Samuel Pearson (1814–1884) was an English entrepreneur and founder of

Pearson plc Pearson plc is a British multinational publishing and education company headquartered in London, England. It was founded as a construction business in the 1840s but switched to publishing in the 1920s. Spender, J. A., ''Weetman Pearson: F ...

, a leading education (originally construction) company listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...

. His grandson Weetman Pearson was ennobled, making Samuel Pearson the ancestor of Viscount Cowdray.

Career

After working as a labourer, Pearson set up his own brickmaking and contracting business in Bradford in 1844. In 1856, he brought his son, George, into the business and in 1857 the business won an important contract for extension and refurbishment work on the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

. By 1861 it was employing 9 men and a farmer. He retired in 1879 and died in Scholes in 1884.

References

Sources

* 1814 births 1884 deaths

Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

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