Edward Holroyd Pearce, Baron Pearce, (9 February 1901 – 26 November 1990) was a British barrister and judge. He served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1962 until 1969. In 1971–72, he chaired the Pearce Commission, which was charged with testing the acceptability of a proposed constitutional settlement in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

Early life and career

Edward Holroyd Pearce was born in

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. It was ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, the eldest child (he was followed by three sisters) of John William Ernest Pearce, headmaster of a preparatory school, and Irene Pearce, ''née'' Chaplin, daughter of daughter of Holroyd Chaplin. He was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

, of which he was a

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

and where he took a First in Honour Moderations in 1921 and a Third in '' literae humaniores'' in 1923. He was elected an honorary

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of Corpus Christi in 1950.

Called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

and the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1925, he practiced in the King's Bench and Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Divisions of the High Court. In the 1930s, Pearce was forced to leave legal practice for a time because of tuberculosis. He spent some time in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he acquired a lifelong passion for oil painting, before returning to the Bar. He later exhibited regularly at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

and mounted one-man exhibitions as well, sometimes also exhibiting together with his wife, a watercolourist. He became a member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1940. Exempt from military service on medical grounds, Pearce continued to practice at the bar during the Second World War; he was appointed

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1945. He became deputy chairman of the East Sussex

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...

in 1947, was elected a bencher of

in 1948 and served as its treasurer in 1966.

Judicial career

On 14 October 1948, Pearce was appointed a Justice of the High Court, receiving the customary knighthood on 29 October. He was initially assigned to the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, before being transferred to the Queen's Bench Division in 1954. He was made a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Just ...

on 30 April 1957, and sworn of the Privy Council. On 19 April 1962, Pearce was made Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

with the title Baron Pearce, of Sweethaws in the County of

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. In his capacity as a member of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

, Pearce sat on the case of '' Madzimbamuto v Lardner-Burke'', concerning the constitutionality of

Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was a statement adopted by the Cabinet of Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, announcing that Rhodesia (previously Southern Rhodesia), a British crown colony in southern Africa that had respon ...

. He dissented from the majority decision of Lord Reid, who held that the Unilateral Declaration was unconstitutional and the detention orders in issue were therefore unlawful. While agreeing that the Declaration was unlawful, Pearce would have held that the detention orders in issue were lawful, on the basis that they had been issued by a government which was in ''de facto'' control of Rhodesia, and therefore should be applied by the courts.''Madzimbamuto v Lardner-Burke'', ; 9683 WLR 1229; 9683 All ER 561; 9691 AC 645. He retired as Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 1969.

Post-judicial career and later life

After his retirement from the bench, Lord Pearce became chairman of the Press Council in 1969, serving until 1974. From 1969 until 1976, he was chairman of the Appeals Committee of the

Takeover Panel The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, or more commonly The Takeover Panel, is the United Kingdom's regulatory body charged with the administration of The Takeover Code. It was set up in 1968 and is located in London, England. Its role is to ens ...

. In 1971–72, he chaired a commission (known as the Pearce Commission) tasked with testing the acceptability of a proposed constitutional settlement in Rhodesia negotiated between Sir Alec Douglas-Home and

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...

. The four-person commission reported in May 1972: it described white, coloured and Asian Rhodesians as in favour of the terms by 98%, 97% and 96% respectively, and black citizens as against them by an unspecified large majority. As a result, the proposals were shelved, though not immediately abandoned. In his later years Lord Pearce suffered from hip problems. Shortly before his death, he auctioned a sculpture, which he had acquired for £7 in 1951, at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

. The work, identified as a sculpture by Adriaen de Vries, was sold for £6.82 million.

Family

In 1927, he married Erica Priestman (d. 1985), daughter of Bertram Priestman, RA. They had two sons, James and Bruce, both of whom became QCs (the eldest also becoming a circuit judge) and predeceased him.

Selected judgments

* '' Long v Lloyd''

958 Year 958 (Roman numerals, CMLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * October / November – Battle of Raban: The Byzantine Empire, Byzantines under John I Tzimiskes, Jo ...

1 WLR 753 * '' McCutcheon v David MacBrayne Ltd'' 9641 WLR 125 * '' Madzimbamuto v Lardner-Burke'' 9691 AC 645 * '' Anisminic v Foreign Compensation Commission'' 9692 AC 147

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Edward 1901 births 1990 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Law lords Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Charterhouse School Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council People from Sidcup 20th-century British judges Knights Bachelor Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges Queen's Bench Division judges English painters English King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel 20th-century English lawyers