Sir Edwin Pears was born on March 18, 1835, in York, England.

He was a British barrister, author, and historian. He was educated privately and at the University of London. In 1870, he was called to the Bar at Middle Temple and began to practise as a barrister in London. He was also private secretary to Frederick Temple, Bishop of Exeter, and later Archbishop of Canterbury. He served as General Secretary of the Social Science Association (1868-1872) and the International Prison Congress (1872). In 1872, he became editor of the Law Magazine. In 1873, Pears settled in Constantinople, where he practiced in the consular courts and was president of the European bar. He travelled a lot through Turkish dominions, studying Turkish history and acquiring an intimate knowledge of the area. In 1876, as correspondent of The Daily News, he sent letters home describing Ottoman atrocities and the April Uprising in Bulgaria. In 1909, Pears was knighted in London. He was also Commander of the Order of Merit of Bulgaria and Knight of the Order of the Saviour of Greece. In 1916, Pears wrote “Forty Years in Constantinople”, a book that is regarded as essential reading for the study of the Ottoman constitutional revolution of 1908. He was the author of the books "Life of Abdul Hamid" (1917) and "Turkey and its People" (1911).

In 1857, he married Mary Hall. He died after an accident at sea in Malta on November 27, 1919.