The English historian Albert Frederick Pollard (1869-1948) specialized in the Tudor period. He was influential in developing historical studies in British universities.

Albert Pollard was born on the Isle of Wight on Dec. 16, 1869, the son of a pharmacist. He attended Jesus College at Oxford, where he was one of the first pupils of R. L. Poole, the famous medievalist. Pollard received his degree in 1891 and won an award in scholarship in 1892 which led to his appointment as an assistant editor of the prestigious Dictionary of National Biography in 1893, for which he wrote approximately 500 articles. While working on the dictionary he also completed two biographical studies, England under Protector Somerset (1900) and Henry VIII (1902).

In 1903 Pollard was elected to the newly established chair of constitutional history at University College, London, which he held until 1931. At his appointment there was little interest in historical studies and few scholars in that area...