Benjamin Pollard

Benjamin Pollard TD (12 September 1890 – 11 April 1967)^[1] was an Anglican bishop.

The Right Reverend Benjamin Pollard TD
Bishop of Sodor and Man
Pollard when Rector of St Chrysostom's, Manchester
Diocese	Diocese of Sodor and Man
In office	1954 to 1966
Other post(s)	Bishop of Lancaster (1936–1954)
Orders
Ordination	1914
Consecration	1936
Personal details
Born	Benjamin Pollard (1890-09-12)12 September 1890
Died	11 April 1967(1967-04-11) (aged 76)
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglicanism
Spouse	Marjorie ​ (m. 1916⁠–⁠1961)​ Eileen ​ (m. 1962⁠–⁠1967)​
Children	One

Early life and education

Pollard was born on 12 September 1890, the son of Benjamin Pollard and Cecilia Beatrice Pollard (née Foxwell).^[2] He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and the Victoria University of Manchester.^[3]

Ordained ministry

He was ordained in 1914 and was a chaplain during World War I with the British Armed Forces. Previously he had spent two years working for the Ministry of Munitions. When interviewed for a commission in the Army Chaplaincy he was noted as ‘A1, good and moderate’. He was posted to East Leeds Hospital, then to Aldershot and finally to Salonika where he remained until after the Armistice.^[4] After this he became the Precentor of Sheffield Cathedral and then Rector of Bradfield. From 1924 to 1928 he was Rector of St Chrysostom's Victoria Park, Manchester and then began a long association with the Lancaster area.^[5] He was Vicar for eight years and, in his last years there, an archdeacon.

He was ordinated to the episcopate as the first Bishop of Lancaster.^[6] This was a suffragan bishopric, and Pollard hoped for promotion to a diocesan post. His name arose first for the vacancy at Wakefield in 1945 but he was seen to lack ‘depth’ ^[7] and ‘being heavy and a trifle worldly’.^[8] It seemed that when he was overlooked for Blackburn in 1954 ^[9] his opportunity was gone but he received the Archbishop of York's support for Sodor & Man in 1954. He was translated to be the Bishop of Sodor and Man in 1954.^[10]

He retired in 1966 and died the following year.

Personal life

In 1916, Pollard married Marjorie Bradbury. They had one son together before her death in 1961. In 1962, he married Eileen Vellan, a widow; she survived him.^[2]