A member of a Bermuda legal dynasty has died aged 79.

Richard Pearman, known as Dick, died at his home in Paget on Sunday night.

Mr Pearman, a partner at law firm Conyers, Dill & Pearman — retired in 2000 after more than 40 years at the firm his father, Sir James Pearman, helped to found.

Son Scott Pearman, a lawyer with the same firm, said: “As someone who did not like to fly, he spent more time that he would have wished on aeroplanes, travelling extensively across the globe to promote the interests of CD&P and Bermuda.

“Although he did not visit every country on the planet, he made it to a huge number of them, bringing with him considerable charm and a mischievous sense of humour.”

Mr Pearman acted for Hollywood stars Charlie Chaplin and Elizabeth Taylor, whose huge diamond collection he helped to insure, and met two American presidents, including Ronald Reagan.

He also worked in Hong Kong in the 1980s, helping to set up the CD&P’s first office in Asia and in the 1990s, spent time in London as the firm opened its office in the City of London.

Mr Pearman was also president of the Bermuda International Business Association, as well as a member of the Young Presidents Association International and the related organisation CEO.

Scott Pearman said: “His career paralleled a time of huge growth in the offshore world and the development of international business.”

Mr Pearman was educated at Saltus Grammar School, before moving to the English public school Stowe.

He won a Rhodes scholarship and studied at Merton College, Oxford, before becoming a barrister in Bermuda, joining CD&P with his older brother James.

Mr Pearman was also a keen sportsman — a member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in St Andrews, Scotland, the spiritual home of golf, he obtained the Island’s first Oxford Blue for golf while still in his first year at Oxford.

He represented Bermuda several times in the Eisenhower Cup, the world amateur golf championship, and once held the amateur record at the Open-standard Sunningdale Golf Club in England for combined low gross on both the Old Course and the New Course.

In his 30s, he took up croquet and was twice crowned US singles champion and was later admitted to the US Croquet Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

A member of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, he was a crew member on the record-breaking Nirvana when it was first across the line in the 1982 Newport to Bermuda Race.

He also served on many Bermuda charities, including the Masterworks Foundation.

Mr Pearman suffered a stroke in 1993, but recovered and continued to work. When he retired, he spent his time in Bermuda and at another home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Mr Pearman is survived by wife Jeannie, Scott Pearman and two stepchildren, Gigi Mortimer and Penn Newhard and by his first wife Louise Blake and their daughters Helen Orchard and Sally Clinton, as well as by 16 grandchildren.