Claim: Edward Charles Pearce served on the Shanghai Municipal Council, he was granted the Freedom of Shanghai and settled down in Europe.
Evidence: Sir Edward Charles Pearce was the Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council for 7 years, serving throughout World War I. For this service the Shanghai Ratepayers Meeting unanimously resolved that he be granted the Freedom of Shanghai, a unique distinction. He left Shanghai in 1922 and returned to England where he settled down near London in Little Portnall, Wentworth, Virginia Water.