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Josiah Pearson was baptized in 1842 in Derbyshire, England. He was educated at Chesterfield Grammar and later at St John's College, Cambridge. He received a Bachelor of Arts in 1864, a Master of Arts in 1867, a Master of Law in 1871, a Doctor of Law in 1877 and a Doctor of Divinity in 1880. Pearson was first made a deacon in 1865 and a priest in 1866. He served as vicar of Horningsea from 1871 to 1874 and as vicar of Newark from 1874 to 1880. Pearson was recognized at Cambridge as an outstanding intellectual and scholar. He lectured in Moral Science and preached regularly in the surrounding area. In 1879, Pearson was elected bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle and began his tenure in 1880. While Pearson won renown for his preaching and public addresses, especially to the Synod, and he ensured that the diocese remained popular and well respected, he struggled with the isolation and the financial burdens of the diocese. The failed investments of his predecessor, the bishop William tyrrell, had the diocese struggling to avoid insolvency. Pearson was also made uncomfortable by the relatively undeveloped infrastructure that he was confronted with, there was insufficient clergy, no great cathedrals and only scattered churches. As a result Pearson's health suffered and was unable to fulfill his duties. In 1886 Pearson suffered a severe mental breakdown and was forced to go on leave until he had recovered enough to be able to resign in 1889. In 1893 he was sufficiently recovered to accept the small parish of Leck in North Lancashire where he died in 1895.
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