James Pearse

Library:
James Pearse (1842-27.02.1920) was the son of William Silas and Susannah Hallett (nee Glyde). He married Jessie Alice Armstrong 23 February 1874 in Fremantle and they had ten children. James and two brothers, George and Francis, established a boot factory and tannery in North Fremantle in 1871. He was a Member of the Fremantle Municipal Council from 1884 to 1895 and a North Fremantle Councillor from 1895 to 1898 and from 1912 to 1917. He was Mayor of North Fremantle from 1898-1901. Fremantle Library Local History Collection #3808 >

The Heritage Council Heritage%20Council, in its entry for Mason's Hall in Pearse St, has it that the founder of the Pearse boot factory was George Pearse (1839-). I think in fact it was the business of three of the Pearse brothers: George, James, and Francis (1847-). See the Heritage Council entry for Hillcrest.

Glyde St gets its name from the Pearse family. William Silas Pearse's [the first's] wife's full name was Susannah (or Susanah) Hallett Glyde.

James Glyde Pearse married Jessie Alice Armstrong in 1874. Their daughter Jessie May Pearse married Arthur Turton 14 May 1902 in the Johnston Memorial Church.

Fremantle Library Local History Collection photo (Crown Studio) #1857 >

Erickson:
PEARSE, James, b. 1842 (Frem), d. 27. 2.1920, son of William & Susannah (nee Glyde), m. 23.2.1876 (Frem Congr) Jessie Alice ARMSTRONG b. 7.6.1853 d. 24.11.1932, dtr. of George Drummond & Mary Ann (nee Kenton). Chd. Jessie May b. 1877, Mena Hallett b. 1879, Alfred George b. 1881, Nellie Constance b. 1883, Daisy Mildred b. 1885, James Glyde b. 1887 d. 1891, Septimus Roy b. 1889, Leslie Kenton b. 1892, Doris Minnie b. 1893, Marjorie Glyde b. 1896 d. 1951. At Frem. In 1871 established boot factory & tannery near Frem. Bridge. Member Munic. Council 1884-1894. North Frem. Councillor 1895-8, 1912-1917, Mayor Nth Frem. 1898-1901. Made several voyages to Eastern colonies.

Daisy Mildred Pearse married Alfred Emil Schoeffel. Mena Hallett (Hally) married Alfred Kienzle. Elizabeth (Buffy) Benson (g-g-granddaughter of James Pearse) writes:
The daughters had quite an interesting time initially living in Fiji with both Alfreds running businesses there. However both families were interned during WWI due to both Alfreds being German. Hally was stepmum to Captain Bert Kienzle, who's known as the Architect of Kokoda, and played an instrumental part in WWII.
We believe that the Pearses may have washed their hands of these two daughters due to them marrying Germans. There may have been bad blood between them, there was no indication the Pearses made any effort to assist their daughters release from being POWs in Bourke.
Would love to know if you have any information about James's other children, or if there are any diaries, living relatives etc.

Anyone with more information in relation to Buffy Benson's request could write to Garry Gillard and I'll pass it on.

[[img/pearsejames2.jpg|]]

James Pearse in the garden of Rockdale (now Turton House) c. 1920 with his wife Jessie Alice nee ARMSTRONG, and, from left, Joy Turton, Arthur Glyde Turton, Mollie Turton, Donald Turton, Gwen Turton, and an unidentified child held by James. Photo courtesy of Alan Thompson.

References and Links

Lee, Jack 1979, This is East Fremantle (The story of a town and its people), East Fremantle Town Council.

Many thanks to Rob Ward for a comprehensive and invaluable genealogy of the Pearse family.

Ancestry.com.au page, with names and dates of children of the patriarch.

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 17 February, 2016 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/pearsejames.html (it was last updated on 28 September, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.