William Pollard-Urquhart (19 June 1815 – 1 June 1871), was an Irish politician and writer specialising in economic and

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

questions of his day. He served as high sheriff of County Westmeath, and sat as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the county.

Early life

Urquhart, eldest child of William Dutton Pollard (1789–1839), of Kinturk,

Castlepollard Castlepollard ( or ''Cionn Toirc'') is a village in north County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland. It lies west of Lough Lene and northeast of Lough Derravaragh and Mullingar. Name The name ''Castlepollard'' comes from the name of a castle or ...

, County Westmeath, by his second wife, Louisa Anne, eldest daughter of Admiral Sir Thomas Pakenham, was born at Kinturk on 19 June 1815. He was educated at Harrow and at

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

, graduating BA as eighteenth wrangler in 1838, and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1843. He kept his terms 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 ...

, but was never called to the bar.

Career

In 1840 he was gazetted

High Sheriff of Westmeath The High Sheriff of Westmeath was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Westmeath, Ireland from its creation under The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and ...

, and in 1846, on his marriage, took by royal licence the additional name of Urquhart. He sat in parliament for

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

as a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

from 1852 to 1857, and from 1859 to his death.

Personal life

On 20 August 1846, he married Mary Isabella, the only daughter of William Urquhart of Craigston Castle, Aberdeenshire. Their second son, Francis Edward Romulus Pollard Urquhart (born 1848), became a major in the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link r ...

in 1886. He died at 19 Brunswick Terrace, Brighton, on 1 June 1871.

Works

Pollard-Urquhart was the author of: *''Agricultural Distress and its Remedies'' (Aberdeen, 1850) *''Essays on Subjects of Political Economy'' (1850) *''The Substitution of Direct for Indirect Taxation necessary to carry out the Policy of Free Trade'' (1851), *''Life and Times of Francisco Sforza, Duke of Milan'' (Edinburgh, 1852, 2 vols; adversely criticised by the ‘Athenæum’) *''A short Account of the Prussian Land Credit Companies, with Suggestions for the Formation of a Land Credit Company in Ireland'' (Dublin, 1853) *''The Currency Question and the Bank Charter Committees of 1857 and 1858 reviewed. By an M.P.'' (1860) *''Dialogues on Taxation, local and imperial'' (1867).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard-Uruqhart, William 1815 births 1871 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge High Sheriffs of County Westmeath Irish writers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Westmeath constituencies (1801–1922) People educated at Harrow School UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 19th-century Irish non-fiction writers People from Castlepollard