Talk:George Pearce (Queensland politician)

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Alive?

I can't find any reliable sources confirming that Pearce is still alive or turned 100. You would expect that these would exist given the unique nature of these achievements. However there don't appear to be any sources showing that he has died. It seems like a toss-up between him having died in obscurity at some unknown point in the past 50 years, or him living as some sort of recluse. Ivar the Boneful (talk) 11:42, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

(And when I say reliable sources, I exclude AustralianPolitics.com, which says that he is 100 and still alive.) Ivar the Boneful (talk) 11:44, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

Just had a look on Trove. It appears he was actually known as George Pearce, not Henry. Ivar the Boneful (talk) 11:49, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

Essentially you're correct, the source isn't the strongest and he could have passed in the meantime. Though my hunch is on living - the site in question hasn't been wrong to date as far as I can recall, and whilst it isn't rare for a historical MP who held office decades ago to die unnoticed, this generally only happens for those who only served for a couple of years at maximum. Pearce held his seat for 12 years. I would certainly expect something to be circulating online if he had died in the meantime.--Jkaharper (talk) 16:29, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

Just had a look in the Australian records. He was born 17 September 1917 in Queensland as "Henry George Pearce" (confirming info in article to be true) to George Henry Pearce and Sarah Rawkins. There is no record of death for such an individual, so unless he emigrated in the latter part of his life and died elsewhere, he's alive. --Jkaharper (talk) 16:31, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

Christopher Pyne congratulated him on his 100th birthday in the House last year. Frickeg (talk) 20:11, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

Hmm, I guess we should err on the side of life then. It's frustrating that no one's bothered interviewing him or anything. I might try and expand the article a bit at some point. I'll probably move it to George Pearce (Queensland politician) given that is what contemporary sources call him. Ivar the Boneful (talk) 12:00, 20 March 2018 (UTC)\

So I was looking through the Ryerson Index to see if there has been any entries for Henry George Pearce in the (admittedly extremely likely) event that he has passed on sometime in the last few decades. I found one entry of a Henry George Pearce who passed away on 23 May 1992 at the Chateau Nursing Home - the notice being published by the Courier Mail on the 1st of June. Frustratingly, no age was given, nor is there any other detail.... and no link to the original Courier Mail listing. It would be great to somehow find and take a look at the original Courier Mail death notice, and see if we can verify that this is the same Henry George Pearce and crucially find proof one way or another of whether or not Pearce is alive or deceased. Thescrubbythug (talk) 13:37, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Might be worth getting in touch with the Queensland Liberal party or even the Capricornia division, within their internal records, meeting minutes etc. they'd have the answer somewhere surely? --Jkaharper (talk) 13:55, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

His wife died in 1991. I believe the 1992 records should come out next year, so we could circle back then. Connormah (talk) 19:27, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Jkaharper, Ivar the Boneful, Thescrubbythug - it appears he is dead. I received the 1992 death notice from the Brisbane Library today [1] and it confirms that person's wife was Nell Graham, and that he had sons Gregory and Laurence (confirmed by a comment here, here and the handbook). Connormah (talk) 04:52, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Great detective work Connormah! Frickeg (talk) 07:44, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Brilliant work User:Connormah. Ivar the Boneful (talk) 10:45, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Fantastic work as always Connormah. Good to put another one of these mysteries to bed. One small issue – the imgur link you created for the newspaper article... it loads fine on my iPhone, but not on the Safari browser of my desktop computer. Anybody else facing the same problem? If it's just me we can afford to leave it. If it's affecting others we could move the newspaper clipping to another hosting service. Thanks again --Jkaharper (talk) 10:59, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Interesting - I wonder if it would be ok to upload it to Commons in that case, as it seems short enough to possibly be in the public domain. Anyways, just also noticed that the australianpolitics.com link above now included a disclaimer in which they believe Pearce is deceased. Yet 2 sitting Australian MPs wished him a happy 100th birthday, seemingly without confirming anything! Connormah (talk) 16:17, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Likely just my browser settings to be honest. Unless anyone else has the same issue I think the status quo will suffice. No harm in uploading it to Commons though if you wish! And yes, quite incredible and their personal tribute in the chamber was the reason I was convinced he was alive for so long. I understand why they've stumbled though. Birth and death details are known for every other Australian representative so any one missing a death date would be presumed living. Slipped through the gap. Unlikely to happen again in the modern age with mass media, social media etc. You never know though! Thanks again --Jkaharper (talk) 19:50, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Fantastic work Connormah, and glad to finally have this case settled. I suppose this confirms what I've suspected for years - that Bill Grayden is in fact the *sole* last surviving 49er, and the oldest living former MHR. Thescrubbythug (talk) 03:13, 25 February 2021 (UTC)