Dwatson32 at 22:13, 26 January 2026

2026-01-26T22:13:19Z

New page

{{Short description|British politician}}
{{Distinguish|Francis Pearson (drag queen)}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=November 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name = Francis Pearson
| honorific_suffix = [[Baronet|Bt]]
| image = File:Sir-Francis-Fenwick-Pearson-1st-Bt.jpg
| caption = Sir Francis Fenwick Pearson, 1st Bt in 1969

| office = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Clitheroe (UK Parliament constituency)|Clitheroe]]
| predecessor = [[Richard Fort (Conservative politician)|Richard Fort]]
| successor = [[David Walder]]
| term_start = 1959
| term_end = 1970
| majority =

| office1 = [[Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister]]
| primeminister1 = [[Alec Douglas-Home]]
| term_start1 = 1963
| term_end1 = 1964
| predecessor1 = [[Knox Cunningham]]
| successor1 = [[Ernest Fernyhough]]

| birth_name = Francis Fenwick Pearson
| birth_date = {{birth date|1911|06|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|1991|02|17|1911|06|13|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| education = [[Uppingham School]], [[Rutland]]
| alma_mater = [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge|Trinity Hall]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]]
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| occupation = British colonial administrator <br /> Chief Minister of [[Manipur]] State <br /> [[Farmer]]
| parents =
| spouse =
| relations =

| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = [[British Indian Army]]
| serviceyears =
| rank =
| servicenumber =
| unit = [[1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment)|1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles]]
| commands =
| battles =
| mawards =
}}

'''Sir Francis Fenwick Pearson, 1st Baronet''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|MBE|JP|DL}} (13 June 1911 – 17 February 1991) was a British colonial administrator, farmer and politician.

==Colonial service==
Pearson attended [[Uppingham School]] in [[Rutland]], and then [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge|Trinity Hall]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]]. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant onto the Unattached List for the Indian Army from being a Second Lieutenant, T.A. (University Candidate) in September 1932, with seniority from 29 January 1931. After a year attached to a British regiment in India, he was appointed to the Indian Army and posted to the [[1 Gorkha Rifles|1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles]] on 3 November 1933. He served as [[Aide-de-camp]] to the [[Viceroy of India]] from June 1935 to April 1936.<ref>War services of British and Indian Officers of the Indian Army 1941</ref>

=== Indian Political Service ===
Pearson transferred to the [[Indian Political Service]] in October 1935. In June 1945 he was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] as captain, Indian Political Service.<ref>London Gazette 14 June 1945, p2957</ref>

He served as the President of the Manipur State Durbar (later designated as the Chief Minister) in the princely state of [[Manipur (princely state)|Manipur]] from 1945 to 1947. The ruler of Manipur at that time was Maharaja [[Bodhchandra Singh|Bodhachandra Singh]]. Pearson headed the committee that formulated the [[Manipur State Constitution Act 1947|Manipur State Constitution Act]], passed in May 1947.<ref>{{cite web |title=Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947 |url=https://www.constitutionofindia.net/historical_constitutions/manipur_state_constitution_act__1947_1st%20January%201947 |accessdate=2 November 2020 |website=ConstitutionOfIndia.net}}</ref> He handed over power to Maharajkumar [[Priyobrata Singh]], the Maharaja's nominee for chief minister, on 14 August 1947.

The village of Pearson in [[Churachandpur district]] was named in his honour.

==Parliamentary career==
Pearson returned to Britain after Indian independence and settled in [[Lancashire]] where he became a farmer, and also involved himself in local government. He was a [[Justice of the Peace]] for Lancashire from 1952.

At the [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959 general election]], Pearson replaced [[Richard Fort (1907–1959)|Richard Fort]] (who had died earlier in the year) as [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] Member of Parliament for [[Clitheroe (UK Parliament constituency)|Clitheroe]], a rural constituency in the Lancashire foothills of the Pennines. He was swiftly named as an Assistant Government [[Whip (politics)|Whip]] (1960) and became a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury (Government Whip) in March 1962.

==Parliamentary Private Secretary==
Sir [[Alec Douglas-Home]], who became Prime Minister in October 1963, choose Pearson to be his [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]], an unpaid but pivotal role where Pearson had to maintain relations between the Prime Minister and his own backbenchers. When Douglas-Home lost the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]] and resigned as Prime Minister, he gave Pearson a [[Baronet]]cy in his resignation honours list.

==Lancashire contribution==
Pearson retired from Parliament at the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970 general election]], but not from politics. He was Chairman of the [[Central Lancashire]] New Town Development Corporation from 1971 (the [[new town]] covered [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]], [[Chorley]], [[Leyland, Lancashire|Leyland]] and several other areas).

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}
*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" (Harvester Press, 1981)

== External links ==
*{{Hansard-contribs | sir-francis-pearson | Francis Pearson }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Clitheroe (UK Parliament constituency)|Clitheroe]]
| years = [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959]]–[[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970]]
| before = [[Richard Fort (1907–1959)|Richard Fort]]
| after = [[David Walder]]
}}

{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Knox Cunningham]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister]]| years=1963–1964}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ernest Fernyhough]]}}

{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{s-new|Creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pearson baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Gressingham)''' | years=1963–1991}}
{{s-aft|after=Francis Pearson}}
{{s-end}}

{{PPSs to the Prime Minister|state=autocollapse}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Francis}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Lancashire]]
[[Category:English justices of the peace]]
[[Category:Indian Political Service officers]]
[[Category:Politicians from Manipur]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964]]
[[Category:Parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister]]
[[Category:Pearson baronets|301]]
[[Category:People educated at Uppingham School]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1959–1964]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1964–1966]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1966–1970]]

Francis Pearson - Revision history

Dwatson32 at 22:13, 26 January 2026