Ignatius Paul Pollaky

Ignatius Paul Pollaky ipa po'laki (1828 – 25 February 1918) also known as "Paddington" Pollaky, born in Hungary, became one of the first and best-known professional private detectives in Britain. He also worked with London's Metropolitan Police, instigating alien registration in Britain.

Biography

Ignatius Pollaky by Faustin Betbeder (1874)

Pollaky was born in Pressburg, Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia). He was exiled and came to live in Britain in 1850. In 1856 he married Julia Devonald. However she died in 1859. Two years later he married Mary Anne Hughes. They had a son and three daughters over the next nine years.

In 1862 he started an early private detective agency in Britain, Pollaky's Private Inquiry Office. One of his first commissions was from Henry Sanford who asked him to spy on Confederate agents in Britain who were purchasing supplies for the American Civil War. From 1865 until 1882 his office was located at 13 Paddington Green, hence his nickname. He often advertised in the personal section of The Times offering assistance in "election, divorce and libel cases" or "discreet enquiries in England or abroad". From 1861 onwards, he also was in the habit of inserting mysterious messages in the "Agony" columns, presumably linked to cases that he was working on.

In 1867 he joined the X Division of the Metropolitan Police as a special constable. He specialised in intelligence on aliens living in Britain. His experience in this area made him advocate the registration of all aliens upon arrival in Britain, something which was not done at the time.

During his career his reputation grew to the point that his surname was used as a humorous remonstrance against over-eager questioning by the 1870s and in 1881 he was mentioned in the Gilbert and Sullivan work, Patience, as an example of "keen penetration".

Apart from his detective work, he acted as the London correspondent for the International Criminal Police Gazette for more than 25 years.

In 1882 he retired from the private investigation business and closed his office. In the same year, he inserted an advertisement on the front page of The Times stating that: 'the rumour that I am dead is not true'. After retiring from the private investigation business he moved to 33 Stanford Avenue, Brighton where he lived quietly with his wife. During his retirement he was well known for playing chess in the Public Room at the Brighton Pavilion and often wrote letters to The Times, signing them "Ritter von Pollaky". On 17 September 1914, he took the Oath of Allegiance and became a naturalised British Citizen.

As it happens, he had applied for British Citizenship before in 1862 but was refused. A search of National Archive records for Ignatius Pollaky will show the following: "Naturalization Act 1844: Applicants of doubtful character: Ignatius Pollaky, adventurer; certificate refused[...]Date range: 01 January 1862 - 31 December 1862 Reference:HO 45/7263"

He appears on the Electoral Registers for Paddington and St Marylebone district in 1873, 1875 and 1876.

He died on 25 February 1918.

References

• Sanford Historical Society Newsletter; January, 2005; page 5 - Relationship between Pollaky and Sanford
• A Dictionary of Catchphrases

Further reading

• Obituary—The Times, London, 28 February 1918.