Sir Frederick Pollock, 3rd Baronet


Sir Frederick Pollock, 3rd Baronet PC, FBA was an English jurist best known for his History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, written with F.W. Maitland, and his lifelong correspondence with US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. He was a Cambridge Apostle.

Life

Pollock was the eldest son of William Frederick Pollock, Master of the Court of Exchequer, and Juliet Creed, daughter of the Rev, Harry Creed. He was the grandson of Sir Frederick Pollock, 1st Baronet, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, the great-nephew of Field Marshal Sir George Pollock, 1st Baronet, and the first cousin of Ernest Pollock, 1st Viscount Hanworth, Master of the Rolls.
He was educated at Eton College, where he was a King's Scholar, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was elected Fellow in 1868. In 1871 he was admitted to the Bar. He wrote a series of text books that took a new approach to the teaching of English Law including The Principles of Contract at Law and in Equity and The Law of Torts.
Rather than relying on specific applications of law these works emphasised underlying principles. They acted as models for future textbooks and helped modernise English legal education. Pollock taught at the University of Oxford, as Corpus Professor of Jurisprudence. He was Professor of Common Law in the Inns of Court. He was Editor of the Law Reports from 1895 to 1935. He was the first editor of the Law Quarterly Review which was founded in 1885. He was also, in 1894, the Chairman of The Society of Authors He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1911. He was elected Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn in 1931.

Family

Pollock married on 13 August 1873 to Georgina Harriet Deffell, a daughter of John Deffell. They had two children:
Together with his younger brother Walter Herries Pollock, he participated in the first English revival of historical fencing, originated by Alfred Hutton and his colleagues Egerton Castle, Captain Carl Thimm, Colonel Cyril Matthey, Captain Percy Rolt, Captain Ernest George Stenson Cooke, Captain Frank Herbert Whittow.

Works