Found by Ognyan Hristov and posted on the Artists of the First World War Facebook page on 3rd April 2026
Charles Pears was born in Pontefract, Yorkshire, UK on 9th September 1873. His parents were George W. Pears, a hosier and outfitter and his wife, Sarah M. Pears, who were both from Pontefract.Charles studied nearby at East Hardwick and Pomfret College, where he started a lifelong appreciation of Canaletto. Beginning in 1890, Charles worked as an illustrator throughout his career. His early illustrated works were included in msagazines – “The Yellow Book”, “Punch” and “The Graphic” and in the volume entitled “Salt-Water Poems and Ballads” by John Masefield.
Commissioned as an officer into the Royal Marines during the First World War, Charles also worked as an official War Artist during both the First and Second World Wars.
From 1913 to 1936, Pears was a prolific poster artist, working for London Underground. He also created posters for the Empire Marketing Board, the Metropolitan Railway, Southern Railway, London, Midland & Scottish Railway, London & North Eastern Railway and Great Western Railway and later created works for British Railways.
Charles moved to Saint Mawes, Cornwall in semi-retirement, and died in Truro on 28th January 1958. He is commemorated in an annual prize awarded by the Royal Society of Marine Artists, the Charles Pears Memorial Award
Sources: Wikipedia, Find my Past and https://www.facebook.com/groups/385353788875799
Illustration: Transporting the troops, 1917, lithographPlate 64 from the Transport by Sea set, in “The Great War: - Britain's Efforts and Ideals” series, commissioned by the British Department of Information; published by the Fine Arts Society, London, 1917:
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