Rex Whiting Pearson (13 January 1905 – 11 September 1961) was an Australian politician. Born in Kadina, South Australia, he was educated in Adelaide at Prince Alfred College before becoming a farmer and grazier, initially at Sandilands on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. In 1927, Pearson moved with his widowed mother to Jamestown. In 1935, he moved with his family, and that of his brother Glen, to Cockaleechie. In the following year, he moved 20 km north to Yeelanna. He first contested the South Australian House of Assembly electorate of Flinders for the Liberal and Country League at the state election in 1938, but lost to Edward Craigie, the candidate for the Single Tax League, after the distribution of preferences. In 1941, Pearson was elected for Flinders, defeating Craigie on preferences from the Labor candidate. Even though he moved to

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, and later Lower Mitcham near Adelaide and his mother's home, he won the 1947 and 1950 elections for Flinders, and retained his interest and support for farming and rural interests in his electorate on the Eyre Peninsula. In 1951, Pearson transferred to federal politics, winning a seat in the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

as a Liberal at that year's

double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...

federal election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

. His brother

Glen A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...

won the by-election for the consequential vacancy in the seat of Flinders. Pearson held his Senate seat by winning elections in 1953 and 1958, until his death in 1961, after which the South Australian parliament appointed Gordon Davidson to replace him. Pearson was a Methodist lay preacher on the Eyre Peninsula.

References

Liberal and Country League politicians Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the South Australian House of Assembly 1905 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub