Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pearce, Thomas
PEARCE, THOMAS (fl. 1755), legal author, was perhaps identical with the Thomas Pearse who was returned to parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis on 24 April 1722, vacated the seat on being appointed chief clerk of the Navy Office on 13 Sept. 1726, and was subsequently, on 7 Sept. 1727, made commissioner of the navy. Pearce was author of: 1. ‘The Laws and Customs of the Stannaries in the Counties of Cornwall and Devon,’ London, 1725, fol. 2. ‘The Justice of the Peace's Pocket Companion, or the Office and Duty of a Justice Epitomised,’ London, 1754, 8vo. 3. ‘The Poor Man's Lawyer, or Laws relating to the Inferior Courts Laid Open,’ London, 1755, 8vo. 4. ‘The Complete Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer,’ London, 1756, 8vo.
[Hist. Reg. Chron. Diary, 1726 p. 35, 1727 p. 36; Boase and Courtney's Bibl. Cornub.; Members of Parl. (Official List); Hutchins's Dorset, ii. 437; Brit. Mus. Cat.]