Mary Pearson

Mary Pearson (née Dutton; 18 June 1798 – 15 April 1871) was an English portrait painter and the wife of the politician Charles Pearson, a Solicitor to the City of London known for his support to the construction of an underground railway during twenty years despite the mockeries of his contemporaries.

In 1862, as the Pearsons and engineer John Fowler were touring the construction site of the underground railway, the body of Robert Waugh was discovered in the trench. While Mary wished to suspend the dig for the morning to honor the dead, her husband sided with Cavanagh, a director of the Metropolitan Railway, who wanted to continue the work no matter what.