Sidney (sometimes Sydney) Herbert Pearce was the son of Robert Pearce and his wife Emma, born Fox. He trained as an assayer and chemist at Johnson & Sons, manufacturing chemists of London, and passed an examination as a metallurgist through study at the Polytechnic Institution, London. He came to the Witwatersrand in 1889 as chemist to the South African Metallurgical Company, but also practiced as a public assayer. In 1891 he joined the Nigel Gold Mining Company as assayer, and later became its cyanide manager. After occupying various other posts on the Witwatersrand he was appointed in 1897 as assistant chemist and metallurgist, later assistant consulting metallurgist, for H. Eckstein & Co., a post he retained for at least 10 years. On 10 December 1892 in Kroonstad he married Diana Elizabeth Maria Minter, with whom he had two children. After their divorce in 1908 he married Jane S. Peck.

Pearce was a member of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (London) and of the (British) Society for Chemical Industry. In April 1894 he became a foundation member, and later a life member, of the Chemical and Metallurgical Society of South Africa (from 1903 the Chemical, Metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa). He served on its first council (1894/5), then as honorary secretary (1895/6), as vice-president (1896/7), as an ordinary member of council again (1897-1903), and as president for 1903/4. The papers that he read before the society and that were published in either its Proceedings or Journal included "Some notes on mine surface sampling" (Proceedings, August 1899, Vol. 2, pp. 750-762); "Presidential address" (Journal, July 1903, Vol. 4, pp. 4-8); and "Computation of the crushing efficiency of tube mills" (with W.A. Caldecott*, Journal, 1906/7, Vol 7, pp. 72-).

As a co-author with J.G. Bousquet* and others, Pearce participated in writing a monograph, La cyanuration au Transvaal (Cyaniding in the Transvaal) for the Universal Exhibition of 1900 held in Paris by the Congress international des mines et de metallurgy. He was an examiner in treatment of minerals for the final mining examinations of the University of the Cape of Good Hope from 1902 to 1905. By 1903 he was a member of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science and at the joint meeting of the British and South African Associations, held in South Africa in 1905, read "Notes on economic problems in metallurgy on the Witwatersrand". The paper was included in the Addresses and papers... (Vol. 1, pp. 175-183) published after the meeting. In 1919 he represented the local branch of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (London) on a joint committee of technical societies, created to establish greater cooperation between the various scientific and technical societies of South Africa. He served also on the society's constitution sub-committee. The work of the joint committee led to the founding of the Associated Scientific and Technical Societies of South Africa the next year.

List of sources:
Addresses and papers read at the joint meeting of the British and South African Associations for the Advancement of Science held in South Africa, 1905 (Vol. 1). Johannesburg: SAAAS, 1906.

Chemical and Metallurgical Society of South Africa. Proceedings, 1894-1899, Vol. 1-2.

Chemical, Metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa. Proceedings, 1902-1903, Vol. 3; Journal, 1903-1907, Vol. 3-7.

Men of the times: Pioneers of the Transvaal and glimpses of South Africa. Johannesburg: Transvaal Publishing Company, 1905.

Minster Exchange. Family: Sidney Herbert Pearce. http://www.theminters.co.uk/familygroup.php?familyID=F630&tree=folkestone as on 8 April 2020.

National Archives Repository (TAB), Source MHG, Vol. 0, Ref. 65396: death notice, Sidney Herbert Pearce.

National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS). http://national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm Documents relating to Pearce, Sidney Herbert.

Orr, J. Presidential address. Associated Scientific and Technical Societies of South Africa, Annual Proceedings, 1938, pp. 15-86.

South African Association for the Advancement of Science. Report, 1903, 1905/6, lists of members.

South African bibliography to the year 1925. London: Mansell, 1979.

South African who's who, 1908, 1909.

University of the Cape of Good Hope. Calendar, 1902/3-1906/7.

Wills, W.H. The Anglo-African who's who and biographical sketch book. London: Upcott, 1910.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2025-08-28 10:21:21