Pearson, Valentine Ward
c.1857-1930; e.m. 1879

Born atLancaster 'of old Methodist stock', he was educated at Owens College, Manchester and took a London BA. A keen and accomplished sportsman, he was chaplain of Wesley College, Sheffield from 1880, until succeeding J.J. Findlay as headmaster in 1891. His fourteen years there saw the school prosper, but come to a sudden end when it came under the local authority and became part of the King Edward VII School in 1905. Following two months studying teacher training methods in North America, he became Principal of the newly established City Training College in Sheffield. 'His unfailing geniality and kindly interest, his ready appreciation and broad sympathies enabled him to exert a unique influence upon successive generations of students, and won for him a host of friends. He remained a simple, kindly, unassuming man.' He retired in 1921 in declining health to Four Mile Bridge, Anglesey and died on 12 June 1930.

Sources
  • Methodist Recorder, 19 June 1930