Came of an old Devonshire family. An ancestor, Sir Hugh Pollard, had purchased Torre Abbey at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. William was apprenticed to his uncle, W H Pollard, who was in practice at Torquay, and as M F H well known in the hunting field. In 1841 he entered St Bartholomew's Hospital, and at the end of the first session won the Anatomy Prize. On October 1st, 1843, he became Clinical Clerk (now House Physician) to Sir George Burrows, when he had as companion William Kirkes, afterwards Physician to the Hospital, and author of the well-known text-book on physiology, and Charles Manners Smith, later Surgeon General in Bengal. In 1844 Pollard studied in Paris, and then settled in Torquay, where he practised for nearly fifty years. For many years he was Surgeon to Torbay Infirmary, the Western Hospital for Consumption, the Erith Home for Ladies, and Medical Officer of Formoham Board of Health. He was at one time President of the Western Branch of the British Medical Association. He died at his residence, Southlands, Torquay, on March 29th, 1890.