Pollock was born in Newport, Wales, and at age 18 voyaged to Melbourne where he had an uncle. He moved to New Zealand, where he took acting lessons from Clarance Holt, father of Bland Holt and who was in Dunedin for some years, then joined a company touring India and other Eastern countries. He was working as manager of the Corinthian Theatre, Calcutta when he first met the great actors George Titheradge and Boothroyd Fairclough. While in Singapore in 1875 he married the Perth actress Mary Myers and together toured the East. He brought a troupe of Japanese jugglers to Perth around this time.
