Albert Frederick Pollard

Background

Albert Pollard was born on the Isle of Wight on December 16, 1869, the son of a pharmacist.

Education

He attended Jesus College at Oxford, where he was one of the first pupils of R. L. Poole, the famous medievalist. Pollard received his degree in 1891 and won an award in scholarship in 1892.

Career

He became Assistant Editor of and a contributor to the Dictionary of National Biography in 1893. He wrote approximately 500 articles there. While working on the dictionary he also completed two biographical studies, England under Protector Somerset (1900) and Henry VIII (1902).

In 1903 Pollard was elected to the newly established chair of constitutional history at University College, London, which he held until 1931. At his appointment there was little interest in historical studies and few scholars in that area at University College, although the field was beginning to develop in other British universities. In his inaugural lecture Pollard set forth a program to develop historical studies, and he worked arduously on this for the next 35 years, developing curricula and requirements for degree courses.

In 1906 Pollard founded the Historical Association, which served as a link between university professors and teachers in the secondary schools, and he served as president from 1912 to 1915. In 1916 he was largely instrumental in persuading the association to acquire a foundering periodical, History. He edited it for the next 6 years, during which it grew immensely in circulation, quality, and influence. In 1920 he was the major force behind the founding of the university's Institute of Historical Research, which he served as director from 1920 to 1931 and as honorary director until 1939. According to one authority, Pollard was able to accomplish as much as he did for the development of historical studies because he hacked his way through the tangle of London academic politics virtually single-handedly. The institute became a national center for the research of subjects suitable for study in the libraries and archives of London, cooperating with other British universities, sponsoring conferences in conjunction with American scholars, and publishing its own Bulletin beginning in 1923.

Pollard was a member of a government committee on the League of Nations and served on the Committee on Parliamentary Records of 1929. He also ran unsuccessfully for Parliament twice as a Liberal candidate.

Pollard's main interest was in the Tudor period. He wrote a three-volume Reign of Henry VII from Contemporary Sources (1913-1914) and a life of Cardinal Wolsey (1929). He was also instrumental in promoting the modern study of parliamentary history. As Pollard was not especially comfortable in handling philosophical or political ideas, his works are characterized by a preoccupation with times, places, and individual actors in history. He also often devoted an unusual amount of space to the minute analysis of words. His literary style is felicitous.

He died on Aug. 3, 1948, at Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire.

Achievements

• Pollard was the leading Tudor scholar of the early 20th century.
  
  Toward the end of his life Pollard was offered a knighthood but declined it.
  
  Pollard’s major works on English history under the Tudor dynasty—including his volume The History of England from the Accession of Edward VI to the Death of Elizabeth (1547–1603) (1910) in “The Political History of England” series and his books on Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation (1904), The Elizabethans and the Empire (1921), and Wolsey (1929)—were models of careful and enduring work.

Works

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  • The British Empire: Its Past, Its Present, and Its Future (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The British Empire: Its Past, Its Present, a...)

  • England Under Protector Somerset;

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury

    (A short biography of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canter...)

  • Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation (Classic Reprint)

    (Preface, the following pages would take as their text the...)

  • Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation 1489-1556 (Classic Reprint)

    (Preface, the following pages would take as their text the...)

  • Edward Seymour - Duke of Somerset

    (A short biography of Edward Symour, first Earl of Hertfor...)

  • William Parry - Conspirator Against Queen Elizabeth I

    (A short biography of William Parry, conspirator who plott...)

  • Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar

    (A short biography of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar, also...)

  • John Speed - Historian and Cartographer

    (A short biography of John Speed, (1552 – 1629) English ca...)

  • Thomas Wilson, English Diplomat under Queen Elizabeth I

    (A short biography of Thomas Wilson, English diplomat unde...)

  • The Jesuits in Poland

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • Henry VIII.
  • A Short History of the Great War
  • The History of England - a Study in Political Evolution

Religion

His point of view in his many historical works has been characterized as Protestant.

Politics

Pollard was politically active for the Liberal Party and stood as Liberal candidate for the London University in the 1922, 1923 and 1924 General Elections.

Membership

He was a member of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, and founder of the Historical Association, 1906. He was the president of the Historical Association from 1912 to 1915.

Connections

He was the father of the bibliographer and bookseller Graham Pollard and father-in-law to pioneering Communist and women's rights campaigner Kay Beauchamp.

Daughter:

Kay Beauchamp

Daughter:

Graham Pollard

References

• The Development of Historiography (The Stackpole Social Science Series)