Sir William Frederick Pollock, 2nd Baronet (13 April 1815 – 24 December 1888) was a British barrister and author. He was

Queen's Remembrancer The King's Remembrancer (or Queen's Remembrancer) is an ancient judicial post in the legal system of England and Wales. Since the Lord Chancellor no longer sits as a judge, the Remembrancer is the oldest judicial position in continual existence ...

from 1874 to 1886.

Biography

The eldest son of Sir Jonathan Frederick Pollock, 1st Baronet by his first wife, he was educated under private tutors, at St Paul's School, and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he obtained a scholarship in 1835, graduated BA in 1836, and proceeded MA in 1840. Although of junior standing to

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

, he was a member of the little society whose debates are celebrated in ‘ In Memoriam’ (lxxxvi). Pollock was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

on 26 January 1838, and went the

Northern Circuit {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Northern Circuit is a court circuit in England. It dates from 1176 when Henry II sent his judges on circuit to do justice in his name. The Circuit encompassed the whole of the North of England but in 1876 i ...

, in which he held for some years the post of revising barrister. He was appointed a master of the Court of Exchequer in 1846, and in 1874 to the ancient office of

. On the fusion of the courts of law and equity in the Supreme Court of Judicature (1875) the office of Queen's Remembrancer was annexed to the senior mastership, and continued to be held by Pollock until September 1886, when he resigned. He died at his residence in Montague Square on 24 December 1888. Pollock was a man of liberal culture and rare social charm. His entertaining ‘Personal Remembrances,’ which he published in 1887, show how various were his accomplishments, and how numerous his friendships in the world of letters, science, and art. He was one of Macready's executors, and edited his ‘Reminiscences’ (London, 1876, 2 vols. 8vo). His portrait was painted by W. W. Ouless, R.A. Pollock was author of ‘The Divine Comedy; or the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise of Dante rendered into English’ (in closely literal blank verse, with fine plates by Dalziel from drawings by George, afterwards Sir George Scharf, mostly after Flaxman), London, 1854, 8vo.

Family

Pollock married, on 30 March 1844, Juliet, daughter of the Rev. Henry Creed, vicar of Corse, Gloucestershire; of his three sons, the eldest,

Sir Frederick Pollock, 3rd Baronet Sir Frederick Pollock, 3rd Baronet PC, FBA (10 December 1845 – 18 January 1937) was an English jurist best known for his ''History of English Law before the Time of Edward I'', written with F.W. Maitland, and his lifelong correspondence w ...

, was

Corpus Professor of Jurisprudence The position of Professor of Jurisprudence (originally the Corpus Professor of Jurisprudence) at the University of Oxford, England, was created in 1869. The holders of the position have been: * Sir Henry Maine 1869–77 * Sir Frederick Pollock 1 ...

at Oxford (1883–1903). Another second son was the writer

Walter Herries Pollock Walter Herries Pollock (21 February 1850 – 21 February 1926) was an English writer, poet, lecturer and journalist. He is best known as editor of the '' Saturday Review'', a position he held from 1884 to 1894, but also had published various misc ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, William Frederick 1815 births 1888 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple Masters of the High Court (England and Wales) Translators of Dante Alighieri