Profile

Son of early settler Digory Sargent Pearse and brought up at Trewarlet, one of his father's properties in Cornwall, he arrived in New Zealand in 1865 to purchase a 150 acre farm at Waitohi in South Canterbury, Central South Island.
A quiet and reserved lad, Richard grew up to enjoy sport and music.

While still at school he made his first invention, a needle threader for his mother. Although born to a farmer, his real interest was engineering and constantly devoured books like Popular Mechanics and Scientific American on the subject from an early age. After building himself a lathe and forge and much study from his books in 1899 Richard Pearse, at the age of 22, was already building the all-important engine that was to make his pioneering aviation vision achievable.

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