| Birth: | 1559 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Death: | 1625 in Coleraine, Londonderry, Ireland |
| Sex: | M |
| Father: | John Pollok (II) b. 1524 |
| Mother: | Janet Mure b. 1524 in Renfrewshire, Scotland |
| 1 |
| Burial: 1625 |
| Ancestral File #: |
| Spouses & Children |
| Jean Monat (Wife) b. About 1560 in Scotland or Ireland | |
| Marriage: | BEF 1597 in Scotland or Ireland |
| Children: | |
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| Notes |
"Robert received a grant of lands (1605-1608) in County Derry, in or
near Coleraine, in what is now Northern Ireland (ref: Burke'sPresidents, 1981, second edition, under 'Lineage of President Polk').However, There are NO Pollok/Pollock names shown as undertakers orservitors in the various lists published in 'The Scotch-Irish,' byJames Hanna, 1902. If Robert Pollok received a land grant, then hisname should appear on a list of grantees, somewhere. This researcher(Bill Polk, Kansas City, MO., July 1998), believes that Robert Pollokmay have gotten land in Ireland, but perhaps as an unnamed person,under an undertaker or a servitor, perhaps in the plantation of one ofhis kinsmen, Hamilton or Montgomery, who started bringing people fromScotland to Counties Down and Antrim in 1606.
Also, the question begs, was Robert Pollok a Sir, that is, a knight? This researcher has doubts that the Robert Pollok who supposedly wentto Scotland and received a grant c1605-1608, was a knight. He may havebeen a soldier fighting the Irish, and he may have gotten some land(as mentioned above), but there is no proof that he was a knight. Overtime, family historians may have confused the Robert Polloks ofIreland with the various Roberts in Scotland (some who were Sirs) andperhaps this is how this knight thing was started (all this isspecualtion, of course).
It is interesting to note that about the same time as Robert Pollok was supposedly receiving his land grant, his grandson Robert's futurefather-in-law, Roger Tasker, was serving in the military in northernIreland. Quoting from Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, pg. 1350:'Thomas Keyes served in the war in Ireland from 1578, first as Assist.to the 'Trenchmaster,' Sir Richard Hansard. Hansard was sent back toEngland to raise a Company, which he took to Ireland in 1601, and wasjoined by Thomas Keyes and his son, John. Hansard was eventuallyappointed Gov. of the Liffer, and consolidated his hold on the fordsacross the Foyle River by building a fort at Lifford [NOTE: Liffordbecame Ballindreat, county Donegal, per pg. 372 of 'The Scotch-Irish,'Vol. II, by Hanna, 1902]. Thomas Keyes, who was then Hansard's Capt.,was granted a plot of land ('one sesiagh') in the vicinity on which tobuild a house. His son John, and Roger Tasker, who were Hansard'sLieuts., were given similar plots to build fortified houses to guardanother ford at Ballindrait. Hansard's officers did not participate inthe distribution of escheated lands on the 'Plantation' of Ulster; butThomas Keyes and Roger Tasker took up and developed land included inClonleigh, originally granted to the Bishop of Derry. Thomas Keye'sproperty was Clonfade (afterwards Glenfade) and Roger Tasker's wasCavanacor. Thomas Keyes settled in Derry, where he became Sheriff in1623, and made over Clonfade to his son, John Keyes, who settledthere, and had a son, John Keyes, m. Barbara, dau. and heiress ofRoger Tasker, to whom her father assigned Cavanacor, which estatehenceforth became their principal residence.'
Pg. 511, 'The Scotch-Irish,' Vol. II, Charles A. Hanna, 1902, shows that Sir Richard Hansard, Knt., in 1610, received 1000 acres as aservitor, in the precincts of Doe and Fawnett (now Kilmacrennan). Inthis same reference, pg. 523, there is additional information aboutSir Richard Hansard and the 'Town of Lyffer.' Additionally, in thissame reference, pg. 542, the 1000 acres of Sir Richard Hansard now(1619, per Nicholas Pynnar's Survey of 1619), is in the possession of'Sir William Stewart (transferred from Sir Richard Hansard);....'
According to William Harrison Polk, Col. Tasker's seat was 'Castle Hill,' near the village of Ballindrate, commanding a view of the riverDale. It would appear that the Lieut. Roger Tasker above eventuallywas promoted to be a colonel and acquired more estates in the samegeneral area as his 'Cavanacor.' W. H. Polk shows on pg. 6 of 'PolkFamily and Kinsmen' that Col. Tasker gave his oldest daughter BarbaraKeyes, wife of Capt. John Keys, 'Castle Hill,' (which had been theColonel's seat), and his youngest daughter received 'Moneen,'described as 'lying in the parish of Lifford, near Strabane, on theriver Foyle, consisted of six hundred acres.'
Page 13 of 'Polk Family and Kinsmen,' shows that Col Tasker, of Donegal County, Ireland, possessed two fine estates lying near theriver Foyle, above Londonderry, 'Broomfield Castle,' and 'MoneenHall.' The first was a famous estate, and according to a statementreceived by William Harrison Polk, 'one of the finest old castles inIreland.' So, it is possible that Col. Tasker had several estates orhe may have changed the names of them at some point. The various textsclearly show that the eldest daughter was given 'Castle Hill,''Broomfield Castle,' and 'Cavanacor,' while the only estate left tothe younger daughter was 'Morning Hall,' or 'Moneen Hall,' or 'Moneen,' all names used for the estate at one place or another in variousgenealogies. Refer to the additional notes and questions on the Polkancestry at D:\GENEALOGY\FTM TEXT CONTINUATION FILES\Polk Ancestry,Ireland and Scotland, Notes, for information on Cavanacor.
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 writesa statement which clearly shows that he believes the split between thePollok line of Scotland and the one in Ireland must have occurred withthe sons of John Pollok and Janet Mure. He states: 'In 1646, SirGeorge Maxwell, of the Nether Pollok, was married to Lady AnnabellaStuart, 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 onwhat follows): Annabella Maxwell was the daughter, not thegranddaughter, of George Maxwell (see Burke source under AnnabellaMaxwell). Secondly, Sir Robert Pollok of Upper Pollok (in Scotland)and Sir Robert of Ireland, do share a common ancestor, theirggrandfather John De Pollok, whose two sons (Sir Robert Pollok ofIreland, and John De Pollok of Scotland) being brothers, would be thegranduncle of any grandchildren of the other. Burke's Presidents,1981, second edition (see above) follows this thinking in its lineagefrom President Polk back to John De Pollok/Janet Mure. Burke'sPresidents does point out that the line is not proven from John DePollok to Robert Bruce Pollok, but is very probable.
As to who the Ezekiel Stuart mentioned above (and his wife Debora Annerly), nephew of Sir Robert of Ireland, is, the answer to thatquestion could well lead to figuring out the details of the line inIreland. Was Ezekiel a son of a sister of Sir Robert (I) (said sisterhaving 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 AmericanHistorical Magazine,' Vol. II, No. 4, October, 1897, that she believedthe Pollok line in Scotland continued with John de Pollok (she showsthis John De Pollok as the son of Robert De Pollok, said Robert alsohaving a younger son, Robert de Pollok, who inherited the estate inIreland). She writes (quoting from written communication to W. R.Polk, from Mrs. W. H. Polk, wife of W. H. Polk, brother ofex-President Polk): 'This Sir Robert's oldest son, Sir John, inheritedthe hereditary estate in old Scotland. And the present heir [timeframehere is 1873-1900 or so] is Sir Hugh Crawford Pollok, and the familyseats are 'Pollok Castle,' 'Newton Mearum,' Glasgow. The ancient Armsof Pollok, I have seen stated, were legalized in 1595, to Sir John dePollok, first baron Nova Scotia, and to these were added upon themarriage of Lady Robina Pollok, the heir of the Regal house ofCrawford, the honor supporters.' See Robina Pollok m. to Hugh Crawfordin database.
William M. Polk (son of Leonidas Polk), in his 1893 biography of Leondias Polk, entitled 'Leonidas Polk Bishop and General,' providesstill another slant to the ancestry of the Polk family. Quoting frompages 2 and 3 of that biography: 'The branch of the Pollock familyfrom which Leonidas Polk traced his descent was represented in thereign of James, Sixth of Scotland and First of England [James' reignwas 1603-1625], by John Pollock, a gentleman of some estate inLanarkshire, not far from what was then the small but importantcathedral city of Glasgow. Those were troublous times in Church andState, and John Pollock, who was an uncompromising Presbyterian, lefthis native land to join the new colony of Protestants which had beenestablished in the north of Ireland. It was a hazardous adventure; foralthough the last of the numerous petty kings of Ireland hadprofessedly submitted to the English arms at the beginning of KingJame's reign, the Irish people cherished a vindictive hatred of theirconquerers, and while the king's writ ran throughout the length andbreadth of the island, the Scotch and English colonists were oftencompelled to maintain peace by drawing and using their good swords.Little more is now known of John Pollock than that he lived to a goodage, and that he had a son of true-blue Presbyterian principles and ofa 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 againstCharles I., and took an active part in the campaigns of Cromwell. Hemarried Magdalen Tasker, who was the widow of his friend and companionin arms, Colonel Porter, and one of the two daughters of ColonelTasker, then Chancellor of Ireland, of Bloomfield Castle, on the riverDale.................'
If the above quoted text is accepted, then Robert Bruce Polk's (of Maryland) father was Thomas Pollock of Lanarkshire, near Glasgow. Nosource is given for this lineage and it definitely differs from thelineage provided in other sources, especially as to who the father ofRobert Bruce Polk is supposed to be, that is, Sir Robert Pollok II, ofIreland, son of Sir Robert Pollok I, son of John Pollok and Janet Mureof Scotland.
'The Surnames of Scotland, Their Origin, Meaning and History,' by George F. Black, Ph.D., 1946, shows on page 669 (under heading of'POLLOCK, POLLOK), (my IRN P-26) the following: 'The name has becomePolk in the United States, the eleventh president of which was JamesKnox Polk, a great-great-grandson of Robert Polk or Pollok whoemigrated from Ayrshire to the American colonies. The place name onPont's map of Renfrewhire is spelled Pook, and that is thepronunciation in common speech.' As I interpret this information, itis stating that Robert Polk came directly from Ayrshire, Scotland, toAmerica. Also, this source does not use the lineage of James K. Polkas provided in various publications, that lineage being Robert Polk ofMaryland, William I, William II, Ezekiel, Samuel, James K. Polk. Thelineage presented by Black would have skipped one of the generationsin the heretofore accepted genealogies, thus, the Black lineage wouldbe Robert, William, Ezekiel, Samuel, James K. Polk. Black's lineage isnot without merit if one considers that not one document has beenfound (to my knowledge) that ties Robert Polk of Maryland to theWilliam Polk of Pennsylvania, who moved to North Carolina c1750, andwho is considered the progenitor of the so called 'Southern Polks.'Might it be possible that a Robert Polk came from Scotland directly toPennsylvania, in the early 1700s, fathered William (plus others, Iimagine), then the family moved on to North Carolina?
Since the exact lineage of the Polks from the Scotland Polloks, through the Irish Polloks/Pollocks and to Robert Bruce Polk ofMaryland has not been proven, any and all bits of information aboutthe possible lineage need to be given due consideration. 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 abovelineage, and he has provided no source of information for suchlineage, it is met with some skepticism as to reliability. HOWEVER,Robert Bell, in his 1988 publication, 'The Book of Ulster Surnames,'shows on pg. 24, the following: '....POLLOCK....The name first came toUlster after the Plantation. One family, the Pollocks of Newry, Co.Down, is thought to descend from John Pollock, a lieutenant-of-foot,serving in Ireland, son of Robert Pollock of that Ilk, Renfrewshire,in the mid-seventeenth century.' Are the two John Pollocks the sameindividual; if not, what is their relationship to each other and theother Polloks?"
| Sources |