The Pearson Family

This page is about the family & people in general rather than about the potteries. I haven't gone into any great depth but have just given a taste of who married who etc. I'll work my way through Joseph & Sarah [Jervis] Pearson's children in the order of their birth to try to give some semblance of order !

The Jervis Family Tree

William JOHNSON married Catherine JERVIS on the 2nd January 1809, at St. Peter's Cathedral, Sheffield.

One of the witnesses was Catherine's sister Sarah Jervis, who married Joseph Pearson.

Catherine was born c1797 in Rawmarsh, Yorkshire. William was born c1772, possibly in Chesterfield?

I didn't find any heirs from their union; which would be why the pottery was passed onto Catherine, then Catherine's nephew James Jervis Pearson - & came the beginning of Pearsons' Potteries.

Joseph PEARSON married Sarah JERVIS on the 26th February 1811 at St. Mary & All Saints, Chesterfield.

William Johnson was a witness to the marriage.

Sarah was born c1786 in Killamarsh, Yks. Joseph Pearson was a miner in Matlock Bath when his son James Jervis was baptised in 1813; but then he went on to be a hatter, being in Pigot's Directory of 1828/29, & living at Matlock Green when his other children were all baptised in 1834, their ages ranging from 6yrs to 19yrs of age.

All the children [that I know of for certain] except one, were baptised at St Giles' Matlock; Louisa was baptised at St. Thomas' Brampton, Chesterfield.

On the 1841 Census, Sarah Pearson, widow & her children James, Alfred, Theophilus & Mary were living with Sarah's widowed sister, Catherine Johnson, on Newbold Moor, Chesterfield. Catherine's husband, William, had died on the 18th February 1838.

Catherine [Johnson] had been left her husband's businesses, & it was her nephew James Jervis Pearson who became manager & helped her.

Sarah's daughter's, Catherine & Louisa had married in 1838 & 1840 respectively; & her daughter Mary Anne married in 1846. Her daughter Hannah had died in 1844, leaving her 3 sons unmarried.

Joseph Pearson had died on 2nd November 1838.

The 1850's proved even more changes to the family.

Catherine Johnson had died on Wednesday 21st July 1852 leaving the businesses to James Jervis Pearson. Catherine also left her sister Hannah Harvey of Sheffield a yearly sum of £7 10s. to be paid half-yearly until she died; her niece Catherine Short £200 to be paid 12 months from Catherine's death; & her nephew Theophulis Pearson £200 to be paid when he reached 25 years old.

James & his brother Alfred married in 1852 & Theophilus in 1853.

By the time Sarah died on the 2nd of November 1856 all her children, who had gone to Chesterfield with her, had married.

James Jervis Pearson

James was the first born, & first son of Joseph & Sarah. He was born on the 13th of August 1813 at Matlock Dbys. & was Baptised at St. Giles, Matlock on the 12th of September 1813. His father was listed as a miner of Matlock Bath.

James inherited the Pottery business on Pottery Lane from his aunt Catherine Johnson in July 1852; & on the 2nd October 1852 married Hannah Scott Glossop in Chiswick, Middlesex. Hannah was a milliner, born c1822 in Chesterfield, & daughter of Isaac Glossop, a Maltster.

Unfortunately although James had plans for the pottery he died before fulfilling them. James died 1st October 1864; his wife had died 2yrs earlier on the 11th January 1862. They'd had 5 children, 4 of whom were still living, but their (second) son. Frank. had died the 24th of April 1859, aged 2yrs 5 months.

After Hannah & James died their children went to live with James' brother - & a Trustee of James' Will - Theophilus Pearson, his wife Elizabeth, & their children, at Pine Tree Bank, Abercrombie Street, Chesterfield. Both Kate & Arthur Glossop Pearson remained unmarried & lived at Pine Tree Bank until their respective deaths in August 1916 & 20th September 1919. Arthur worked for, & in c1881 became partner of, Messrs. Pearson & Co. Whittington. Kate was interred in the family vault in the Elder Yard Churchyard.

James was elected to the Town Council in 1892 & was elected Alderman on the resignation of Alderman Plowright. In 1897 & 1903 he was made Mayor of Chesterfield & was Deputy Mayor at the time of his death. He was chairman of the Water Committee when the concern passed from private hands to the Chesterfield & District Gas & Water Board; & he received acclaim by saving 50% of water sent out from the reservoirs by sorting out problems with drainage. He also served on the Highway Committee where he was chairman; Watch & Lighting, Sewage Disposal, Tramways & Electrical Energy Committees. He also served as a Borough Magistrate & had been elected to Chief Magistrate of the Borough more than once.

Alderman James Pearson died on Friday the 5th May 1905 after a very short illness: His death came as a shock to many. He had been to a meeting of the Education Committee, of which he was a member, on the previous Friday. On the Sunday he complained he was unwell & Dr. Goodfellow was called. He later had an attack of pneumonia & Dr. Burgess, a specialist was called. On Thursday the 4th oxygen was administered, but unfortunately 2pm on Friday 5th he passed away.

I added the advert [to the right], for any car buffs who might be interested?

Ald. Pearson was interred in the churchyard at Old Brampton on Monday 8th, in a corner which immediately overlooks Linacre Reservoir, as was his wish. Crowds of people attended the funeral, the flags on public buildings were at half mast, & many shutters were up during the ceremony. The members of the Town Council met at the Municipal Hall before going to Brampton Manor to await the cortege. The drive up to the house was lined with employees from the London & Oldfield Potteries. The whole event was carried out with much grandeur & respect. In his will, dated 15 February 1896, he leaves, "all my real and personal estate of every description unto my dear wife Harriet Helen Pearson absolutely". The Will was proved 3rd July 1905. One of the witnesses to his Will being James Anderson Goodfellow, of Old Road, Chesterfield, Physician & Surgeon.

He left a widow "Nellie", daughter Doris & son James.

Nellie re-married on the 29th January 1907 to James Anderson Goodfellow M.B., C.M., at St. Peter's Church Barrowden, Stamford.

James' son Second-Lieutenant James Alan Pearson of the Royal Flying Corps. was killed aged 18 years in an aeroplane accident in December 1917. According to a witness James was flying at a West Norfolk village when there was a crack overhead & the plane started spinning. After 3 spins James fell out & was killed.

A few months earlier, in October 1917, Lieut-Colonel Longhurst of the Royal Berkshire Regiment was killed by machine gun fire whilst leading his men into an attack: He was to have married Doris Pearson on his next leave.

Johnson Pearson

Johnson Pearson, (on the right), was the 3rd son of James Jervis was born in 1856. He lived with his uncle Theo. & family until his marriage to Mary Staley Robinson on the 12th September 1891 St. Thomas, Brampton, Chesterfield. Then he lived on the High Street Whittington & at Fern House, Sheffield Road, Stonegravels. Mary was a daughter of William Bradbury Robinson & died after an extended illness at Fern House on Tuesday 12th December 1911. Johnson & Mary had one child, Theophilus, who was born on the 28th September 1895 at Red House, Whittington.

Derbyshire Times Saturday 28th June 1930

Death of Johnson Pearson

Alderman Johnson Pearson died suddenly at his home, Fern House, Stonegravels, on Wednesday evening, 25th June 1930, at about 7.15 p.m. He was 71 years old, & would've been 72 on the 14th July.

The previous Monday, the 23rd, Johnson had had a serious heart attack, but had seemed to have improved so much by Wednesday he had insisted on sitting up in his bedroom for a while, to watch a garden party taking place in the joint ground of his & Mr. & Mrs. Theo. Pearsons residences. After he retired to bed his old friend Alderman Eastwood, a guest at the party, visited him. Later he had been chatting to a friend when he rested & passed away peacefully.

Previous to his heart attack he had been in good health. Johnson had graduated as a mining engineer in 1881 & had taken over the management of the clay pits & collieries of Messrs. Pearson & Co. Johnson was prominently connected with the old Mechanics Institute, the early days of the School of Art in Chesterfield, & the University extension lectures. He had been educated at the Chesterfield Grammar School & the Moravion School at Ockbrook. In May 1895 he took the oath & qualified as a magistrate for the county.

As a young man he associated himself with the Elder Yard Unitarian Chapel, Saltergate, & was the eldest Trustee. He regularly attended the Chapel every Sunday morning besides keeping the Chapel accounts, supporting the minister in various ways & being a benefactor.

Early on in his life he had become a trustee of Webster's Endowed Schools, Whittington & entered public life as a member of Whittington Council. He represented Whittington on the Chesterfield Gas & Water Board & succeeded Mr. John Hall as Chairman. He was a strong opposer to Chesterfield's schemes of extension & was instrumental in bringing about the amalgamation of the Whittington & Newbold Councils. When the County Council was formed in 1889, he was elected to represent the Newbold Division, which he did until July 1896 when he became an Alderman. He had been a member of the council for 41yrs & was the only original member who had served from its inception. He was appointed vice-chairman in March 1913 to 1918 when he resigned. Two years later he was appointed vice-chairman again & stayed so until his death. He had served on many committees but most prominently on the Roads & Highways, & Education. He had been a governor of the Chesterfield Grammar School & Chesterfield Girls High School; & chairman of the Chesterfield & District Higher Education Committee & President of the recently formed Swimming Association for Derbyshire.

To commemorate 40 years service to the County Council Johnson's portrait was painted in oils by Mr. Ernest Townsend, in September 1929. Unfortunately Johnson had been taken ill before the presentation, so his son, Theo. Pearson, had accepted it on behalf of his father. To show the amount of respect Johnson held, the Lord Lieutenant of the County, the Duke of Devonshire, had been asked to make the presentation, which he did to Theo.

In July 1928, on Johnson's 70th birthday he received surprise gifts from his employees of an armchair, attache case & gold fountain pen & pencil. The letter which accompanied it read, “Dear Mr. Johnson, 76 of your oldest employees wish you many happy returns on this your 70th birthday and beg you to accept these tokens of their esteem & goodwill. To be 70 years young to-day is a splendid achievement, and we sincerely hope you will go on defying the bowlers and fielders and pile up a jolly good score before the umpire calls time.” 92 subscribers to the fund had each been in service of the firm for more than 25 years & the average length of service rendered by the 76 individual (older) subscribers was 34 ¾ Years.

The funeral is to take place at the Unitarian Chapel, Saltergate, Chesterfield at 2.15 p.m. this Saturday afternoon. The service will be conducted by the Rev. D.W. Robson, & the internment will take place at Old Whittington where he will be buried with his wife. The coffin will be conveyed from the house on a works lorry & the bearers will be chosen from the older employees of the firm.

Johnson left £56,260 10s 8d, with net personality of £47,846 13s 3d. Probate of his Will was granted to his son Theophulis Pearson. He left £400 a year for life to his cousin Annie Jervis Pearson.

His son Theophilus Pearson, (on the right), married Violet Short, second daughter of the late Alderman S. E. Short of Brampton Manor on 7th December 1922 at St. Mary & All Saints Chesterfield. Violet also became a director of the firm.

Theo. liked model locomotives like his father & was a clever electrical engineer. He was also Chairman of House committee of the Chesterfield & North Derbyshire Hospital & a member of the Jeuvenile Employment Committee.

At Theo's. death in 1959 he left, gross £46,998, duty paid £8,994; & at Violet's death in 1961 she left, gross £57,900, duty paid £15, 541.

Hannah Pearson

Hannah was the second born of Joseph & Sarah; & I don't know little about her. She was born 14th February 1815 & died in Walton on the 14th April 1844 aged 29yrs.

On 15th July 1838 at St Mary & All Saints, Chesterfield, Catherine married George Short.

George was born c1815 at Hasland to John Short, framesmith. George was a currier by trade, (later a Currier Master then a Tanner & Currier employing 14 men), of Lordsmill Street. The business was later run by sons of George as the 'Short Brothers' until the partnership was dissolved. George was also a Town Councillor, a member of the Burial Board & on the Lighting Commission.

Catherine was the favourite niece of William & Catherine Johnson, & it was she who accompanied Catherine Johnson to Blackpool where Catherine Johnson took ill & died. There was a court case following Catherine's Johnson's death from James Jervis Pearson, who inherited all Catherine Johnson's effects, against George Short, Catherine's husband.

On Catherine Johnson's death bed Catherine Short had asked for her gold watch & chain to remember her by & which Catherine Short had in her possession. The court ruled that Catherine Johnson did not have her faculties about her to agree to the gift so George Short had to pay recompense to James to the value of £13 11s.

Catherine spent her married life living on Lordsmill Street & died there on 21st January 1862.

A year later on 6th April 1863 at the United Free Methodist Chapel, Elder Yard, George married Betsy Dutton [nee Nix], the widow of Samuel Dutton, a journeyman painter.

George died on 11th November 1876 leaving the business to his sons Johnson, George Joseph & Tom Short. On the 25th January 1879 George Joseph Short died & the partnership of Johnson & Tom was dissolved 29th May 1879; Johnson then carried on the business alone.

Betsy later retired to Bournmouth before dying in 1910.

William Short

Catherine & George's eldest son didn't follow his brothers into the currier trade, but the drapery business, being a partner in Everard & Short, of Low Pavement, Chesterfield. When he retired his sons George & Frank took over until the business closed in 1924.

He married Emily Everard on the 27th April 1863 at the United Methodist Free Chapel, Elder Yard, Chesterfield.

Emily was born c1838 in Chelmsford, Essex, to Edward Everard, a blacksmith, & Elizabeth, a school mistress. She died in 1880 aged 43yrs leaving 8 children alive, having one that had died in 1869.

William died on the 11th February 1916 at 16 Newbold Rd., Chesterfield.

William left an estate of £27,810 10s. 9d., the net amount being £16,586 17s. 7d.

- His sister Catherine [Short] Proctor received an annuity of £20 & her sons Richard & George Proctor £50 each whilst her daughter Ada received £20;

- £150 went to each of his deceased sister Mary's sons, Arthur G. & Edwin E. Crow;

- his daughter Catherine received an annuity of £52, while she remained unmarried;

- furniture to the value of £50 each to his daughters Catherine & Mrs Emily White;

- £20 each to the executors, George E. Short & Ebenbezar J. White;

- £50 went to his niece Mary Louisa Short;

- £20 to his sister in law Mary Louisa Short;

- an annuity of £15 to his brother Tom;

& the residue of the property in trust for his 7 children.

William & Emily's children:-

Mary Short, married Arthur Lewis Crow, a hosier & habidasher (employer), in the June quarter of 1888. They lived in Newbold & Dunston until Mary's death 1891-1895. Arthur married Winifred Crabtree in the December quarter of 1895. Mary & Arthur had 2 sons, Arthur Gordon Crow & Edwin Everard Crow.

Frank Short was in the family business of draper & took it over with his brother George when his father retired. He married Jane Hodkin on the 6th October 1896 at Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield; & died c1938.

George Edward Short was in the family business until it closed in 1924 & the trust was closed with the selling of the shop. He married Edith May Armistead in 1899 & they had one child, Kathleen Mary; both were still alive at George's death. George left Chesterfield c1929 to go to Southbourne where he took a fancy goods shop. He died at Southbourne, Bournemouth on June 30th 1950.

Hedley Everard Short married Florence Beatrice Forrest, daughter of William & Sarah, on 31st December 1901 at St. Mary's & All Saints, Chesterfield. He owned a grocery shop which sold wines & spirits in Darlington, Durham & died there in 1939.

Emily Adelaide Short married Ebenezar Joseph White in 1905. Ebenezar was a draper (shopkeeper) at Worksop, Ntts.

Charles William Short was a wholesale & retail leather merchant of St. Mary's Gate, a hardware merchant until the business was dissolved: On the 1911 Census he is living on Ashgate Rd., & has no occupation. He had married Edith Slack in 1903 & had 3 children by 1911.

Harry Pearson Short is the youngest child of William & Emily Short.

Derbyshire Times 26th July 1935: The Berwick Advertiser 31st March 1911 Summary

Councillor Harry Pearson Short of 1 Westfield Avenue, Brampton, Chesterfield, has been chosen to succeed Alderman H. Varley as Mayor of Chesterfield.

He has represented West Ward, on the town Council, as an independent, since 1920.

He was educated at Chesterfield Grammar School, apprenticed at Ryland Works & in 1899 joined the firm of Messrs. Marson & Short, hardware merchants, Chatsworth Rd., until the partnership was dissolved in 1911: He then became a partner with J.E. Salt, & is now chairman of directors of Messrs. Salt & Short Ltd., salt merchants & dry salters, Chesterfield.

He's a member of the Watch, Education, Electricity, Transport, Establishment & Lighting committees & is chairman of the Library Borough Records Committee; & also vice-chairman of the Derbyshire Times Boot Fund since its inception & succeeded Ald. T.W. Lack as chairman.

He is a founder member of the Chesterfield rotary Club & has been a lay preacher for 33years.

He married Helen Sinclair Patten, the elder aughter of R.W. Patten, on the 25th March 1911 at Rock Church, Alnwick. Helen is a keen worker for maternity & child welfare in the borough for the last 20 years; & the first woman member on the Executive Derbyshire Congregational Union. She has also been a member of the Chesterfield branch of Theosophical Society for 8 years. They have 2 children, Donald & Margaret.

Johnson Short

Catherine & George's second son, ran the currier business, left by his father, with 2 of his brothers until 1879. On the 29th of May 1879 the partnership was dissolved & Johnson then ran it by himself. He married Mary Louise Gammon, daughter of Joseph & Louisa Gammon, on the 19th August 1879 in Chesterfield. Mary was born c1844 in Warborough, Oxen.

By the 1891 & 1901 census' they were living in Blackpool as a tanner & currier; Mary being a school mistress on the latter. Johnson died c1908 in Lancs. with Mary following him c1923 Lancs.

George Joseph Short

George followed in the family business of tanner & currier until his death on 25th January 1879 aged 35 years. He had only been married to Elizabeth Ann 'Dungworth'[?] for 3 years. His death sparked the end of the 'Short Brothers' business. In May the 2 other brothers dissolved their partnership.

When George died he left an estate of under £2,000. In his will he left all the household goods & an annuity to his wife as long as she remained a widow; monetary legacies to his brothers & sister, Betsy Short [stepmother] & Betsy's half sister Eliza Driver. He left his silver watch & guard to his nephew Frank Short, son of William.

Catherine Short

Catherine was the only daughter of Catherine & George Short & she married Richard William Proctor, nursery, seedsman & florist of Proctor & sons, son of John & Elizabeth Proctor, in 1868 Chesterfield.

They lived in a couple of places in Chesterfield but were settled on Rose Leigh House, Fairfield Road, Chesterfield.

Richard helped his father in the business then his 2 sons, Richard William junr. & George Walter assisted in the business before running it themselves when their father retired. There were nurseries on Ashgate Rd., & Brockwell & a new one at Calow in October 1925. The business also encompassed a shop in town on the corner of Low Pavement & Park Rd., & a market stall & sold at home & abroad. They were members of the Florists' Telegraph Delivery Association of 6,000 florists throughout the world - a telegram would ensure flower deliveries. Catherine died in 1923 followed by her husband Richard in 1926.

Catherine & Richard's only daughter Ada married George William Wynn, bank cashier, son of William Burke Wynn Esq. of Handsworth, Birmingham, on the 26th August 1897; & they lived in Warwicks.

Richard Wm. junr. married Agnes Rhodes, a daughter of Henry Rhodes who was formerly a proprietor of Shetland Shawl Manufactory, [now carried on by his 2 sons], Hucknall Torkard, Ntts., on the 23rd September 1903 at St. Mathews Church, Nottingham.

George Wm. married Lilian Wharton, daughter of Mr. W.H. Wharton & Mrs. E.M. Wharton, of Powderham Lodge, Chesterfield, on the 12th June 1928 at St. Peter's Church, Calow.

Tom Short

Tom was the youngest child of Catherine & George, was born in 1849. He married Harriet Emma Allison on 11 January 1874 in Chesterfield but she died in 1887 aged 32 years. He married his second wife, Sarah Ann Ludlow, in 1891. By the 1901 census he was living in Worcestershire, as a currier, with his 2nd wife & 3 sons, Harold, George & William. Unfortunately Sarah had died before the 1911 census.

She married William Henry Heath, a Master Hatter, son of Henry Heath, Hat Manufacturer, on 5th May 1846 at St. Mary & All Saints, Chesterfield.

William & Mary Anne lived & had a shop on Oxford Street, London, where William was a hatter, until both their deaths in 1875.

Their first born son Henry assisted William & the 1871 census shows that William H. Pearson - Mary's nephew by her brother Alfred - also assisted in the business.

William & Mary's second son Thomas was a builder's clerk & later became a builder & contractor in London. Thomas married Agnes Knight in 1876 & they had 6 children: Thomas Henry, Hilda Louie, Ida Ethel, Harold Santo, Arthur Ernest & Dorothy Constance.

Their daughter, Louisa Mary, married Arthur Hemming, Hosier & Haberdasher, also in 1876. They lived in London but I didn't find any children.

I only know of 3 children of Louisa & Job but there may be more. I found only one to have lived to marry & have children.

Mary Ann Shaw

Louisa & Job's eldest child, Mary Ann, married Leonard Smelt, coke & coal merchant, Birmingham, on the 26th March 1861 at the Independent Chapel, Soresby Street, Chesterfield.

They had 3 sons Alfred, Ernest & Walter but unfortunately they didn't see them mature. Leonard died in 1871, aged 33 years, at Prospect Place, & Mary Ann died at the same place aged 37 years in 1878.

Louisa Shaw died the same year as her daughter leaving Job Shaw to take care of his 3 grandsons.

Alfred Leonard Smelt married Eliza Edith Shepherd, the daughter of Thomas, a bricklayer, & Mary Ann, in 1887 in Chesterfield. Both Alfred & Eliza has been trained as teachers so they took jobs in Humber, Hereford, as schoolmaster & assistant schoolmistress. They'd had a daughter, Edith Mary, c1889, whilst living in Chesterfield but unfortunately Eliza died in the June 1/4 of 1891 aged 27 years; there is an 'Alfred Smelt' who had died at the same time, in the same 1/4 & with the same reference number, so it's not impossible that Eliza died in childbirth.

Alfred married again in 1892 in Leominster, to Florence Bemand, daughter of Robert, a farmer, & Sarah. He came back to Derbyshire & had 2 sons by Florence, Alfred Leonard & Bernard Walter.

Walter Smelt married Amelia Page, the daughter of William, a journeyman blacksmith, & Eliza, in 1889 in Chesterfield. After they married they went to Burnley, Lancs. where Walter was a printer Compositor. They stayed there until they died: Amelia in 1915 aged 49 years; & Walter in 1918 aged 50 years. The 1911 census shows they had 5 children born alive but only 3 had survived. Their sons William Leonard, born 1893, & Frederick Hardy, born 1902, were alive at the time of the census.

Alfred Shaw

Louisa & Job's son Alfred survived until he was 17 yrs old. He died on the 9th November 1861, after a short illness, at Brampton.

Alfred Pearson

Alfred was the second son of Joseph & Sarah [nee Jervis] Pearson. He was born on the 4th September 1826 in Matlock & was baptised there on the 8th June 1834.

On the 4th September 1852 Alfred married Ann Wilcockson at the Independent Chapel, Soresby St.

Alfred had been a commercial traveller for Pearson's pottery at Whittington Moor, & living at Newbold, Chesterfield, on the 1861 census, before he decided to make a change, move to Sheffield & begin business as a steel manufacturer.

By the 1871 Census, [2nd April] he is set up as a steel manufacturer in Brightside Bierlow, Sheffield after buying Royds Steel & File Works. The Works was still for let in 1869 so it must've been between 1869-1871 that he joined the steel melting business. In 1872 he was looking for a furnaceman but by 1879 he was in the Sheffield Bankruptcy Court:

Alfred's son Thomas Wilcockson Pearson ended up in the bankruptcy court in March 1881, the main cause being duped by a business contact. He is still listed as being a steel manufacturer employing 5 men on the 1881 census though.

Alfred Pearson died on the 14th February 1890. His wife Ann & sons William & Alexander are living on St. Philip's Rd., Sheffield on the 1891 census. Ann & William are living on their own means & Alexander is a steel melter.

Ann & son William die in 1895 leaving Alexander & Thomas. Alexander is visiting his uncle in Chesterfield on the 1901 census but is back on St. Philip's Rd., Sheffield by the 1911 census, still unmarried & a crucible steel melter.

Thomas married Mary Ellen Barnes, daughter of Edmund Barnes, printer & bookseller of Chesterfield, in the March ¼ of 1889 in the parish of Chesterfield. They're living on Infirmary Rd., Sheffield with their son Alfred Edmund, on the 1891 census; & Thomas is a steel manufacturer. Thomas, Mary & Alfred are living at 22 Upper Hanover St., Nether Hallam, Sheffield, at the time of the 1901 census; & Mary & Alfred are still there on the 1911 census – Thomas having died in 1910 aged 52.

White's directory of 1911 gives gives Thomas Wilcockson Pearson as a steel manufacturer on Matlida Lane (Shoreham Street), Sheffield. Alfred is trading as a steel manufacturer, in White's Directory of 1919, under the name of T.W. Pearson Ltd.

He married Elizabeth Glossop in April 1853 at Ashover: Elizabeth was sister of Hannah Scott Glossop who married Theo's. brother James Jervis Pearson. Theo. & Elizabeth had 5 children & the only one I have found who married was Frank Bernard, their youngest child. I don't know what happened to Robert Burns Pearson; I have him on the 1871 Census as a silver plater but haven't found him later.

Theo. helped his brother James Jervis in the Whittington potteries & became a trustee of the business when James died in 1864. Theo. & his wife Elizabeth took James' children in after James' death; they all lived on Pottery Lane, Newbold, then on Abercrombie Street, Chesterfield.

Theo. first ran the Whittington Potteries as a trustee then, after 1881, as a partner with his son Theo. jnr. & nephews Johnson & Arthur. His nephew James was given a settlement out of the business to start his own pottery business at Brampton.

Theo. died on the 22nd May 1887.

Theo's wife Elizabeth remained at Abercrombie street until her death in 1914

Theophilus Pearson

Theo. junr. was a partner in Messrs. Pearson & Co. until his death on Sunday 16th March 1919 -the same year as his cousin Arthur Glossop Pearson (on the 20th September 1919).

Derbyshire Courier 22nd March 1919 Summary

Theophilus Pearson had been in failing health since 1914 which had prevented him from taking on public office. His last appearance was at an adjourned Borough Licensing Session on 3rd March. On Saturday the 15th he had been his usual self but then he had a seizure.

He had represented Newbold & Dunston on the Board of Guardians for nearly 30 years since being elected in 1889; & had been chairman for 20 years. Among the Poor-law offices he had been chairman of the Assessment Committee & the Children's Home Committee: The Ashgate Road Home had been under the care of the Board of Guardians. He had also been chairman of the Old Age Pensions Committee for the area which included Staveley, Whittington & Newbold.

For many years he was chairman of the Newbold School Board & after passing the new Act in 1902 became chairman of the managers until he recently resigned because of ill health.

He was a great breeder of pigs & won an award.

The Pottery Works closed for the afternoon of the funeral & a number of employees attended; the bearers being employees of the Works too. Theo. was a Trustee of the Elder Yard Chapel & the internment in the family vault at Elder Yard was preceded by a service in the chapel.

Tom Pearson

The 3rd son of Theophilus & Elizabeth, was a chemist's dispenser &, in that occupation, lived in Chesterfield, Ramsgate in Kent, back to Chesterfield & settled in Bole Hill, Barlow where he died, unmarried, on the 4th October 1911, aged 55 years. He's buried in the churchyard at Barlow.

Annie Jervis Pearson

The only daughter of Theo. & Elizabeth remained unmarried & lived at Abercrombie street until her death c1926 aged 64 years.

Frank Bernard Pearson

Frank Bernard Pearson the youngest child didn't follow into the Pottery business either but became a vet. He went to Ockbrook Boys school then

became a vetenary student in Midlothian, Scotland. He lived with his mother until his marriage.

He married Alice Mabel Harrison, a daughter of John Harrison, boot manufacturer, & Catherine Thompson Harrison, on the 8th August 1895 at the Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield.

They lived on Victoria Street Chesterfield & had one child, [that I know of], named Gertrude Kitty who was born on the 9th January 1896.

His career took him abroad too:

Derbyshire Courier Saturday 5th December 1914

"Mr. Frank B. Pearson, vetenary surgeon of Chesterfield, has been requested by the Government, to purchase army remounts in the United States. Mr. Pearson has accepted the offer, and will shortly cross the Atlantic."

Frank died c1941 in the Parish of Chesterfield.

End

The Pearson Family

Number, Street, City, State, Postcode