Thomas Pearson

Major Thomas Pearson (c. 1740?–1781) was a British army officer, traveller and book collector who held offices in the East Indies. His portrait was painted by George Romney, who called him "a gentleman of elegant and cultivated mind, who wisely and praise-worthily applied the riches which he had acquired in India, to the advancement of science ..." The Romney portrait of Pearson is in the collection of Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, Akron, Ohio. Biography Pearson was born at Cote Green, near Burton-in-Kendal, Westmorland. He was educated at Burton, and came to London about 1756 to fill a post in the Navy Office, which he resigned in 1760. In the course of the following year he left England, having obtained a cadetship on the Bengal Establishment, in which he rose to the rank of major. He distinguished himself on several occasions, and was particularly noticed by Lord Clive, to whom he adhered during the mutiny fomented by Sir Robert Fletcher, at whose trial he held the office of Judge Advocate. In 1767 Pearson married a sister of Eyles Irwin, the traveller and writer. This lady died in the following year, and an epitaph inscribed to her memory may be found, together with other poetical pieces by Pearson, in vol. iv. of Pearch's Collection of Poems.