Bernard Clive Pearson (12 August 1887 – 22 July 1965), commonly known as Clive Pearson, was an aviation executive and British industrialist. As chairman of S. Pearson & Son from 1927 to 1954, Clive played a major role in British aviation history, establishing

British Airways Ltd British Airways Ltd. was a British airline company operating in Europe in the period 1935–1939. It was formed in 1935 by the merger of Spartan Air Lines Ltd, United Airways Ltd (no relation to the US carrier United Airlines), and Hillman' ...

in 1935 and serving as a wartime chairman of the

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the United Kingdom, British state-owned national airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II ...

(BOAC) from 1940 until 1943. He also steered S. Pearson & Son through major crises, including a rescue of Lazard Brothers and Co. and the nationalisation of several assets owned by S. Pearson & Son during World War II.

Early life and education

Clive was born in Kensington, the second son of industrialist

Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, (15 July 1856 – 1 May 1927), known as Sir Weetman Pearson, Bt between 1894 and 1910, and as Lord Cowdray between 1910 and 1917, was an English engineer, oil industrialist, Benefactor (law), be ...

and

Annie Pearson, Viscountess Cowdray Annie Pearson, Viscountess Cowdray, GBE (''née'' Cass; 4 June 1860 – 15 April 1932) was an English society hostess, suffragist and philanthropist. She was nicknamed the "Fairy Godmother of Nursing" due to her financial patronage of the Royal ...

. He attended Rugby School and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, graduating BA in engineering in 1908.

Military service

During the First World War, Clive was commissioned into the

Sussex Yeomanry The Sussex Yeomanry is a yeomanry regiment of the British Army dating from 1794. It was initially formed when there was a threat of French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. After being reformed in the Second Boer War, it served in the World Wa ...

, reaching the rank of major.

S. Pearson & Son and Whitehall Securities Chairman

Clive became chairman of the family firm in 1927, after the death of his father. He also subsequently became chairman of

Whitehall Securities Whitehall Securities Corporation Ltd was formed in 1907 by Weetman Pearson MP and his son Harold Pearson MP. Sir Weetman was nominated as President as well as being a founding director. The company was capitalised at £1,000,000. On 12 December 1 ...

, the company formed by his father to be the family company's investment arm. At the time that Clive became Chairman, S. Pearson & Son was already a diverse conglomerate beyond its civil engineering origins, and subsequent oil based-funding, having interests in publishing, steel, electricity and finance.

Lazard Brothers Rescue

In 1931, Clive led a critical financial rescue of merchant bank Lazard Brothers & Co., in which S. Pearson & Son held a prior 50% stake. The London-based bank faced bankruptcy following fraud at its Brussels office, where a Czech trader had concealed losses of £5.85 million through unauthorised foreign exchange speculation. When confronted, the trader committed suicide, leaving Lazard Brothers technically insolvent with liabilities nearly twice its stated capital. Over a weekend of intensive negotiations with the Bank of England, Clive secured emergency financing to prevent the bank's collapse on Monday morning. The rescue package required Clive to pledge all of S. Pearson & Son's assets as collateral for a £3 million Bank of England loan at penalty rates, while additional funding came from Lazard's Paris and New York houses and UK tax refunds. The Bank of England considered the rescue essential to prevent panic in the City of London, given Lazard's status as a prestigious

Accepting House An accepting house was a primarily British institution which specialised in the acceptance and guarantee of bills of exchange thereby facilitating the lending of money. They took on other functions as the use of bills declined, returning to their ...

(a bank authorised to accept bills of exchange). As a result of the rescue, S. Pearson & Son's ownership of Lazard Brothers increased from 50% to 80%. This stake remained a significant asset for the Pearson Group until its sale in 1999 for £410 million.

Civil aviation

Formation of British Airways Ltd

As chairman of Whitehall Securities, Clive consolidated several nascent airline companies. In 1935, he merged

Hillman's Airways Hillman's Airways was a 1930s British airline which later became part of British Airways. The company was formed in November 1931 as Hillman's Saloon Coaches and Airways Limited by Edward Henry "Ted" Hillman, who was a coach operator in Essex. ...

Spartan Air Lines Spartan Air Lines Ltd was a British private airline company active between 1933 and1935. In 1933 it started operating passenger services from the London area to the Isle of Wight. In late 1935 it merged with United Airways Ltd to form British Air ...

and

United Airways United Airways (BD) Ltd. (, ), operated as United Airways (), was a Bangladeshi airline headquartered in Uttara Thana, Uttara, Dhaka. It operated flights from its airline hub, main hub at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and secondary h ...

to create

, Britain’s leading privately funded airline before the war.

was further expanded following the acquisition of

British Continental Airways British Continental Airways was a British airline that operated between 1935 and 1936, when it merged into British Airways. History British Continental Airways Limited was formed on 15 April 1935 to operate airline services from Croydon Airpor ...

and

Crilly Airways Crilly Airways Ltd was a former British airline founded by entrepreneur Frederick Leo Crilly. The airline operated passenger services between several cities in England in the mid-1930s. The airline started with a capitalization of £12,000. Hi ...

primarily served European flights, while the state-sponsored

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

focused on British Empire routes. Separately, Clive purchased two Scotland-based airlines,

Northern & Scottish Airways Northern & Scottish Airways was a regional airline established in Glasgow in 1934. It was taken over in 1937, eventually becoming part of British European Airways. History Formation The potential of running scheduled air services to the Western ...

and

Highland Airways Highland Airways was an airline based in Inverness, Scotland. It ceased trading on 24 March 2010 after failing to secure new investment. The airline operated passenger and freight charters as well as scheduled services from its main base at In ...

, merging them into a new company called

Scottish Airways Scottish Airways was an airline serving most of Scotland, especially the Highlands and Islands. It was active from 1937 until 1947, when it was merged into British European Airways. History Foundation The company was established on 12 August 1 ...

in 1937.

Munich Crisis flights

During the

Munich Crisis The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the German annexation of part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudete ...

in September 1938, Clive's

provided aircraft for Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's unprecedented diplomatic flights to meet Adolf Hitler. On 15 September 1938, Chamberlain flew from Heston to Munich aboard a British Airways aircraft for his meeting with Hitler at Berchtesgaden, marking the first time a British Prime Minister had flown on official business. Following his return from a second visit to Hitler, Chamberlain wrote to Clive on 25 September 1938, thanking him for the "excellent travelling arrangements made by British Airways" and praising the "speed, safety and comfort" of the flights, noting his gratitude as "an inexperienced air-traveller" for what he "had not previously thought possible."

Chairman of BOAC

The British Overseas Airways Act 1939 nationalised both

and

and merged these two companies to become the

(BOAC). Clive became BOAC’s chairman on 1 April 1940, having been deputy chairman from its inception. As BOAC's second wartime chairman, Clive led the airline under severe government constraints that subordinated commercial operations to military needs, with the RAF having first call on all aircraft and personnel. During his tenure, BOAC maintained essential air links including the critical route established in June 1940 that kept Britain connected with Australia via Africa after the Mediterranean was closed to air traffic. Clive, along with most of the other civilian BOAC directors, resigned in March 1943 when BOAC was placed under RAF Transport Command.

Historic Estates

In 1921, Clive's father,

, purchased the mostly derelict

Castle Fraser Castle Fraser is the most elaborate Z-plan castle in Scotland and one of the grandest 'Castles of Mar'. It is located near Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, Kemnay in the Aberdeenshire region of Scotland. The castle stands in over of landscaped grounds, ...

, a grand baronial castle in Aberdeenshire, and gave it to Clive as a renovation project. Clive restored the castle and then gave it to his second daughter, Lavinia. In 1922, Clive bought Parham House & Gardens, an Elizabethan country house in West Sussex, opening the house to the public in 1948 after extensive renovations. Parham was one of the first private houses in England to open formally to visitors.

Personal life and legacy

On 14 October 1915, Clive married Alicia Mary Dorothea Knatchbull-Hugessen, daughter of

Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen, 1st Baron Brabourne Edward Hugessen Knatchbull-Hugessen, 1st Baron Brabourne (29 April 1829 – 6 February 1893), known as E. H. Knatchbull-Hugessen, was a British Liberal and later Conservative politician. He served as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Depar ...

. They had three daughters: * Veronica Pearson (1916–1993), who married Marcus Rueff in 1940. Marcus died in action in 1941. Veronica married Patrick Tritton in 1950. Veronica inherited Parham and lived there until her death. * Lavinia Pearson (1919–1991), who married Major Charles Michael Smiley and was the mother of

Miranda Guinness, Countess of Iveagh Miranda Daphne Jane Guinness, Countess of Iveagh (''née'' Smiley; 19 August 1939 – 30 December 2010) was a Scottish aristocrat who married into the Guinness family. Life She was the daughter of Major Michael Smiley, of Castle Fraser, Kemnay ...

. Lavinia was the author and illustrator of a number of children's books. * Elisabeth Dione Pearson (1920–2012), who married

Patrick Gibson, Baron Gibson Richard Patrick Tallentyre Gibson, Baron Gibson (5 February 1916 – 20 April 2004) was a British businessman in the publishing industry, and later arts Business administration, administrator. Life Gibson was educated at Eton College, Eton and M ...

and was later Lady Gibson. Clive died at Worthing on 22 July 1965 and was buried at St Peter’s Church, Parham.

References

{{reflist 1887 births 1965 deaths British businesspeople in transport British aviation pioneers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Rugby School People from Kensington