The Famous and Noteworthy

 

Fulbert - The Pollock name was originally Fulbert who was a Celt born in Brittany about 987 A.D. Fulbert was a tanner and lived in Falaise, Normandy. His beautiful daughter, Herleve, had a love affair with the Duke of Normandy and gave birth to William. The Duke had no legitimate heir and acknowledged William as his son and heir. William later became known as William the Conqueror. In 1051, William went to England, in 1053 he married Matilida the daughter of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders.

Fulbert accompanied William and fought alongside him in the battle of Hastings in 1066. For this he was awarded the Barony of Pollock in Renfrew Scotland. Under the reign of King Malcolm in the years of 1157-1158, Fulbert the Barony of Pollock was granted the lands of Perthic and the Barony of Steinton. Fulbert died in 1163. He had three sons Peter, Helia and Robert. Peter succeeded his father and assumed Pollock as his surname. Pollock is from the gaelic word "pollag" which means a small pool.

Peter Pollock - Peter was a man of eminence and a law unto himself. He almost had as much wealth as the king. He was an ancestor of Crusade Knights, and a supporter of the struggle to free the Holy Sepulchre from the Moslems. He was widely known for "valor on the field of battle and prowess in the chase". Many minstrel lays were written about him. Other estates besides the one in Renfrewshire Peter held were lands in Inverorkel in Moray and the barony of Rothes in Aberdeenshire. Between 1169 and 1179, Peter gave the Church of Polloc (Pollock) to the Monastery of Paisley, Peter's brother, Helia de Perthic granted the Church of Mearns to the Monastery of Paisley. In the charter the grant is mentioned as having been made with the consent of Peter de Pollock, his brother. The Abbey of St. Mirin in Paisley is the oldest in Scotland still in use today. This is one of the reasons the Pollock Clan has three Patron Saints, St. Andrew, St. Mirin and St. Mungo.

Sir John Pollok Leslie (Knight) - was Receiver General to King James IV and married the King's granddaughter.

Sir John Pollock - fought on Queen Mary's side at the battle of Langside and subsequently forfeited his lands for his actions.

Sir John Pollock - In 1577, Sir John married Dorothea Stuart of Cardonald. She was the daughter of Captain James Stuart. Their son was Sir Robert Pollock who was killed while assisting his clansman Lord Maxwell at the conflict at Locherbie in 1593.

Sir Robert Pollock of Pollock, Baronet of Nova Scotia - In 1703, Sir Robert was a commissioner for the shire of Edinburgh to the Scottish Estates, Governor of Fort William and for many years was a representative for that county in the Imperial Parliament.

Sir Frederick Pollock - a famous British Jurist in the 1940's who corresponded with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes. Their letters were published in 1941. Sir Frederick's grandfather was Lord Baron of the Exchequer Court.

Oliver Pollock - Oliver was a shipping magnate from New Orleans. He actively supported the American Declaration of Independence and became the largest individual financial contributor of the Revolutionary War by supplying arms and ammunition to the Revolutionary forces.

Captain Robert Pollock - Captain Robert fought in Cromwell's army and came to the United States circa 1672 and settled on large grants of land in Maryland. He changed his name to Polk. His great-great grandson was James Knox Polk the 11th President of the United States.

James Knox Polk - (1795 - 1849) was born in Mecklenbug Co., North Carolina to Samuel and Jane Knox Polk. He graduated from law school in Tennessee and was admitted to the bar in 1820, elected in 1823 to the Tennessee state legislature and in 1825 to Congress. He was a supporter of Andrew Jackson. In James' first term of office he led an attack on President John Quincy Adams. When Andrew Jackson became president in 1828, James became the administration floor leader in the House of Representatives. He was Speaker of the House from 1835 to 1839. He was nominated for governor of Tennessee in 1837. and served from 1839 until 1841. Some of his accomplishments as President of the United States were: reduced the tariff; organized an independent Treasury system; settled the question of the Oregon boundary with Great Britain; and secured California. Because of the Mexican War, he added more territory to the United States and earned the title of one of America's great expansionists. After his term of office was over, he retired to Nashville and died on June 15, 1849 just three months after leaving office.

Robina Pollock - She was the last of the main line of the Pollocks. She married Sir Hew Crawford of Kilburnie. Robina and Sir Hew had one son and when Robina died, he had to take the name Pollock in order to inherit the estate. He became Sir Hew Crawford-Pollock and represented both family lines. He died without an heir and the estate was inherited by his sister Jane Ferguson. Jane, with her husband, took the name Ferguson Pollock. The estate was subsequently left to a nephew in Canada who sold it to a developer in the spring of 1947. The property was sold by the acre and by the fall of 1953 the castle and 30 acres was all that was left. The castle contained 88 bedrooms, 365 windows and was torn down by the last owner Dr. Greer who had agreed to build his house on the sight of the castle. Dynamite was used to tear down the walls of the castle and stones were scattered. One of the stones was brought back by Rhys Pollock (founder of the Pollock Clan in North America) for the Cairn at Grandfather Mountain.

Thomas Pollock - born in 1654 in Glasgow, Scotland was a lawyer and planter, he served as the Governor of North Carolina in 1712-1714 and in 1722. He died in August 1722 and was buried at Edenton. A family tree shows Thomas as being a descendant of the Pollocks of Balgray. During his lifetime, Thomas acquired large tracts of land on the Roanoke, Chowan and Trent Rivers. The Pollocks lived at Balgra on Queen Anne's Creek or at a plantation located on Salmon Creek.

James Pollock - Congressman, Governor of Pennsylvania and the first Director of the United States Mint who suggested placing the motto "In God We Trust" on money.

Sir J. Donald Pollock of Edomburgh - helped to make possible the raising of the deeply sunken German warships at Scapa Flow.

 

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Sources:
Clan Pollock Newsletters, 1980. Provided by Virginia Rouse Liles
Collier's Encyclopedia