THE BEGINNING  

Richard H. Pollock
Clan Pollock Genealogist

From The Pollag, Jan 2001

“ The Pollock, or Pollok, family is one of the few British Families that can trace their ancestry back, without interruption, to Norman times ; their origin was Norman, or possibly Breton ; they settled in Scotland. “ ^[1]

  " Pollok Of That Ilk. This family is, without question among the most ancient in     Scotland. " ^[2]   

  How did the family begin ?

  It is well recorded that Fulbert was the progenitor of the Pollock Family :

                   " The first of which whose existence can be proven by written evidence, was,          Fulbert " ^[3]

                  " The Pollock family is descended from Fulbert, who was probably born about        1080 " ^[4]

                    " The first of their family known, but not of their name, was Fulbert, whose name occurs a number of times in the Register of the Monastery of Paisley " ^[5]

                     " Fulbert the Saxon, the first recorded progenitor of the family " ^[6]

                 " Fulbert, the progenitor of the Pogue/Pollock/Polk Clan " ^[7

                 " Pollok, the name of an ancient family of Renfrewshire, descended from Robert,     youngest brother of " Petrus son of Fulbert "" ^[8]

  Who was Fulbert ? Where did he come from ? These questions have been answered in many ways by many writers over the past 300 years. 

  Cock ^[9]  and Polk ^[10] set the birth of Fulbert as 1080. Cock sets his death at 1147 ( see later discussion ) and Polk at 1153. This time frame would rule out Polk's contention that our Fulbert " was Chamberlain to ancestor William the Conqueror. He accompanied him to England and was engaged with him in the Battle of Hastings ( 1066 ) " ^[11]. There was a connection between a Fulbert and William, in that a Fulbert was the Grandfather of William the Conqueror ^[12], but Fulbert, or it's various spellings was a common name, and our Fulbert was probably born some fourteen years after the Battle of Hastings. Could our Fulbert have been the son of the Fulbert who accompanied William ?

  The Domesday Book initiated by King William I ( William the Conqueror ) was based upon a survey of all property owners in 1086. Fulberts were shown in Bedforshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk, but none in Shropshire, the shire from which at least the sons of Fulbert went to Scotland. Could one of these Fulberts be the father of our Fulbert ?

  This is interesting speculation that may never be solved.

  To put the year 1080, Fulbert’s approximate birth date, into perspective, this was 412 years before Columbus “ discovered “ America.

  Who was Fulbert's wife ? No answer to this has been found.

  Did Fulbert actually live in Scotland ? This is equally mysterious.

  Polk made no mention of " how " Fulbert got to Scotland, he just placed him there.

Polk claimed that Fulbert " received from William a large grant of land in Scotland, which became known later as the Barony of Pollok. "  He described him as " a great noble and Territorial King. " ^[13] 

  Pogue described the entire family traveling together. He wrote that " Shortly after 1141, Fulbert and his three sons emigrated with Walter Fitz Alan from the home of all of them in Shropshire, in the western part of England, to Renfrewshire ". ^[14]

  Metcalfe was equally evasive about Fulbert. " In all likelihood he was a follower of Walter FitzAlan. He had three sons, Peter, Robert, and Helias, all of whom appear to have accompanied Walter in his migration to the north. " ^[15]

  Strang believed Fulbert lived in Scotland and identified him as Fulbert de Steinton. In 1157, King Malcolm IV confirmed the honors bestowed by his predecessor David I.

" Walter at this date appears as Lord of the lands of Stenton. " ^[16]  Strang adds a twist to the Fulbert mystery. " From the records contained in the chartularies, it will be seen that these lands of POLLOK, PARTRICK, and STEINTON, were granted to a family of whom Fulbert de Steinton was the progenitor. Fulbert de Steinton does not appear to have taken an active part in administrative affairs, and there is no record of him appearing as a witness or a grantor to any contemporary charter. " This Charter was also by King William ( The Lion ) and was dated after 1165. ^[17]

  Cock did not believe Fulbert ever lived in Scotland. " Nothing is really known about him

 [ Fulbert ] except that on a number of Charters his sons are designated, ' sons of

Fulbert ' . These sons of Fulbert came to Scotland with Walter FitzAlan, who was subsequently made hereditary High Steward of Scotland ; they came from Shropshire, where Walter’s brother, William, was Sheriff . " ^[18]

  Cock continued, “ in the family, there is a legend that says he ( Fulbert ) claimed descent from Clovis, but no ancient authority can be quoted for this. “ ^[19] Clovis ( 466-511 ) was the founder and King of the Frankish kingdom that dominated Western Europe in the early Middle Ages. He supposedly became a great warrior after his conversion to Christianity when he was about 30 years old. When Clovis became king of one tribe of Franks at the age of 16, these Franks became the ancestors of the modern French nation. When he died 30 years later, he had united all the Franks into a single powerful nation under his own rule. He overthrew the Roman power in Gaul in a battle near Soissons in 486, and before his death in Paris he had won for his people a kingdom that reached from the Rhine on the north and east almost to the Pyrenees on the south. So complete was the conquest by the Franks that this land ever since has been called France, from their name. ^[20]

  “ With descent from Clovis, Fulbert was at the Court of the Empress Maud ( Matilda ) when she was crowned Queen of England at Winchester, 3 Mar 1141. “ ^[21] Probably Fulbert was killed in 1147 at the time of Maud’s defeat. ^[22] Maud, or Matilda, was the daughter of Henry I, the youngest son of William the Conqueror. He issued the Charter of Liberties, the basis for the later issued Magna Carta. Henry extracted a promise from his barons to recognize his daughter Matilda as their ruler at his death, instead of his nephew, Stephen. Later, some of the barons broke their promise, supporting Stephen’s claim to the throne. Matilda’s forces twice challenged Stephen to no avail, and she finally left England in 1147. ^[23] 

  The part of Renfrewshire given by Walter Fitz Alan went directly to the sons of Fulbert. This was the feudal custom, whereby a man who would have been given land was killed in action prior to such distribution, ^[24] supporting the conclusion that Fulbert died in England and never lived in Scotland.  In a 9 March 1951 letter to Kennett Pollock, E. A. Langslow Cock wrote “ there are quite good reasons for the Clovis descent but also for descent from the Pharoah’s of Egypt. “ ^[25]

  In another letter to Kennett Pollock, Cock on 21 August 1955 wrote “ Fulbert came to England with Empress Maud about 1138. He was rich, for his sons built three castles, which could hardly have been done immediately out of the estates granted to them by Walter Fitz Alan. He brought the boar badge with him, which was a French royal badge going back to Clovis. “ ^[26]

  Crawfurd avoided the issue entirely, except to comment that " Robert [ son of Fulbert ] seems to have been a companion of Walter the Stewart ". ^[27]

  If the family " accompanied or followed " Walter to Scotland, why did Walter go to Scotland in the first place ?

  After the death of English King Henry I, King David and the lords and knights of Shropshire, including Walter, supported the claim of Henry's daughter Empress Maud to the English throne. After their final defeat, Walter retired with King David to Scotland. Thus, Walter FitzAlan likely became a favorite of David, King of Scots, who appointed him Steward of Scotland and granted him large tracts of land in Scotland, to replace the lands he had lost in England. ^[28] " The grants included the lands of Paisley, Pollock, Cathcart, Talahec, Le Drip, Le Mutrene, Eaglesham and Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire and of Innerwich in East Lothian " ^[29]

  “ Walter Fitz Alan distributed lands to his followers. Pollock takes its name from an area of the White Cart. ^[30]Peter received certain lands at Pollok, which presumably included the Church of Pollok just south of River Cart, and others at Rothes in Morayshire ; Helias received part of Mearns, including the ancient church there ; and Robert received Upper or Over Pollock. “ ^[31] Over Pollock would in later years include the hamlet of

Polloktown. ^[32] Nether Pollock, as it was known from the 14th Century, appears to have been the principal area even though it was the smaller covering little more than the present Pollock Park [ near Glasgow ], and Shawlands on the East. During the 16th Century, Nether Pollock was enlarged considerably by the purchase of land in Govan and

Darnley. ^[33]

   In an interesting speculation, Alex Pollock wrote “ As Peter was granted lands at Rothes direct, and not as a son of his father, it may be inferred that he personally fought on behalf of Maud ; his brothers probably being too young or not being as yet sufficiently advanced in Knighthood, only received a share of the lands that would have gone to their father. “ ^[34]

  Local history is vague during most of these years. “ Most is known in gifts to the Priory which Walter founded at Paisley in 1160, with the sanction of the Clunaic Priory of Wenlock in his native Shropshire. Most conspicuous amongst these are the dedications accompanying the establishment of churches in Mearns and Pollock by the Pollocks. At the end of the 13th century the old world was swept aside by the invasions and internal divisions promoted by Edward I of England.

  The effect of the Wars of Independence was devastating. Montgomery, Mearns, Pollock and Cathcart were military families, obliged to contribute men and arms to the defense of the realm, in the service of the High Steward. “ ^[35]

For additional information about Clan Pollock International contact:

A.D. Pollock
President, Clan Pollock

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