Colin Pearson, Baron Pearson

Colin Hargreaves Pearson, Baron Pearson PC, KC, CBE (28 July 1899 – 31 January 1980) was a Canadian-born English barrister and judge. Rising to sit as a judge in the House of Lords, he is best remembered for his unspectacular but efficient and courteous chairmanship of industrial inquiries and royal commissions. His 1978 report into civil liability and compensation for personal injury made proposals for state pensions for accident victims that were largely rejected by government at the time. He was appointed CBE in 1946, knighted in 1951, and sworn of the privy council in 1961. He became a bencher of his inn in 1951, and was treasurer in 1974.

Early life and legal career

Born in Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada, he was the youngest child of lawyer Ernest William Pearson (1861–1936) and Jessie née Borland (died 1948). When Colin was 7, the family moved to London and he was educated at St. Paul's School. He served in the Guards at the end of World War I before attending Balliol College, Oxford to study ] (Literae Humaniores'). Taking up the law, he joined the Inner Temple and was called to the bar in 1924, becoming a student of Walter Monckton in the chambers of Frederick Temple Barrington-Ward (KC). He later joined the chambers of Sir William Jowitt (KC) where he started to build up a substantial common law practice.

When Jowitt became Attorney General, Pearson was briefed as his junior in the "derating...
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