* Patricia Amos

..... in May 2002 she became the FIRST parent to be sent to prison because her children were persistent truants from school

* Patricia (Patty) Berg

 ..... in 1946 she was the winner of the FIRST U.S Women's Open - golf

* Patricia Ann Besford

born 1919 died November 23rd 1988

..... doyenne of British swimming writers and in 1966 became the FIRST chairperson of the Sports Writers' Association. She promoted and motivated the creation of the British Universities' Sports Federation and from 1962-69 was their FIRST general secretary. During the 1950s she began to write and broadcast about swimming as a freelance and by 1960 had established herself as a leading authority on the sport and her statistical knowledge of domestic and international swimming was phenomenal. In 1988 she was nominated by the International Olympic Council as the journalist who had done most for the Olympic movement in the UK

* Patricia Louise Broughan

(Patsy Dalton)

born 25th January 1919 died 1994

..... journalist and writer who became the FIRST woman chairman of the Sherlock Holmes Society. The society publishes a Sherlock Holmes journal, hosts regular discussions and makes pilgrimages to locations in Britain and Europe, re-enacting episodes from the stories and dressed in period costume

* Patricia Cheeseman

..... on 24th July 1925 she became the FIRST person to be successfully treated for diabetes  whilst a patient at Guy's Hospital, London

* Patricia Easterling

..... FIRST woman Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge University in 1994 ending a 400-year-old tradition

* Patricia Fisher -  Lady

neé Smiles

born April 5th 1921 died 1995

..... FIRST woman to take her seat in the House of Commons from Ireland in 1953 and at the age of 31 was one of the youngest members when she was selected to succeed her father as MP for North Down after he had been drowned in an accident at sea. As Patricia Ford she was Ulster Unionist MP for North Down from 1953 to 1955 when she announced that she would not stand in the next months elections. She had not taken to the Commons and wanted to spend more time with her daughters. However she remained involved with politics the rest of her life

* Patricia Flower

born 1915 died 2004

..... during the Second World War she became the FIRST woman to be granted an Egyptian pilot's licence and in the 1950s was three times winner of the women's world archery championships

* Patricia Grace

born 1937

..... FIRST Maori writer to publish a story in English and the FIRST Maori novelist

* Patricia Roberts Harris

born 1924 died 1985

neé Roberts

..... FIRST black woman in the American Cabinet when made Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1977. In 1979 she became Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. Her previous posts included Ambassador to Luxembourg (1964-67) and a delegate to the UN in 1966. At one stage she was Dean at Howard University but had to retire and then became a partner of a law firm in Washington until her appointment in 1977

* Patricia Healey

..... FIRST person in the history of her firm  Forrester, Kettley & Company NOT to be offered a partnership (for someone in her position - a technical assistant)

* Patricia Hodgson

..... FIRST woman chairman of the Bow Group and FIRST female Secretary of the BBC, a politically sensitive post acting as liaison between the chairman and the director general

* Patricia Hornby

..... FIRST woman in Liverpool to be granted a taxi hire licence

* Patricia Kirkwood

born February 24th 1921

.....  FIRST woman in the UK to have her own hour-long BBC television series - The Pat Kirkwood Show. She was said to be Britain's answer to Betty Grable and her legs were described as the eighth wonder of the world. Besides the theatre she appeared in films and conquered Las Vegas when she starred for a record-breaking three months in cabaret. She was born in Pendleton, Salford and made her debut at the Royal Hippodrome where she was billed as The Schoolgirl songstress. At the age of 18 she starred in the lavish West End revue Black Velvet, the FIRST theatrical production visited by King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth after the outbreak of war

* Patricia Llewelyn-Davies

neé Parry

born July 16th 1915 died 1997

..... FIRST woman to become a Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords, a post she held from 1974-79 and which carried with it the ceremonial office of Captain of the Sovereign's Bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms which escorted the Queen on state occasions

* Patricia McLaughlin

neé Florence Patricia Alice Aldwell

born June 23rd 1916 died 1997

..... Unionist MP for West Belfast from 1955 to 1964 when she was replaced by the Unionists after being involved as a director with a company that was involved in fraud. She was active in voluntary and consumer organisations and was FIRST general secretary of the Foundation for Marriage Education, chairman of the Steering Group on Food Freshness from 1973 to 1975 and a member of the Housewives' Trust. In 1962 she campaigned with Barbara Castle to have turnstiles removed from public lavatories 

* Patricia McCormick

born 1930

.....  FIRST woman to win all the American Athletics Union indoor and outdoor diving championships in 1951

* Patricia Mordecai

..... former director of the BBC's children's television programme Blue Peter she became the FIRST woman director of the sports programme World of Sport in 1979

* Patricia Moss-Carlsson

born 1934

neé Moss

..... FIRST  woman to win an international rally (before the World Championship was initiated) when she won the Liege-Rome-Liege rally in 1960

* Patricia O'Shane

born 1941

..... FIRST person of Aboriginal descent to become a barrister and FIRST Aborigine to graduate in law at the University of New South Wales

* Patricia Purcell

..... FIRST woman to wear the coveted badge of a bomb disposal expert She was a WRAF corporal and helped to de-fuse old wartime bombs and to deal with terrorist devices and suspicious packages (1983/84)

* Patricia Rawlings

..... FIRST British woman to be awarded the Order of the Rose (Silver) which was given by President Zheler of Bulgaria in recognition of her interest in the country.  She was only allowed to wear it in Bulgaria or at the Bulgarian embassy

* Patricia Roc

born July 7th 1915

.... FIRST 'lend-lease' star of Rank to go to Hollywood when she made Canyon Passage, a technicoloured Universal western, in 1946

* Patricia Scotland

..... FIRST black woman Queen's Counsel in Britain in 1991 and  FIRST black woman to be made a government minister when appointed to the Foreign Office by the Labour government in July 1999 

* Patricia Rosemary Smythe

 born November 22nd 1928 died 1996

..... one of Britain's most famous show-jumpers and the FIRST woman show-jumper to take part in the Olympics and was four times female champion of Europe. She was also a writer and wrote many books for both adults and children, many of them adventure stories with an equestrian theme and which have sold a total of two million in six languages. From 1983 to 1986 she was president of the British Show Jumping Association and was chef d'equipe with the British team

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