Sir Francis Fenwick Pearson, 1st Baronet, (13 June 1911 – 17 February 1991) was a British colonial administrator, farmer and politician.

Colonial service

Pearson attended

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headma ...

in Rutland, and then Trinity Hall,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant onto the Unattached List for the Indian Army from being a Second Lieutenant, T.A. (University Candidate) in September 1932, with seniority from 29 January 1931. After a year attached to a British regiment in India, he was appointed to the Indian Army and posted to the 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles as of 3 November 1933. He served as Aide-de-camp to the

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

from June 1935 to April 1936. He transferred to the Indian Political Service in October 1935. In June 1945 he was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

as captain, Indian Political Service. He finished as Chief Minister of

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

State from 1945 to 1947, and the village of Pearson in the

Churachandpur Churachandpur ( Meitei pronunciation: ''/tʃʊraːˌtʃaːnɗpʊr/'') is the district headquarter of the Churachandpur District in the Indian state of Manipur. It is named after the Meitei King Churachand Singh, the Maharaja of Manipur Kingdom. ...

district was named in his honour. With the independence of India imminent, Pearson returned to Britain and settled in Lancashire where he became a farmer, and also involved himself in local government. He was a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire from 1952.

Parliamentary career

At the 1959 general election, Pearson replaced Richard Fort (who had died earlier in the year) as

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Member of Parliament for

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

, a rural constituency in the Lancashire foothills of the Pennines. He was swiftly named as an Assistant Government Whip (1960) and became a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury (Government Whip) in March 1962.

Parliamentary Private Secretary

Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who became Prime Minister in October 1963, choose Pearson to be his Parliamentary Private Secretary, an unpaid but pivotal role where Pearson had to maintain relations between the Prime Minister and his own backbenchers. When Douglas-Home lost the 1964 general election and resigned as Prime Minister, he gave Pearson a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

cy in his resignation honours list.

Lancashire contribution

Pearson retired from Parliament at the 1970 general election, but not from politics. He was Chairman of the

Central Lancashire Central Lancashire is an area of Lancashire, England. Central Lancashire New Town Central Lancashire New Town was the largest of the post-war English new towns, designated in 1970 and covering : the County Borough of Preston, parts of Chorley, ...

New Town Development Corporation from 1971 (the new town covered Preston, Chorley, Leyland and several other areas).

References

* *M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" (Harvester Press, 1981)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Francis 1911 births 1991 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British Indian Army officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy Lieutenants of Lancashire English justices of the peace Indian Political Service officers Manipur politicians Members of the Order of the British Empire Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970