William James (Royal Navy officer, born 1881) sat as a subject for several paintings by his grandfather, Millais. The most well-known of these is "Bubbles", in which the five-year-old William is shown gazing enraptured at a bubble he has just blown. When the painting was used in an advertisement for Pears soap, it became famous. The image dogged James throughout his life, and he was regularly nicknamed "Bubbles". James pursued a career in the Royal Navy, rising to hold a number of important positions. Following early service on the training ship HMS "Britannia", he was confirmed in the rank of sub-lieutenant on 15 April 1901. He was
Mark Pears in 1952, by his grandfather Bernard Pears (who changed his name from Schleicher on emigrating from Austria) and his father Clive Pears, and is run by Mark Pears with his younger brothers Trevor and David. Mark Pears has run the company since his father died in 1984, when he was aged 21. According to "The Daily Telegraph", Pears won't allow his photo to be taken, or say which of the 212 companies of which he is a director, a "complex labyrinth of operating and investment companies", is the main holding company or what the group's annual profit might be. In