Lester B. Pearson

Birth Name: Lester Bowles Pearson

Date of Birth: April 23, 1897

Place of Birth: York Township, York, Ontario, Canada

Date of Death: December 27, 1972

Place of Death: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Ethnicity: Ulster-Scots [Irish Protestant], English

Lester B. Pearson was a Canadian scholar, statesman, soldier, diplomat, and politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as the fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada, from April 22, 1963 to April 20, 1968. He was also Ambassador of Canada to the U.S., from July 1944 to September 1946, Secretary of State for External Affairs, from September 10, 1948 to June 20, 1957, Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian Parliament, from January 16, 1958 to April 22, 1963, and Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, from January 16, 1958 to April 6, 1968. He was a Member of Parliament for Algoma East (ON), from October 25, 1948 to April 23, 1968. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1957, for organizing the U.N. Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis.

Prime Minister Pearson was the son of Ann/Anne Sarah (Bowles) and The Rev. Edwin Arthur Pearson, a minister in the Methodist church, and later in the United Church of Canada. Prime Minister Pearson was married to Maryon Elspeth (Moody) Pearson, with whom he had two children.

Prime Minister Pearson’s patrilineal line can be traced to Christopher Pearson, who was born, c. 1647, in Yorkshire, England.

Prime Minister Pearson’s paternal grandfather was The Rev. Marmaduke Louis Pearson (the son of Marmaduke L. Pearson and Catherine Pritchard). Prime Minister Pearson’s great-grandparents Marmaduke and Catherine were born in Dublin, Ireland. Prime Minister Pearson’s great-grandfather Marmaduke was the son of William Pearson, whose own father was from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, and of Rachel Lancaster. Prime Minister Pearson’s great-grandmother Catherine was the daughter of John Pritchard.

Prime Minister Pearson’s paternal grandmother was Hester Ann Marsh (the daughter of Abraham Marsh and Abigail Whittier). Hester was born in Consecon, Canada West. Abraham was the son of Matthias Marsh III, from New York, and of Sarah Richardson, from Connecticut. Abigail was born in New Portland, Somerset, Maine, the daughter of Clarke Whittier and Sally White.

Prime Minister Pearson’s maternal grandfather was Thomas Bowles (the son of Charles Bowles and Nancy Anne/Ann Barrie). Thomas was born in Chinguacousy, York, Upper Canada, to parents who were born in Tipperary, Ireland. Charles was the son of George Bowles and Barbara Young.

Prime Minister Pearson’s maternal grandmother was Jane Lester (the daughter of Isaac Lester and Agnes Graham). Jane was born in Albion Township, York County, Home District, Upper Canada, to parents from Ireland.

Sources: Genealogies of Lester B. Pearson – http://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com