Educated at Addiscombe Military Seminary, Pears was commissioned into the Madras Engineers in 1825.

[1] In 1836 he was appointed Commanding Officer of the Madras Sappers and Miners and in that capacity went on to be Chief Engineer for the expedition to Karnal in India in 1839 and for the capture of Chusan in China in 1840.

[1] In 1841 he was appointed Commanding Engineer of the Army in China and took a leading role in the capture of Ting-hai.

[1] He became Military Secretary to the India Office in 1861[1] and found himself having to deal with the financial burden created by the fact that one quarter of all Indian Army officers were actually located and receiving a pension in England rather than India.

He served as the commanding officer for the 17th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers during the first half of the First World War.