Kerr, Freeman, Crowder, Patrick and related families:Information about Sir Robert Pollok, Of Ireland
Sir Sir Robert Pollok, Of Ireland (b. Abt. 1559, d. Abt. 1625)
Notes for Sir Robert Pollok, Of Ireland:
Robertreceived a grant of lands (1605-1608) in County Derry, in or near Coleraine, in what is now Northern Ireland (ref:Burke's Presidents, 1981, second edition, under "Lineage of President Polk").
William Harrison Polk seems to have gotten the Pollok line mixed up at times, but on page 4 of his "Polk Family and Kinsmen," 1912, he writes a statement which clearly shows that he believes the split between the Pollok line of Scotland and the one in Ireland must have occurred with the sons of John Pollok and Janet Mure.He states:"In 1646, Sir George Maxwell, of the Nether Pollok, was married to Lady Annabella Stuart, lineal descendant of King Robert 3d, and their granddaughter, Annabella, married her cousin, Sir Robert Pollok of Upper Pollok, grandnephew of Sir Robert of Ireland, whose nephew, Ezekiel Stuart, married Debora Annerly." First, a correction (which has no bearing on what follows): Annabella Maxwell was the daughter, not the granddaughter, of George Maxwell (see Burke source under Annabella Maxwell).Secondly, Sir Robert Pollok of Upper Pollok (in Scotland) and Sir Robert of Ireland, do share a common ancestor, their ggrandfather John De Pollok, whose two sons (Sir Robert Pollok of Ireland, and John De Pollok of Scotland) being brothers, would be the granduncle of any grandchildren of the other.Burke's Presidents, 1981, second edition (see above) follows this thinking in its lineage from President Polk back to John De Pollok/Janet Mure.Burke's Presidents does point out that the line is not proven from John De Pollok to Robert Bruce Pollok, but is very probable.
As to who Ezekiel Stuart (and his wife Debora Annerly), nephew of Sir Robert of Ireland, is, the answer to that question could well lead to figuring out the details of the line in Ireland.Was Ezekiel a son of a sister of Sir Robert (I) (said sister having married a Stuart male)?
In addition, although she, too, seemed to have mixed up the Pollok line somewhat, Mary Winder Garrett, shows, on pg. 378 of "The American Historical Magazine," Vol. II, No. 4, October, 1897, that she believed the Pollok line in Scotland continued with John de Pollok (she shows this John De Pollok as the son of Robert De Pollok, said Robert also having a younger son, Robert de Pollok, who inherited the estate in Ireland).She writes (quoting from written communication to W. R. Polk, from Mrs. W. H. Polk, wife of W. H. Polk, brother of ex-President Polk):"This Sir Robert's oldest son, Sir John, inherited the hereditary estate in old Scotland.And the present heir [timeframe here is 1873-1900 or so] is Sir Hugh Crawford Pollok, and the family seats are 'Pollok Castle,' 'Newton Mearum,' Glasgow.The ancient Arms of Pollok, I have seen stated, were legalized in 1595, to Sir John de Pollok, first baron Nova Scotia, and to these were added upon the marriage of Lady Robina Pollok, the heir of the Regal house of Crawford, the honor supporters."See Robina Pollok m. to Hugh Crawford in database.
William M. Polk (son of Leonidas Polk), in his 1893 biography of Leondias Polk, entitled "Leonidas Polk Bishop and General," provides still another slant to the ancestry of the Polk family.Quoting from pages 2 and 3 of that biography:"The branch of the Pollock family from which Leonidas Polk traced his descent was represented in the reign of James, Sixth of Scotland and First of England [James' reign was 1603-1625], by John Pollock, a gentleman of some estate in Lanarkshire, not far from what was then the small but important cathedral city of Glasgow.Those were troublous times in Church and State, and John Pollock, who was an uncompromising Presbyterian, left his native land to join the new colony of Protestants which had been established in the north of Ireland.It was a hazardous adventure; for although the last of the numerous petty kings of Ireland had professedly submitted to the English arms at the beginning of King Jame's reign, the Irish people cherished a vindictive hatred of their conquerers, and while the king's writ ran throughout the length and breadth of the island, the Scotch and English colonists were often compelled to maintain peace by drawing and using their good swords.Little more is now known of John Pollock than that he lived to a good age, and that he had a son of true-blue Presbyterian principles and of a strenuous temper like his own."
"Robert Pollock, a son of John Pollock, served as a subaltern officer in the regiment of Colonel Tasker in the Parliamentary army against Charles I., and took an active part in the campaigns of Cromwell.He married Magdalen Tasker, who was the widow of his friend and companion in arms, Colonel Porter, and one of the two daughters of Colonel Tasker, then Chancellor of Ireland, of Bloomfield Castle, on the river Dale................."
If the above quoted text is accepted, then Robert Bruce Polk's (of Maryland) father was Thomas Pollock of Lanarkshire, near Glasgow.No source is given for this lineage and it definitely differs from the lineage provided in other sources, especially as to who the father of Robert Bruce Polk is supposed to be, that is, Sir Robert Pollok II, of Ireland, son of Sir Robert Pollok I, son of John Pollok and Janet Mure of Scotland.
Since the exact lineage of the Polks from the Scotland Polloks, through the Irish Polloks/Pollocks and to Robert Bruce Polk of Maryland has not been proven, any and all bits of information about the possible lineage need to be given due consideration.However, in view of the fact that William M. Polk is the only family historian or writer (known by this researcher, Bill Polk, as of 10 Dec 1998) thus far who has introduced the above lineage, and he has provided no source of information for such lineage, it is met with some skepticism as to reliability.
Children of Sir Robert Pollok, Of Ireland are:
- +Sir Robert PollokII, Of Ireland, b. Abt. 1597, Northern Ireland, probably1393, d. Abt. 1640, Northern Ireland, probably1393.