This decade was momentous for the American War of Independence and French Revolution. More peacefully, 1781 saw the first member of the Pollard family indentured as an apprentice printer in Exeter. Historical records were destroyed in WWII, but it is thought that Thomas Pollard worked for one of the many printers in North Steet, Exeter. Later, this was where Pollards was also established as a trading business. Thomas’s indenture was the start of the family commitment to printing. That has continued, so far, through seven generations.