Author: Pollett, W. R.
Biography:
POLLETT, W. R. (1757-1805: findmypast.com)
This identification is hypothetical but only one person’s records seem to match the name on the title-page. That is Wade Reynolds Pollett, an innkeeper in Kent, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Pawlett (sic), who was baptised at St. Andrew, Hertford, Hertfordshire, on 9 Feb. 1757. Thomas later became the owner of the New Inn at the market town of New Romney, Kent; after his death in 1778 a daughter, Ann Wightwick, at first took over the business but it was transferred to her brother Wade in 1780. He married Elizabeth Pierce (or Peirce) at St. Nicholas, New Romney, on 18 Apr. 1780, and they went on to have five children baptised in the same church—but their only son, also named Wade Reynolds, was buried in the same month as his baptism. In 1785, with a partner, Pollett added a stagecoach route for the district. Assuming that this identification is correct, it is not clear what motivated the innkeeper to turn to verse, nor what can have taken him to London where he died at the age of 48 and was buried at All Hallows, Barking, on 9 May 1805. His father, mother, wife, and sister were all buried at St. Nicholas in New Romney, in 1778, 1799, 1812, and 1823 respectively. (findmypast.com 29 Oct. 2023; ancestry.com 29 Oct. 2023; Kentish Gazette 12 Apr. 1780, 14 May 1785) HJ