Person    | Male  Born 16/11/1819  Died 31/1/1904

Stephen Pearce

Categories: Art

Portrait and equestrian painter. Our picture source gives a biography of his life.

He was born on 16 November 1819, the son of Stephen Pearce (1780-1850) and Anne Pearce née Whittington (1778-1871). He was baptised on 17 December 1819 at St Martin in the Fields Church and the baptismal register shows that the family lived at 29 King's Mews. His father was a clerk in the Department of the Horse.

In the 1841 census he is shown living with his parents in The Royal Mews, Pimlico. The 1851 census shows him as an artist portrait painter living at 55 Berners Street, Marylebone, with his widowed mother and a female domestic servant. 

On 13 April 1858 he married Matilda Jane Cheswright (1832-1927) at Christ Church, Paddington. The marriage register shows his profession as an artist, living at 25 Queen Ann Street, whilst her address was recorded as 4 Sussex Terrace, Hyde Park. They had six children: Henry Stephen Pearce (1859-1860), Stephen Spencer Pearce (1860-1933), Henry Langley Dixon Pearce (1862-1933), Francis Barrow Pearce (1866-1926), Charles Ross Pearce (b.1868) and Wilson Bennie Manly Pearce (1872-1930).

The 1861 census shows him as a portrait painter living at 54 Queen Anne Street, Marylebone, with his wife, their son Stephen Spencer Pearce, his mother, a nurse, a cook and a housemaid. He was still there at the time of the 1871 census with his wife, their two sons: Francis B. Pearce & Charles R. Pearce, his mother, a nurse, a cook and two housemaids.

The census of 1881 confirms him still at 54 Queen Anne Street, Marylebone with his wife, their son William B. M. Pearce and three female domestic servants. In the 1891 census he is shown as living on his own means at 'St Heliers', Grange Road, Eastbourne, Sussex, with his wife, their two sons: Francis B. Pearce & Wilson B. M. Pearce, together with a cook and two housemaids.

Electoral registers from 1900 show him at 44 Sussex Gardens, Paddington and he died there, aged 84 years, on 31 January 1904. Probate was granted to his widow and Charles Ross Pearce on 12 March 1904 and his effects initially totalled £3,456-2s-11d, but were subsequently re-sworn to a new total of £5,853-14s-5d.

Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Stephen Pearce

Commemorated ati

Stephen Pearce

Stephen Pearce, 1819 - 1904, portrait and equestrian painter, lived here, 185...

Read More

Other Subjects

John Heartfield

John Heartfield

Born Helmut Herzfeld in the outskirts of Berlin. Changed his name in 1917 in protest at the anti-British feelings in Germany. Fleeing the Nazis in 1938 he came to England where he was interned for ...

Person, Art, Politics & Administration, Germany

1 memorial
William Blake

William Blake

Poet and artist. Except for 3 years spent on the coast near Bognor, Blake lived his whole life in London, making his living as an engraver. Born at 28 Broad Street, now Broadwick Street (the memori...

Person, Art, Poetry, Seriously Famous

10 memorials
Dave Bangs

Dave Bangs

Mural artist, active in 1984.

Person, Art

1 memorial
Michael Noakes

Michael Noakes

Painter. Former President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and Chairman of the Contemporary Portrait Society. His subjects include Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Bill ...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Leo Mol

Leo Mol

Artist and sculptor. Born Leonid Molodozhanyn in Polonne, Ukraine. Studied at the Leningrad Academy of Arts. After living in Germany and The Hague, he emigrated to Canada in 1948. A prolific artist...

Person, Art, Canada, Ukraine

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Thomas Lewis

Thomas Lewis

The first pastor of the Islington Union Chapel, appointed in 1802/4 (sources differ) and stayed in the post until his death, though he shared the job with Allon from 1843/4 (sources differ).

Person, Religion

1 memorial
Directors Guild of Great Britain

Directors Guild of Great Britain

A professional organisation representing directors across all aspects of the media. It was founded by a group of leading British directors who were dissatisfied with their representation by the tec...

Group, Cinema, TV & Radio

1 memorial
Fred (Fritz) Kormis

Fred (Fritz) Kormis

Sculptor and medallist. Born Frankfurt, Germany. From the very informative West Hampstead Life: "Fritz was fourteen when he began an apprenticeship in a workshop specializing in decorative sculptu...

Person, Sculpture, Germany

3 memorials