Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray

The Viscount Cowdray
Pearson in 1897
President of the Air Board
In office
3 January 1917 – 26 November 1917
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byThe Earl Curzon of Kedleston
Succeeded byThe Lord Rothermere
Member of Parliament for Colchester
In office
February 1895 – January 1910
Preceded bySir Herbert Naylor-Leyland, Bt
Succeeded bySir Laming Worthington-Evans, Bt
Personal details
BornWeetman Dickinson Pearson
15 July 1856
Died1 May 1927(1927-05-01) (aged 70)
Dunecht House, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
PartyLiberal
Spouse
(m. 1881)
ChildrenHarold Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray
Bernard Clive Pearson
Francis Geoffrey Pearson
Gertrude Denman, Baroness Denman
OccupationBuilding contractor; politician
Known forEngineering projects; oil companies; MP for Colchester; philanthropy
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Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, GCVO, PC (15 July 1856 – 1 May 1927), known as Sir Weetman Pearson, Bt from 1894 to 1910 and as Lord Cowdray from 1910 to 1927, was an English industrialist, benefactor and Liberal politician. He built S. Pearson & Son from a Yorkshire contractor into an international builder and created the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company, a leading early 20th century oil producer. After selling Mexican Eagle in 1919, he reorganised his interests around Whitehall Securities, purchased a stake in Lazard Brothers, and expanded into newspapers. This latter move set the course for the later Pearson group's focus on publishing.