Sir Neville Arthur Pearson, 2nd Baronet (13 February 1898 – 6 November 1982) was a British newspaper publisher.
Born in
Frensham
Frensham is a village in Surrey, England, next to the A287 road, WSW of Guildford, the county town. Frensham lies on the right bank of the River Wey (south branch), only navigable to canoes, shortly before its convergence with the north bran ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, he was the son of the British newspaper magnate
Sir C. Arthur and
Dame Ethel (Fraser) Pearson. His father, who was a journalist, died in 1921, whereupon he succeeded to the baronetage. He succeeded his father as publisher of a number of magazines (working for
George Newnes Ltd
George Newnes Ltd is a British publisher. The company was founded in 1891 by George Newnes (1851–1910), considered a founding father of popular journalism. Newnes published such magazines and periodicals as ''Tit-Bits'', ''The Wide World Magazi ...
in London, which had acquired
C. Arthur Pearson Ltd
C. Arthur Pearson Ltd was a British publisher of newspapers, periodicals, books, and comics that operated from 1890 to 1965. The company was founded by C. Arthur Pearson, later to be known as Sir Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet.
Pearson was involv ...
as an imprint).
["George Newnes Co,"]
''Grace's Guide to British Industrial History''. Retrieved Apr. 1, 2021. From 1923 to 1953 his private secretary at George Newnes Ltd. was the British poet and novelist
Stevie Smith
Florence Margaret Smith, known as Stevie Smith (20 September 1902 – 7 March 1971), was an English poet and novelist. She won the Cholmondeley Award and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. A play, '' Stevie'' by Hugh Whitemore, bas ...
.
He was married in 1922 to Hon. Mary Angela Mond, daughter of the Minister of Health
Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett. In 1928 he married the actress
Gladys Cooper
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, (18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer, whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
Beginning as a teenager in Edwardian musi ...
, but divorced her in 1936. Sir Neville and Lady Pearson had one daughter, Sally Pearson, a.k.a. Sally Cooper, who was married to actor
Robert Hardy
Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (29 October 1925 – 3 August 2017) was an English actor who had a long career in theatre, film and television. He began his career as a classical actor and later earned widespread recognition for roles such as Sieg ...
from 1961 to 1986.
In 1947 he succeeded his mother as president of
St Dunstan's Hostel for the Blind, the home for blinded soldiers from
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
which his father, who had become blind himself, had founded in 1915.
Pearson died on 6 November 1982, aged 84. On his death, the baronetcy became extinct.
See also
*
Pearson Baronets
There have been three baronetcies for persons with the surname Pearson, all in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Two of the creations are extant as of 2010.
The Pearson Baronetcy, of Cowdray in the County of Sussex, was created in the Baron ...
Notes
References
*Pine, L. G.. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 17th edition. London, England: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1952.
Photos of Neville Pearson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Neville
20th-century British newspaper publishers (people)
1898 births
1982 deaths
2nd
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom