William Pearce's Ancestors

William Pearce was an Inspector of Nuisances in Christchurch, New Zealand.  This blog details what I know about his ancestors.  Any help furthering my research would be much appreciated.

Henry Pearce (Abt. 1770  -  ?)

Henry Pearce is the furthest Pearce ancestor we have traced back to, as Pearce is a very common name.  All we know about him was that he was a gardener.  He had a son Henry in Lewisham, Kent,  or Kennington, Surrey, England depending which census record you look at.

Henry Pearce (Abt. 1802  -  bet. 1871-1881)

Henry Pearce was named as a Porter, when his son William Pearce was christened on 9 March 1831.  Later, Henry Pearce was a wine cooper (maker of wine barrels), who was born in Lewisham, Kent or Kennington, Surrey around 1802 depending which census record you look at.  He married Mary Lowe (daughter of William Lowe, carrier) on 23-12-1832 in Saint Giles, Camberwell, Surrey, England and had the following three children that we know of:

William Pearce (12-02-1831  -  27-08-1900) born in City, Middlesex

Emma Pearce (abt. 1833  -  ?)

James Pearce (abt. 1836  -  ?) born in Southwark, Surrey

It looks like Henry and Mary had William out of wedlock and then married when he was ten months old.  In the 1851 census Henry is living with his three children and sister-in-law Louisa Lowe (who was possibly looking after the children for him after Mary died somewhere between 1836 and 1841).  William was listed as a Barrister’s Clerk and James as a Solicitor’s Clerk.  Emma had either died, or married and left home.  No trace of James Pearce can be found after the 1851 census.

Henry eventually married Louisa Lowe on 24-07-1854 at St Saviours, Southwark, Surrey where he was named as a cellarman.  Louisa was born in Felstead, Essex, another daughter of William Lowe.