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
Bernard Pears pear, but contrary to what some believe, there is no William Pear in our lineage." In 1952, together with his son Clive Pears, he founded the William Pears Group. Bernard Pears Bernard Pears was an Austrian-born British businessman, and the founder of the William Pears Group, one of Britain's largest property companies. He was born Bernard Schleicher, and emigrated from Austria to Hackney, London, and changed his surname to Pears. The change of surname took place on 8 November 1939, and he gave his address as 180 Fore Street, Edmonton, London. Pears started a greengrocer business in north London, which