COWDRAY (OF MIDHURST), WEETMAN DICKINSON PEARSON, 1ST ...

born July 15, 1856, Shelley Woodhouse, Yorkshire, Eng. died May 1, 1927, Dunecht House, Aberdeen, Scot. also called (191017) Baron Cowdray Of Midhurst British engineer and a developer of the Mexican petroleum industry. At 19 Pearson became a partner in his family's contracting firm, the operation of which he extended to Spain and the United States. In December 1889 he went to Mexico, where he drained swamps; built railways, power lines, waterworks, and harbours; and acquired much oil-rich land. He began drilling to obtain fuel for his locomotives and in the first two decades of the 20th century secured control of the Mexican oil industry. His firm built the Blackwall Tunnel under the Thames River, London, and several railroad tunnels under the East River, New York City; enlarged the Dover (England) harbour; and in 1926 completed a large dam on the Blue Nile in The Sudan. Pearson was elected to Parliament in 1895, remaining a member for 15 years. He was created Baron Cowdray in 1910 and viscount in 1917.