Thomas Pearce (1820–1885) was an English clergyman, known under the pseudonym "Idstone" as an author on dogs.[1]
Life
He was born at
Hatford, the son of Francis Joseph Pearce, a clergyman who died when he was aged two, and his wife Mary Ann Rickards. He then moved to be with her, in
Leicestershire.[2][3]
Thomas Pearce matriculated at
Lincoln College, Oxford in June 1838, as did his elder brother Francis Joseph at
Exeter College. The family moved to Oxford at this period.[2][3][4] Thomas graduated B.A. in 1843, and M.A. in 1849.[2]
Ordained in the
Church of England in 1845, Pearce then held a number of curacies in southern England. He was in 1845 at
Goldenhill; in 1847 at
Highcliffe; in 1851 at
Waterperry; and in 1852 in
Sparsholt, which was at that time in Berkshire.[5]
Pearce became vicar of
Morden, Dorset in 1853. He was also rector of
Charborough from 1871. He died on 24 September 1885.[2] His interests including breeding champion
setters, shooting
snipe, and collecting birds.[3]
Works
Pearce wrote articles for The Field, from 1865.[6] His works included:[1]
The Dog: with directions for his treatment (1872)
The Idstone Papers (1872)
The compilation The Dogs of the British Islands (1866) was mostly from Pearce's work.[1] The pseudonym
Idstone, from a hamlet now in
Oxfordshire, is connected to Pearce family properties that lay in the civil parish of
Ashbury, Oxfordshire.[7] It was a pen name, published in lists of related sporting authors.[8]
Family
Pearce married on 14 July 1852 Fanny Georgina Blake. Her father
Charles Henry Blake (1794–1872), born in Calcutta and in early life an indigo planter, became a property speculator in London. They had three sons and a daughter:[5]
Evelyn Thomas (c.1855–1894), became an indigo planter in
Bihar, then a tea planter in Checher and
Sylhet.[5]
Ethel Katharine (1856–1940), who spent time a journalist, and is known as an authority on Dorset heathland flies, through her series of books Typical Flies of the 1920s illustrated with her own photographs.[12]