Name Hugh Pollock | Died 1937 | |
Hugh MacDowell Pollock, 1st Baron Leighinmohr MP, CH, PC(NI) (1852 – 15 April 1937), was an Ulster Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 until his death in 1937, being appointed as the country's first Minister of Finance. The title of Baron Leighinmohr was created for him in 1934 in respect of the vast impact he made in the Northern Irish political and economic landscape.
Contents
Life
Born in Bangor, County Down, Pollock was the director of several companies and served as a Belfast Harbour Commissioner from 1900 until 1921, and as President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce in 1917/18. At the Northern Ireland general election, 1921, he was elected in Belfast South, and he was immediately appointed as Northern Ireland's first Minister of Finance. The constituency was abolished in 1929; thus, Pollock moved to represent Belfast Windsor, and served until his death in 1937. He was appointed a Companion of Honour in 1936.
Irish Convention 1917-1918
Pollock was an Ulster delegate to the 1917-18 Irish Convention, taking part in the Grand Committee whose aims were to help resolve the important political decision of the "Irish Question" and other constitutional problems relating to an early enactment of self-government for Ireland, to debate its wider future, discuss and come to an understanding on recommendations as to the best manner and means this goal could be achieved. It was a response to the dramatically altered Irish political climate after the 1916 rebellion and proposed by David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in May 1917 to John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, announcing that 'Ireland should try her hand at hammering out an instrument of government for her own people'.
Legacy
The Baron had a wife, Adelaide, and a son, Hugh, named after himself, unto whom the title of Baron passed upon his death. Pollock Dock in Belfast Harbour is named after him in recognition of his achievements.
The Pollock family continues to play a cogent role in the Northern Irish political and economic scene, as well as in the global financial, aerospace and oil industries, with several minor equestrian interests. The family remain prominent landowners in Ireland and throughout Europe, residing primarily in County Antrim and England.