132 
H. H. W. PEARSON, F.R.S., Sc.D. 
the writer of these words. In 1915, under the editorship of Pearson, the 
Cambridge University Press published the First Part of the Annals of the 
Bolus Herbarium, a periodical devoted primarily to work inspired directly 
or indirectly by Dr Bolus and to investigations conducted in or in connection 
with the Bolus Herbarium. He was also editor of the Journal of the Botanical 
Society of South Africa, a Society of which he was one of the most active 
members. 
Before leaving England Pearson married Ethel, the youngest daughter of 
the late William Pratt of Little Bradley, Suffolk. He took the Cambridge 
Sc.D. degree in 1907, and in 1916 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. 
In the following sketch I have quoted freely from a series of letters in my 
possession in order to enable the reader to come into intimate relation with 
Pearson’s singularly attractive personality. He combined the qualifications 
of the best type of student with the wisdom of the man of affairs ; capable 
in organization, an original thinker, and a warm-hearted friend. He retained 
the enthusiasm and brightness of youth, and his uniform courtesy and tact 
made him popular with all who knew him. His influence as a botanist 
extended far beyond the ranks of his professional colleagues. It would be 
difficult to estimate at their true value the services he rendered to South Africa. 
He was a successful and stimulating teacher; his own keenness in research 
gave reality to his lectures, and through his influence several of his pupils 
came to Cambridge to continue investigations which he had suggested. He 
played a leading part in the foundation of the National Garden at Kirstenbosch 
which in the hands of competent successors should become one of the finest in 
the world. 
My first meeting with Pearson was in 1892 at Eastbourne as a student 
attending a course of lectures on “Plant Life” which I was delivering as an 
University Extension Lecturer. During rambles on the shore in search of 
seaweeds he discussed with me the possibility of realising his ambition to 
come to Cambridge, and from that time onwards it was my privilege to enjoy 
his friendship. In a letter written on April 4, 1916, after hearing of his 
election to the Royal Society, Pearson recalled the Eastbourne days : “I was 
a little surprised to find myself in the list this year : that I was pleased needs 
no statement. Under any circumstances I should appreciate the honour 
immensely; under my particular circumstances I think I value it more than 
I should under some others — isolated here from the centre of the things that 
interest me, this distinction means a very great deal to me. I hope I deserve 
it. I am not quite sure though I am grateful to you and others for saying 
and thinking that I do.... I regard this as an outcome of those... lectures you 
gave at Eastbourne — but for them where I should have been I do not know, 
but I certainly should not have been here, and almost certainly the Council 
of the Royal Society would never have heard of me,” 
