Sir William Pearce, 2nd Baronet

Who was Sir William Pearce, 2nd Baronet?

Sir William George Pearce, 2nd Baronet was a British industrialist and Conservative Party politician in England.

Pearce was son of the Clydeside shipbuilder Sir William Pearce, 1st Baronet and his wife Dinah Elizabeth, née Scooter. Born in Chatham, Kent, he was educated at Rugby School and went at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1885.

After his father died in 1888, Pearce succeeded him to the baronetcy and as chairman of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, but lacked his father's flair and drive. The business faltered, until by 1893 there was only one ship under a construction – a sailing vessel, in a yard noted for its expertise in engine technology. After the appointment in 1894 of Edward Shearer as general manager, the yard regained its former prominence.

Pearce was elected at the 1892 general election as Member of Parliament for the Plymouth constituency, but did not contest the 1895 general election. He was a keen country sportsman, and was noted for the shooting parties at his estate of Chilton Lodge at Leverton in Hungerford, Berkshire.

He married Caroline Eva in 1905, but they had no children. He died in 1907 at his London home in Park Lane, and was buried at Chilton Foliat, near his country estate in Hungerford. The baronetcy became extinct on his death. In his will he left the residue of his estate, estimated at over £150,000, to Trinity College, Cambridge; this is believed to have been the College's most significant gift since its foundation in 1546 by Henry VIII.