George Sharratt Pearson

Who was George Sharratt Pearson?

George Sharratt Pearson was an English-born wholesale grocer and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Nanaimo from 1928 to 1933, Alberni-Nanaimo from 1933 to 1941 and Nanaimo and the Islands from 1941 to 1952 in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as a Liberal.

He was born in Bromley, Staffordshire, the son of Joseph Dudley Pearson and Emma Sharratt. Pearson came to Canada in 1889; he was educated in Nanaimo, British Columbia. In 1904, Pearson married Emmeline Pearce. He served in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Labour and Commissioner of Fisheries. Pearson was president of the Nanaimo General Hospital. From 1941 to 1952, he was a member of a Liberal-Conservative coalition in the provincial assembly. Pearson died in Nanaimo at the age of 86.

The George Pearson Centre of the Vancouver Hospital, originally known as the Pearson Tuberculosis Hospital, was named in his honour. The Pearson Bridge and Pearson Park in Nanaimo and the retired BC ferry MV George S. Pearson were also named after Pearson.