Sign in
Bernard Clive Pearson
Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Bernard Clive Pearson

British aviation executive and industrialist

Bernard Clive Pearson (12 August 1887 – 22 July 1965), commonly known as Clive Pearson, was a British aviation executive and industrialist. As chairman of Whitehall Securities, the Pearson family investment company, he helped consolidate several private British airlines into British Airways Ltd in 1935.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Bernard Clive Pearson (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Aug 12, 1887, died Jul 22, 1965.1

About

British Airways Ltd became the principal privately backed British airline operating European and domestic services before the Second World War, alongside the state-supported Imperial Airways, which concentrated on Empire routes.

Pearson succeeded Sir John Reith as chairman of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in January 1940, having previously served as deputy chairman. BOAC began operations on 1 April 1940 after the merger of British Airways Ltd and Imperial Airways, and operated wartime services under the control of the Air Ministry. Pearson and most of BOAC's civilian directors resigned in 1943 after disputes over the corporation's independence and its wartime subordination to military transport needs.

Pearson was also chairman of S. Pearson & Son from 1927 to 1954 and led the Pearson group's role in the 1931 rescue of Lazard Brothers & Co.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bernard Clive Pearson, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedRugby School3
  • Date not recordedTrinity College3

Pearson was born in Kensington, London, on 12 August 1887, the second son of the industrialist Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray and Annie Pearson, Viscountess Cowdray. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in engineering in 1908.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bernard Clive Pearson (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: chairperson.6

Whitehall Securities and private airline consolidation

Pearson's influence in aviation came through Whitehall Securities, the Pearson family investment company. Whitehall Securities held or acquired interests in several aviation businesses during the 1920s and 1930s, including Spartan Aircraft, Spartan Air Lines and United Airways Limited.

The opportunity to consolidate private British airlines increased after the death in 1934 of Edward Henry Hillman, founder of Hillman's Airways. Whitehall Securities acquired a controlling interest in Hillman's Airways, and on 30 September 1935 Hillman's Airways, Spartan Air Lines and United Airways were amalgamated as Allied British Airways Ltd. The company changed its name to British Airways Ltd on 29 October 1935 and became a public company with capital exceeding £245,000. The new airline began operations on 1 January 1936 from Heston Aerodrome, inheriting a combined fleet of more than 40 aircraft.

British Airways Ltd consolidated a fragmented private-airline sector into a larger competitor to Imperial Airways. Hillman's had operated services including Paris and Brussels, Spartan served the Isle of Wight, and United Airways served routes to the north west of England and the Isle of Man. As integration proceeded, British Airways Ltd focused increasingly on continental services and route rationalisation, in line with the recommendations of the Maybury Committee on British air transport. British Airways Ltd was further expanded through the acquisition of British Continental Airways and Crilly Airways, strengthening its position on continental European services.

Pearson also expanded the group's aviation interests in Scotland. In 1937 he acquired Northern & Scottish Airways and Highland Airways, which were merged to form Scottish Airways.

Read more

Munich Crisis flights

British Airways Ltd gained public prominence during the Munich Crisis of September 1938, when Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain used its aircraft for his flights to Germany to meet Adolf Hitler. Chamberlain's first flight from Heston to Munich on 15 September 1938 was the first occasion on which a British prime minister flew on official business.

Following Chamberlain's return from his second visit to Hitler, he wrote to Pearson on 25 September 1938 thanking him for the "excellent travelling arrangements made by British Airways" and praising the "speed, safety and comfort" of the flights. Chamberlain described himself as "an inexperienced air-traveller" and said the journeys had shown him what he "had not previously thought possible".

BOAC chairman

The British Overseas Airways Corporation Act 1939 merged British Airways Ltd and Imperial Airways into British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). Sir John Reith, formerly chairman of Imperial Airways, became BOAC's first chairman and remained in post until January 1940. Pearson, who had served as deputy chairman during the transition, succeeded him as chairman before BOAC began operations on 1 April 1940.

BOAC inherited Imperial Airways' long-distance Empire network and British Airways Ltd's European and domestic experience, but wartime conditions immediately changed its role. British Airways' corporate history records that BOAC operated wartime services "under the control of the Air Ministry". During Pearson's chairmanship the corporation maintained overseas air links under severe constraints, including shortages of aircraft, crews and spares, and the diversion of resources to military needs.

In 1943 Pearson and most of the civilian directors resigned. A House of Lords debate on 15 April 1943 described the resignations as arising from a long-running dispute over BOAC's independence and wartime role. Lord Rothermere argued that BOAC was at risk of becoming an organisation "which had in fact been taken over by the Army Transport Command", while Lord Reith said the corporation had faced persistent frustration over aircraft, personnel, supplies and its inability to deal directly with the Royal Air Force. Pearson's resignation letter stated: "The proposed arrangements, however, result in a situation which is indefinite for the Corporation and which does little to improve the difficult conditions in which the Corporation has operated throughout its existence."

The issue remained controversial in Parliament. In a further Lords debate on 12 May 1943, Rothermere argued that the resignations arose from earlier disputes over civil aviation policy and BOAC's responsibility for the future of British air transport, rather than merely from the creation of RAF Transport Command.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bernard Clive Pearson (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • ResidenceParham House7
  • SpouseAlicia Mary Dorothea Knatchbull-Hugessen married 19158

On 14 October 1915 Pearson married Alicia Mary Dorothea Knatchbull-Hugessen, daughter of Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen, 1st Baron Brabourne. They had three daughters:

Veronica Pearson (1916–1993), who married Marcus Rueff in 1940. Marcus died in action in 1941. She married Patrick Tritton in 1950 and later inherited Parham.

Lavinia Pearson (1919–1991), who married Major Charles Michael Smiley and was the mother of Miranda Guinness, Countess of Iveagh. She wrote and illustrated children's books.

Elisabeth Dione Pearson (1920–2012), who married Patrick Gibson, Baron Gibson and later became Lady Gibson.

Pearson died at Worthing, Sussex, on 22 July 1965 and was buried at St Peter's Church, Parham.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bernard Clive Pearson (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9