George Pearce (South Australian politician)


George Pearce was a sheep farmer and politician in the British colony of South Australia.
George Pearce was aged 21 when he emigrated in 1848 from Cornwall to South Australia on the Samuel Boddington, with several other members of his family. He was 23 when he married Mary Ann Pearce at Blakiston in 1850.
He first lived in Burra but in 1852 he joined the rush to the Victorian gold diggings. After a year or two he returned to Adelaide, and in 1855 started sheep farming at Point Sturt. He also ran farms at Crystal Brook and Calca.
He lived at Port Elliot for his last 14 or 15 years, where he was an active member of the Church of Christ.
He was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly seat of East Torrens and served from May 1868 to March 1870

Family

Henry Pearce and his two sons George and William of Altarnun, Cornwall, emigrated from England on the Samuel Boddington to South Australia. They arrived in 1849, and settled at The Burra.
James Pearce, another brother, arrived in 1848 on the Marion? Ascendant? with his wife and large family.
William Pearce arrived in South Australia with his brother George and their father Henry, lived at Burra until the Victorian gold rush, when they tried their luck for a year or so. William returned to Adelaide and began working as a blacksmith, then settled at Point Sturt, where he founded Poldea Station. He was an active member of the Church of Christ, and for many years the Sunday school superintendent. He was also Chairman of the District Council, and he took a deep interest in mechanical inventions and scientific discoveries. He bought up adjacent properties, and built a butter factory, worked first by steam and later by an oil engine. Around 1904 he purchased Kindaruar Estate for his two sons.
A third brother, James Pearce, arrived in the Ascendant in 1851, and worked as a blacksmith at Mount Barker, Red Hill and Alma. He died at his residence, Portrush Road, Glen Osmond.
James Pearce was father of Western Australian Senator George Pearce, Minister of Defence in three cabinets between 1908 and 1921.

Family

Henry Pearce had three sons in South Australia. They were closely associated with the Shipway family, also from Cornwall: John Shipway, his wife Catherine, née Innes, and their children Thomas, Edward Innes, Esther, and Mary Ann, who arrived on the Cheapside in October 1849. Children of Henry Pearce included: