|
This
history was kindly provided by the Clan Pollock International Web Site
The name of Pollock (Pollok) is among the
oldest family names in Scotland. The surname was adopted from the ancient
lands of Pollock in Renfrewshire. Records of the 12th century reveal these
lands were held by the sons of Fulbert, progenitor of the Pollocks of
Scotland. Fulbert's son. Petrus, who inherited the lands of Pollock from
his father in 1163, was the first person to use Pollock as a surname. One
surviving document charters the lands to Petrus through Walter Fitz-Alan,
High Steward of Scotland and the progenitor of the Royal Stewart line. The
lands then passed to Robertus, brother of Petrus, when Petrus had no male
heir.
The main line of Pollock
descent is from Robertus, who was a witness to the founding of Paisley
Abbey in 1160, being described as "Roberto filio Fulberti."
Between 1189 and 1199 he granted the Church of Mearns to the Monastery of
Paisley. The original church building no longer stands. The location for
the present church of Mearns is at the intersection of Eaglesham Road and
Mearns Road. Many prominent Pollocks are buried in the adjoining cemetery
and within the walls of the church.
The lands were divided into
Upper and Lower Pollock. The Pollocks retained upper Pollock while Lower
Pollock was chartered to the Maxwell's. The Maxwell's of Pollock became a
prominent branch of that powerful border clan. A common alliance was
formed between the Maxwell's and the Pollocks. Marriages took place
between members of the two families. Today, Pollocks continue to be
recognized as septs of Clan Maxwell and may correctly wear the Maxwell
tartan.
The lineage of the family of
Pollock-of-that-Ilk in Scotland was recorded by George Crawfurd in his
"General Description of the Shire of Renfrew, Including an Account of
the Noble and Ancient Families", first published in 1710.
John Pollok, Of That Ilk, as
town Baillie, signed the Charter of St. Andrews University in 1453, the
oldest university in Scotland. Fourteenth in descent from Fulbert was John
Pollock of Pollock. He fought on the side of Mary's forces at Langside,
only a few miles from Pollock Castle, ended her reign in Scotland. For his
role in her losing cause, John Pollock forfeited some of his lands. On 30
November 1703, Sir Robert Pollock-of-that-Ilk was knighted and made
Baronet of Nova Scotia by Queen Anne for his services to the crown, with a
"recital of the antiquity and flourishing condition of the ancient
family of Pollock-of that-Ilk, for 600 years". Other notable Pollocks
in Great Britain were The Rt.. Hon. Sir Jonathan Frederick Pollock, Bart.,
Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer; Field Marshall Sir George Pollock,
Bart., Lord Chief Justice of Bombay; Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., famous
barrister and codifier of English Law; Robert Pollock. Scholar and author
of the once widely read epic poem "The Course of Time" and John
Pollock, official biographer of The Reverend Billy Graham and author of
many books, including "the Apostle" and "The Master."
With the passage of time,
changes occurred to the Pollock surname. For some descendants of Scottish
{Pollock it became Polk and Pogue, spelled in various ways. Capt. Robert
Bruce Pollok emigrated from Donegal Ireland to Maryland around 1680 and
was the progenitor of a great number of persons now using the name Polk
and Pollock. Prominent among his American descendants were James K. Polk,
11th President of the United states, General leonidas Polk of Civil War
fame, and Colonel Thomas Polk of charlotte, North Carolina, who convened
that meeting at which Mecklenburg County, North Carolina declared it's
independence from England in may 1775, a year ahead of the Philadelphia
Convention. Governor Charles Polk of Delaware and Governor and Senator
Thrusten Polk of Missouri also belonged to this family. Other notable
Pollocks were James Pollock, an early Governor of Pennsylvania; Thomas
Pollock, born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1654, and who died in 1722 while
serving as acting governor of the Colony of North Carolina, and Oliver
Pollock, from Colerain Ireland, who settled in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and
is credited as the "financier of the American Revolution in the
West" during the Revolutionary War.
Today there is no Pollock of
that Ilk recognized as the hereditary chief of the clan. The last Pollock
chief recognized by the Crown was in 1845. The clan badge portrays a boar
pierced by an arrow and the motto Audacter et Strenue, Boldly and
Strongly. In 1980, Clan Pollock adopted its own tartan and registered it
with the Scottish Tartan Society in Scotland. Pollock Castle, in its last
configuration, was a magnificent structure. Built in the style of a
British manor house, the castle was demolished in 1954 and the lands were
sold. For the first time in eight centuries the lands of Upper Pollock
were no longer Pollock lands.
Nothing of the old Pollock
estate remains except the two gate houses, the stable, and the gardener's
cottage (all are presently occupied), the castle stone foundation, the
south entrance steps and a few stones that once formed the castle's
massive walls. One of those stones, cut and polished, is imbeded in the
Scottish Memorial Cairn in North Carolina. The cairn was dedicated in 1980
at the site of the annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, near
Linville, North Carolina. See
also... Descendants of David Pollock
(1738 - 1815), Saddler to George III and history of Pollock family descended from Fulbert, born around 1180. |
