Sir William Pollitt (24 February 1842 – 14 October 1908) was an English railway manager and civic dignitary. From 1886 to 1902, he served as general manager of the

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...

(MSL&R), which was renamed

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

in 1897. He was knighted in 1899 and appointed High Sheriff of Cheshire in 1908.

Railway career

Pollitt joined the MSL&R in 1857 and had been appointed Accountant for the company in 1869 having previously served as chief clerk to that post. As Accountant he was responsible for an initiative in 1878 to reduce third-class fares to a penny a mile, which increased the net contribution from that class of passengers. He was appointed to the newly created post of Assistant General Manager in 1885. This post appears to have been created to bolster Underwood, the General Manager, whose health was failing. In turn Pollitt acceded to the General Managership in 1886 when Underwood was elected to the Board. Among other achievements he piloted the MSL&R's strategic line from Beighton to Annesley via Chesterfield, which came into law in 1889. He was chairman or director of several other railways, and a conservancy Commissioner for rivers

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between t ...

and Dee. Pollitt's disputes with John Bell of the Metropolitan Railway were notorious.

Knighthood and civic offices

Pollitt was knighted in 1899. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Cheshire in 1907 and

High Sheriff of Cheshire This is a list of Sheriffs (and after 1 April 1974, High Sheriffs) of Cheshire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most ...

in 1908. In 1902 the King of the Belgians appointed him an Officer of the Order of Leopold.

Volunteer Corps

Pollitt was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Engineer and Railway Staff Corps The Engineer and Logistic Staff Corps is a part of the Royal Engineers in the British Army Reserve. It is intended to provide advisers on engineering and logistics to the British Army at a senior level. Following its work creating the NHS Nighti ...

on 28 April 1886. He was subsequently promoted to Honorary

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and received the

Volunteer Officers' Decoration The Volunteer Officers' Decoration, post-nominal letters VD, was instituted in 1892 as an award for long and meritorious service by officers of the United Kingdom's Volunteer Force. Award of the decoration was discontinued in the United Kingdom ...

on 8 November 1898. He resigned his commission on 14 May 1902.

Family

William Pollitt was born in

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

on 24 February 1842 to William Pollitt (1807 - 1874) and Jane Burton (1808 - 1861) and died on 14 October 1908 at

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

. In 1862 he married Esther Crompton, daughter of Robert Crompton (1812 - 1899) and Mary Walker (1819 - 1848). His son

Harry Pollitt Harry Pollitt (22 November 1890 – 27 June 1960) was a British communist who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) from 1929 to September 1939 and again from 1941 until his death in 1960. Pollitt spent ...

(not to be confused with a British Communist party leader of the same name) was a distinguished locomotive engineer who worked for his father's company, the other

was apprenticed in the same company.

Portrait

A portrait of Sir William Pollitt was painted by

William Powell Frith William Powell Frith (9 January 1819 – 2 November 1909) was an English painter specialising in genre subjects and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian era. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1853, presenting ''The Sleep ...

in 1896. The portrait is in the collection of the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...

.National Railway Museum Collection record
The painting can be viewed onlin
here

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollitt, William Deputy Lieutenants of Cheshire Great Central Railway people Knights Bachelor Engineer and Railway Staff Corps officers High Sheriffs of Cheshire Directors of the Great Central Railway 1842 births 1908 deaths