Pearse was a career naval officer who commanded HMS Alert from 1857 to 1861, and after
whom
the Pearse Islands are named.1 He rose to become a
rear-admiral. Records have at least three different dates of birth for him, and even
his name
is somewhat unclear; his surname may have been Rombulow-Pearse or Rombulow Pearse.2
1. Walbran, John T., British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906: their origin and history; Ottawa, 1909 (republished for the Vancouver
Public Library by J.J. Douglas Ltd, Vancouver, 1971).