Frederick Pollard was born on 24 February 1872 at Deane, a parish in the Oundle district of Northamptonshire. He was the son of James Pollard (born in Gretton, Rutland) and Elizabeth (nee Gutteridge) who was also born in Deane.
The 1881 census recorded the family living on Main Street in Deane. James was working as an agricultural labourer. Nine year old Frederick had three younger siblings – Harry (6), Mary Jane (3) and Charles William (5 months).
Ten years later, the records show that Frederick had left home and moved to Cheshire. He was boarding with the Endersby family on Chapel Lane, Stockton Heath. James Endersby was a domestic coachman and Frederick was working as a domestic groom. He worked at Daresbury Hall.
On 17 June 1895 he married Alice Mary Penlington, who had been born at Hadnall in Shropshire in 1865. They were married at Farndon parish church, in a village on the River Dee, south of Chester.
During Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, Frederick rode a horse to victory in a race at Daresbury Hall, whilst wearing the colours of the late Fred Archer who was a very famous English flat racing jockey. Fred also rode as second horseman with the Cheshire hounds.
By 1901, the couple were living in the coachman’s house in the stable yard at Newton Bank in Newton-by-Daresbury. Frederick was a domestic coachman and they had a daughter Ethel Maud, born in April 1896.
A decade later, they still lived at Newton Bank and had two more children – Leonard Trevor born in April 1903 and George Astbury born in April 1905. There had been a fourth child who sadly died. This was probably Alice who was born in 1907. Ethel Maud had left home at the age of fourteen and was living and working as a servant at The Cottage in Hartford, the residence of the Tinsley family. Frederick was a domestic motor chauffeur, in the employ of Mr & Mrs Ziba Armitage at Newton Bank. He was a cotton manufacturer.
Frederick’s father died in late 1915.
The electoral rolls show us that Frederick and Alice continued to live at Newton Bank until at least 1918.
The records for the Great War show that Frederick served in the Royal Army Service Corps as a Private, service number 402476. He was already in his forties when the war started, but did not join up until 1918. He was assessed as medical category ‘A’, the fittest category. He was 5’5″ tall with brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. He went to train at Grove Park, an Army Service Corps training centre in Lewisham, London and then went to France in July 1918 as a light motor car driver. However, he suffered a rupture to his right side in August, caused by a strain when cranking up a motor car. He did not go to hospital, but was provided with an army truss at Rouen, France. He admitted that he had been suffering from this prior to the war and had been seen by Dr Bowen at Stretton.
After the war ended, he stayed in France until May 1919, when he was medically examined in Marseilles and assessed as having an inguinal hernia on his right side, that had been there before he joined up. It could have been repaired through an operation, but he didn’t have the treatment. In June he was transferred to Class Z Reserve of the Army Service Corps, demobilised and given another service number, 67244. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his war service. He returned to Newton-by-Daresbury.
Frederick’s mother died in 1929.
The 1939 Register records Frederick and Alice as living at 91 Orford Road, in the Padgate area of Warrington. He was a retired private car chauffeur. They had moved to Warrington in 1936 and he worshipped at St Clement’s Mission in the town.
Alice passed away on 12 September 1948 at the age of 83 years and was interred at Daresbury.
Frederick died nearly ten years later on 20 March 1958, at Orford Road. His funeral was held at All Saints’, Daresbury, followed by burial in the churchyard. He was 86 years of age.