Thomas Clinton Pears, the great great grandson of the founder of the soap company A & F Pears Ltd, boarded the Titanic at Southampton on 10th April 1912. Travelling with his wife of one and-a-half years, Edith, Thomas Pears was just one of many wealthy business men travelling in first-class aboard the Titanic.
The Pears company had a large presence in the USA and it is believed that Thomas was heading to America with a view to furthering the company's activities. The Titanic disaster interrupted those plans, Edith survived the sinking but Thomas was not saved. His body, if recovered, was not identified. He is remembered on the impressive family grave in Isleworth Cemetery, in Middlesex.
The Pears family grave is a large, impressive memorial dwarfing the other gravestone and grave markers in the cemetery. The grave in the form of a tall granite "pepper-pot" memorial. The memorial stands on a 16-sided granite base, with a rebated circular column of granite above.
The lateral face of the column is interrupted with three equally-spaced pilasters, each with a plain plinth and base mouldings and surmounted by simple, Tuscan-style capitals. The column has a projecting cornice surmounted by six small urns around a central column. The urns support a rebated cornice, which forms the base of a dome at the top of the column.
Thomas Clinton Pears died in the sinking of the Titanic, aged just 29. He left a young widow, Edith, aged 22 at the time of the disaster. Thomas Pears was the fourth son of Andrew and Marianne Pearson Pears.
Andrew bore his paternal great-grandfather's name, that of the founder of the famous A & F Pears Ltd, manufacturers of the transparent soap. First manufactured in 1807, the soap is believed to be the oldest registered brand in the world.
A memorial service for Thomas was held at St John the Baptist Church in Isleworth, Middlesex, on 21 April 1912. A reported 1,200 people attended. Thomas was later remembered in Isleworth Cemetery, on the family grave.
The Titanic was a virtual floating city. Together her passengers and crew totalled more than 2,200 people. Her passengers were split into three-classes. Her first-class passengers included some of the most influential people in society; bankers, millionaire businessmen, politicians, sportsmen, journalists and writers. Second-class passengers included carpenters, engineers, ministers of faith, merchantmen and teachers and third-class included agricultural workers, bakers, general labourers, printers, servants and tailors.
They came from towns and cities across the world, joing the ship first at Southampton, England on 10 April and Cherbourg, France later the same day and on 11 April at Queenstown (Cobh) in Ireland. Her crew were drawn from across Britain and Ireland, but also from further afield. Most came from her city of birth Belfast, her port of registry Liverpool and her home port Southampton.
In 1912 the population of the parish of Isleworth in Middlesex was nearly 28,000. Amongst them was businessman Thomas Pears; his family owned the Pears soap-manufacturing company. Pears and his wife lived in Isleworth. In 1912 they boarded the Titanic as first-class passengers, heading to America. He died in the sinking of the Titanic aged 29 leaving his wife a widow. He is commemorated on the family grave in Isleworth cemetery.