[1] Pearce moved to Shanghai in the early 1884 to join the tea firm of Messrs George Oliver & Co.. in 1897, he joined Messrs Ilbert & Co and in 1905 became a partner.

He subsequently took over the firm when Frederick Anderson retired in 1920.

[3] In 1922, he was knighted for his services[4] and was awarded by the Chinese government the 4th Class Order of Chiaho.

[5] He left Shanghai in 1922 and returned to England, where he settled down near London in Little Portnall, Wentworth, Virginia Water.

One, a baby, was drowned and the other was killed in action in World War I in France.