Henry Bernard Pollock

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Henry Bernard Pollock was born in London. As a child he moved to Amsterdam with his immediate family but returned at the outbreak of the second world war. He was always proud of his Dutch ancestry. After evacuation to Bangor, north Wales, he settled in Hove and attended Shoreham Grammar School. After house jobs at Camberwell and Dulwich hospitals he worked as a ship’s surgeon on SS Umtali and SS Argentina Star, travelling the world. He soon returned to develop his skills in bbstetrics at St Mary’s Hospital in Eastbourne but settled on a career in general practice.

While a locum at Dundee Royal Infirmary he met a fellow doctor, Ruth Lewty, whom he married at Lancaster Priory in September 1958. After temporary assistantships in Eastcote and Gillingham he took over and built up a singlehanded practice in Lutterworth over eight years. He left in 1968 for a brief stint as school medical officer in Carnforth, Lancashire, which was not to his liking. He became a GP partner at Morecambe Health Centre in 1971 where he stayed and thrived as senior partner until his retirement in 1988. He steered the practice into new buildings and particularly enjoyed the role of family doctor and its continuity of care.

Bernard and Ruth were married 55 years and had four children—Douglas, Jane, Andrew, and Graham—and subsequently 13 grandchildren. Two of their children—Douglas Pollock (retired GP in Leeds) and Graham Pollock (consultant radiologist in Derby)—and three of their grandchildren have also established or started medical careers. Bernard’s main joys were his family, his labradors, classical music, birdwatching, and the natural world. In later years Bernard and Ruth retired to Warton, Carnforth, where he died peacefully at home with his family present. Ruth Pollock died this year (May 2019), almost exactly five years later.