemetery in Selly Oak (1935-37); Three Tuns Hotel,, Tamworth (1937); Holy Cross Church, Billesley Common (1937); King Edward VI High School for Girls, Edgbaston (1937-47); King Edward's School, Birmingham (1937-47); St. Edmund, Birmingham (1940); Queens College Chapel, Birmingham (1940); Chapel in King Edward VI Grammar School, Birmingham (1952); and St. Barnabas, Birmingham (1957). He also designed a factory for J. H. Wynn and Co., Silversmiths; a warehouse and workshop for the Sheffield Smelting Co.; new offices, Blockleys, Ltd., Hadley, Shropshire; and a number of houses in Mosley.
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Saltley Training College extension, 1912; the Norton Memorial Hall, 1905; St. Mary's Church House, Acocks Green, Birmingham, 1907; St. Mark's Church House and Vicarage, Washwood Heath, 1909; St. Giles, Rowley Regis, Parish Church, 1923-24 (jointly with Arthur Dixon); Hotels: — "Fox and Goose" (1913), and "The Antelope" (1922). Extension and alteration to Upper Billesley, nr. Stratford-on- Avon; houses at Welford-on-Avon; Four Oaks (Sutton Coldfield), and at Little Aston Park (Staffordshire), 1921-25. J. H. Wynn and Co., Silversmiths, factory; the Sheffield Smelting Co., warehouse and workshops ; new offices, Blockleys, Ltd., Hadlcy, Salop, etc. [Who's Who in Architecture 1926]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 77, October 1970 p. 488
Who's Who in Architecture. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: The Architectural Press, 1926