teachers; and reduced the average expense of the school system by employing teachers of slightly inferior qualifications for the very small schools. A teacher is now sent to any place where there is an average attendance of eight scholars. Dr. Pearson is the firm advocate of secular education, as established in the colony of Victoria, as the only system that can be worked with fairness in a country divided between many sects. Before leaving office he was preparing to abolish the system of results, and laboured hard whilst he was Minister of Education, though with very little success, to make the so-called compulsory clauses of the Education Act a reality, as they are in Switzerland.
Pearson, Right Rev. Josiah Brown, D.D., ex-Bishop of Newcastle, N.S.W., son of Benjamin Pearson, was born at Chesterfield in 1841, and educated at Chesterfield Grammar School and St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took a first class in the Moral Sciences Tripos in 1864, was made M.A. in 1867, LL.M. in 1871, LL.D. in 1876, and D.D. in 1880. Dr. Pearson, who was for some time Fellow and Tutor of St. John's College, was ordained deacon in 1865 and priest in 1866. He was curate of St. Michael's, Cambridge, from 1865 to 1867, of St. Andrew the Great, Cambridge, from 1867 to 1869, vicar of Hormingsea from 1871 to 1874, preacher at Whitehall from 1872 to 1874, Hulsean Lecturer and Ramsden Preacher in 1872, and vicar of Newark from 1874 to 1880, when he was consecrated Bishop of Newcastle. In 1888 he formed the intention of returning to England, and Bishop Moorhouse was desirous of securing his assistance as a suffragan bishop for the diocese of Manchester; but the state of his health made clerical duty impossible and rendered him incapable of resigning his see until 1890, when the formal document was signed and his successor appointed. Bishop Pearson married, in 1880, Ellen, daughter of the late Godfrey Tallents, of Newark. He is the author of "An Essay on the Divine Personality," "Creed or No Creed, "Disciples in Doubt," and other minor publications.
Pearson, Hon. William, M.L.C., one of the principal patrons of the turf in Australia, is the eldest son of Captain Hugh Pearson, R.N., of Hilton, parish of Kilmany, Fifeshire, Scotland, and was born on Sept. 20th, 1818, at Hilton. Arriving in Victoria in 1841, he commenced squatting in Gippsland, taking up the Lindenow station on the Mitchell river, and after that Kilmany Park, near the junction of the Latrobe and Thomson rivers. Mr. Pearson was returned to the Legislative Assembly as member for North Gippsland on two occasions—in 1868 and 1871—and now represents the Eastern Province in the Legislative Council. He is the largest shareholder in the famous Long Tunnel gold mine, Walhalla. As an owner and breeder of racehorses, he dates back to 1842, since which time he has won several hundred races and bred a large number of winners by Warlock and Vagabond. Mr. Pearson married in August 1859 Eliza Laura, daughter of H. J. Travers, formerly of the H.E.I.C. Civil Service.
Pedder, Sir John Lewis,[1] Bart., first Chief Justice of Van Diemen's Land, was born in 1784, and was appointed Chief Justice in 1824. In 1854 he retired on a pension, and shortly afterwards returned to England, where he died in 1859. In 1848 Chief Justice Pedder had a dispute with Governor Sir William Denison over the Dog Act, which the Supreme Court in the previous year had declared to be void, although they had previously failed to exercise their prerogative of pronouncing the Act to be invalid on the ground of repugnancy to the Constitution Act. The Chief Justice declined the suggestion of the Governor that he should take leave of absence in order to admit of the reversal of the judgment, and Sir William Denison then tried to have him removed for neglect of duty in not having originally certified to the repugnancy. The Executive Council, however, acquitted him, and the Home Government ultimately censured the Governor for his conduct in the matter. As, however, the judgment would have voided fifteen Acts and rendered questionable thirty others, a bill was passed validating all Acts not certified by the judges as repugnant within fourteen days after enrolment, and thus the difficulty was got over.
Pell, Professor Morris Birkbeck, M.A. was born in the United States about 1823, and educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated
- ↑ correct spelling is "Lewes". (Wikisource contributor note)
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