Pollock is among the oldest family names recorded in Scotland, as written 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.

The surname Pollock was adopted from the ancient lands of Pollock in
Renfrewshire, when surnames were beginning to be used.
Records of the 12th century reveal the sons of Fulbert, the progenitor of
the Pollock Family, held these lands. 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 Knotts 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."

3. From A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SHIRE OF RENFREW, including an Account of
the Noble and Ancient Families, who, from the Earliest Times Have Had Property in
that County, and the Most Remarkable Facts in the Lives of Distinguished
Individuals by George Crawfurd, Author of the Peerage of Scotland, etc and
continued to the Present Period By George Robertson, Author of the Agricultural
Survay of Mid Lothian, etc:

Family Descent. POLLOK OF-THAT-ILK. This family is, without question, among the
most ancient in Scotland. The first of which (anciently called Pulloc) whose
existence can be proven by written evidence, was,

I. Fulbert; he had three sons, Peter, Robert, and Helias. Peter, the eldest, was
a man of great eminence in his day, (see page 37.) but he died without male
issue. Helias, the third son, was in holy orders.

II. Robert, the second son, seems to have been a companion of Walter the Stewart
of Scotland. He was one of the witnesses of the Charter of Paisley, in 1164 (
see page 136 ). He appears to have been succeeded by his son,

III. Robert (see an instance of his munificence to the Paisley Monks, page 37).
He appears to have been succeeded by his son,

IV. Peter de Pulloc, who is a witness to a resignation by Dungallus, son of
Christinus, Judge of Lennox, of the lands of Cullbuth, supposed to be Kilbowie,
in the district of Lennox, and of a piece of ground near the Kirk of Kilpatrick,
to the Abbey of Paisley.

Among the witnesses, he is set down immediately after Alano de Cathcart, and,
from the Chartulary, it would appear that this was about the year 1234.

V. The next in the course of succession, appears to be Thomas de Pulloc, who, in
1270, is witness to a resignation by John de Wardroba Bernaird de Erth, &c. In
favor of the Abbey of Paisley, of the lands of Cachmannock, supposed now
Cochnoch, Femballoch, Edenbarnon, Bachannet, Drumgreave, &c. He is set down
among the witnesses after John de Knox. He appears to have been succeeded by,

VI. John de Pulloc, who lived in the time of Edward I of England, and,
unfortunately for himself and family, took part with Baliol against Bruce. He
appears from Pryne's collection, p.662, to have sworn fealty to Edward; and in
the reign of Robert Bruce, about 1310, there appears to have been a grant by
Robert of his moveable goods to the Abbey of Arbroath, for his joining the
English.

Probably, from this cause, and at any rate about this period, a part of the
family estate appears to have been ravished from the Polloks of that-Ilk, and to
have been seized by the Maxwells, Lords of the Mearns.

VII. Robert de Pollok, successor to the above John, espoused Agnes, daughter of
John Maxwell, Lord of the Mearns. He appears to have been succeeded by,

VIII. John de Pollok his son, and accordingly there is in the charter-chest of
Over Pollok, an original charter, dated 3d May 1372, granted by John Maxwell,
Lord of the Mearns, with consent of Robert de Maxwell, his son, and heir to his
beloved Kinsman, heir of Robert de Pollok, son of Agnes Maxwell, deceased, the
daughter of the said John Lord of the Mearns. He appears to have been succeeded
by.

IX. John Pollok, designated of that-ilk, in an instrument of resignation in the
charter-chest of Lord Dundonald, dated 30th March 1441, bearing to be granted by
the said John Pollok and Walter Spreul of Cowden, in favor of Thomas Spreul, of
the lands of Cowden and Uply. To him succeeded,

X. Charles Pollok, and of this date (28th July 1486), John Maxwell, Lord of the
Mearns, granted a charter of the Lands of Over Pollok to the said Charles,
designing him his kinsman, and to Margaret Stewart his wife, daughter of the
Laird of Minto, (see page 38) in conjunct fee and liferent, and to the heirs male
procreated betwixt them, who failing, to the superior on Charles's own
resignation.

He had two sons, 1. John; 2. David, of whom afterwards.

The eldest son, John, died in his father's life-time. He married Janet
Spreul, a lady of the family of Cowden, by whom he had a son,
John, who succeeded his grandfather, but, dying in his infancy, the estate,
in terms of the investiture to heirs male, devolved upon

XI. David, the second son of Charles, who obtained from the superior a
charter, dated the last July 1527, altering the Investiture from
heirs male to his heirs whatsoever. He married Marion, or rather Margaret,
(see page 38) daughter of William Stewart of Castlemilk,
by whom he left JohnPollok, his son and heir, who, in consequence of a
particular agreement entered into by his father, married
Margaret, daughter of Gabriel Sempill of Cathcart. Crawfurd says that David
left a younger son, of whom the Polloks of Balgray were
descended; but I have not been able to see any evidence of this descent,
though I see he had a younger son, Charles Pollok, and
this Charles was afterwards designed of Greenhill, and by Janet Stirling,
his spouse, Charles left a son John. David Pollok appears
to have died in 1545, and was succeeded by his son,

XII. John, who dying in 1564, left a son and heir. From the donations of the
churches of Mearns and Pollok by the Pollocks of that-ilk,
to the Abbey of Paisley, it seems extremely probable, that the barony of
Mearns and lands of Nether Pollok were their property; and
this opinion is very considerably strengthened, if not evident, from the
circumstance of the lands of Nether Pollok bearing their name.

XIII. John Pollok, who married Janet Mure, (see page 38), daughter of
William Mure of Glanderston, and he appears to have died
before March 1577, and was succeeded by his son,

XIV. John Pollok, who married, 1. Maud Montgomery, daughter of Neil
Montgomery of Lainshaw; and it would appear, that certain
differences having arisen betwixt them, a divorce had taken place, and it
appears he was afterwards married to Dorthea Stuart of
Cardonald, by whom he had, 1. Robert; 2. Mary, who married James Williamson,
brother of Robert Williamson of Murieston.

Being at the conflict at Locherby, in the year 1593, assisting his kinsman,
Lord Maxwell, agassisting his kinsman, Lord Maxwell,
against the Laird of Johnston, was the

XV. Robert, who was married to Jean, daughter of James Mowat of Busby, and
by her had his eldest daughter, name unknown,
married to John Pollok of Balgray, whose issue seems to have failed; also,
1. Robert; 2. Helen, married to Robert Marshall, writer
in Glasgow, by whom she had no surviving issue. This Robert acquired the
superiority of the estate from the Earl of Nithsdale, and
came thereby again to hold it of the crown. He died in 1657, and was
succeeded by his son,

XVI. Robert, who, in 1660, married Jean Crawfurd, daughter of Cornelius
Crawfurd of Jordanhill, by whom he had; 1. Robert, and
several other children, of whom there is no issue, except by a daughter,
married to Semple of Beltrees. He died in 1676, and was
succeeded by his son,

XVII. Robert Pollok, who was married, 1 to Annabella, daughter of Sir George
Maxwell of Nether Pollock; 2. To Annabella, daughter
of Walter Stewart of Pardovan. He was, by her Majesty Queen Anne, created a
Baronet of Nova Scotia, 30th November 1703, to him
and to the heirs male of his body; it proceeds upon a recital of the
antiquity and flourishing condition of the ancient family of Pollok
of that-ilk, for 600 years then by-past, since the reigns of David and
William, Kings of Scotland; also, upon recital of the many
illustrious services of the said Robert, now Sir Robert of that-ilk, the
representative without interruption, of that ancient family. As
also, his faithful and zealous services, in defending the reformed religion
at the time of the Revolution, and that, when bearing the
King's commission, he had been taken, and confined in the most barbarous and
uncivilized places of the Highlands, during the
space of nine months, because he would not renounce his allegiance to King
William. By his second wife, he had four sons and
three daughters; 1. Robert, an Officer in the army, who died before his
father , without issue; 2. Walter, of whom afterwards; 3. John,
a Captain in the army - was killed at the battle of Fontenoy. He married to
Ann, daughter of John Lockhart of Lee, by whom he left one
daughter, Robina, of whom afterwards; 4. William, who died without issue. 1.
Elizabeth, married to Alexander Hamilton of Grange,
and had issue; 2. Jean, married to James Polok of Arthurlie, and had issue;
Annabella, married to James Hamilton of Newton,
surgeon in Glasgow, who had an only son, James, who died without issue. Sir
Robert Pollok died in 1736, and was succeeded by

XVIII. Walter Pollok, the second son, who married --- Bogle, daughter of
---Bogle of Daldowie, merchant in Glasgow; by the said
Lady, 1. Robert; 2. Walter, who died unmarried; 3. John, an Officer in His
Majesty's service, who died unmarried; 4th, Elizabeth,
who died unmarried; 5, Jean of whom afterwards; Walter, having predeceased
his father, his eldest son,

XIX. Sir Robert, succeeded to his grandfather. He married to Ann Crawfurd,
daughter of the Reverend Cornelius Crawfurd, son of
Lawrence Crawfurd of Jordanhill, Esquire, by whom he had an only daughter,
Cornelia, and he dying, 1783, was succeeded by

XX. Cornelia Pollok, his only child, who survived her father but a very
short time, having died in her infancy, on 28th Feb, 1785,
and was succeeded by her aunt,

XXI. Jean Pollok, who died unmarried, in 1807, and was succeeded by her
cousin,

XXII. Robina Pollok, only child of Captain John Pollok of Belgray, and
relict of Sir Hew Crawfurd of Jordanhill, Bart. There exist of
this marriage, 1. Sir Robert Crawfurd, bart. married Miss Mushat: no issue.

XXIII 2. Hew, a Captain in the Army, married Jane, daughter of the late
William Johnston, Esq; of Headfort, in the county of Leitrim,
Ireland, by whom he had an issue,

XXIV 1. Hugh, an Officer in the army; 2. Robert; 3. Jane Pollok; 4. Maria;
5. Anne.

XXV 3. Mary, married to Colonel Hamilton of Bardowie, no issue; 4. Robina,
unmarried; and 5. Lucken, married to General John
Gordon Cumming Skene, of Pitlurg Dice, &c. Aberdeenshire, issue, four sons
and five daughters.

John F. Polk, Jr.

Historian, Clan Pollock International


This information is provided by Larry Chesebro', Larry@@chesebro.net. It must be
verified for accuracy based on cited sources. Liberal use of approximate dates
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