List of Clarke Descendants

Thomas Plummer CLARKE (1840-1905)

Thomas Plummer CLARKE b 21 Apr 1840 (England) d 16 Oct 1905 (Waihi, NZ) m 01 Jan 1865 (St George’s, Bolton) Frances STELFOX b 1847 d 07 Dec 1924 (Waihi, NZ).

Thomas Plummer Clarke (1840-1905) was born on 21 April 1840 in England and died age 65 years on16 October 1905 at Waihi on the Coromandel Peninsular, New Zealand. He was the older of 2 children from his father’s second marriage; little is known about his younger sister Sarah. His father, William Clarke (1794-1846), first wed a Mary Milnes (?Mimes) and the marriage produced three children: John Mimes Clarke (1815-1864), Sarah Clarke born 1819 and William Clarke born1824 (it seems that he had a half sister called Sarah as well as a younger sister by the same name).

Following the death of his first wife, Mary Clarke, William married Ann Plummer. However, when William died in 1846, Thomas Plummer Clarke was only a young child and his mother, Ann Clarke, married John Irving, a teacher and lay preacher. No children seem to have been born from this marriage, but John Irving encouraged Thomas Plummer Clarke’s education and also paid for his step-son’s apprenticeship at Bolton.

On 01 January 1865, at St Georges Church, Bolton, Thomas Plummer Clarke married Frances Stelfox. Frances was born in Cheshire in 1847 and died at Waihi, New Zealand on 07 December 1924. Frances came from a rather less complex family. She was the 9th child in a family of ten. Her parents were George Stelfox (1797-1872) and Elizabeth Ray (1808-1858) who were married  on 03 July 1825 in Cheshire, at St Helen’s Church, Witton, Northwich.

When Frances and Thomas Plummer Clarke married in Bolton it was the beginning of a life of travel for them both. Between 1865 and 1885 they lived mostly in Russia. Then, because of disturbances in Russia in the 1880’s, Thomas Plummer  decided to leave with his family for New Zealand. The choice of country was dictated by the fact that their eldest son Ivan had come to an understanding with an Elizabeth Alice Davenport whose parents had gone to New Zealand in 1884. However it was another 4 years before Ivan and Alice were married in Sydney.

Thomas Plummer Clarke and his second son Alfred arrived at Auckland in July 1885 on the Te Anau. Frances, his wife, and the other eight children arrived in January 1886 by the SS Kaikoura at Port Chalmers before trans-shipping to Auckland. It is possible that some other relations traveled with them or arrived shortly afterwards. There are records of a Mary Clarke living with Alfred Clarke at Otahuhu who may have been Thomas Plummer Clarke’s niece, the daughter of his half brother John M Clarke. Frances and Thomas Plummer settled first at Avondale and then shifted to Onehunga where a number of the children attended Onehunga Primary School. At Onehunga, the family lived first in Norman’s Hill Road and then at Beach Road. During this period Thomas Plummer owned the Onehunga Kauri Timber Mill. Fred Clarke, who died in 1999, remembered his uncles talking about working with Kauri logs both at Auckland and Whangarei. Thomas Plummer Clarke also owned a farm at Huia at one stage.

About October 1894 Thomas Plummer Clarke and Frances and their unmarried children went to live at Waihi when Thomas Plummer took up his duties as manager of the Number 2 Battery of the Martha Gold Mine. There are photos in existence of their home in Clarke Street, Waihi. For some years, the spelling of the road was given as “Clark Street” but, following efforts in the 1980’s by Clarke descendants, Vaudine Barnes and Sandra Clarke, the “e” was returned, and the latest (2010) Google Earth image gives the name as “Clarke Street”.

Waihi has both happy and sad memories for descendants of Thomas Plummer and Frances Clarke. Grandchildren Tony and Sandra Clarke were taken once a year by their father Frank Clarke to visit Uncle Tom in his retirement cottage at Waihi Beach, and both descendents of Alfred Clarke also remember that, as children, they traveled from Auckland to spend holidays at Waihi beach with Uncle Tom. Thomas Plummer and Frances Clarke were buried at Waihi Cemetery, as was their unmarried son Thomas Clarke (1872-1957).

The nine children of Thomas Plummer and Frances Clarke are listed below, and then are separately described in greater detail, together with a list of some of their descendants.

References:

Barnes, Vaudine (1995). “Frances Clarke nee Stelfox (1847-1924): Raising a Family in Russia and New Zealand” – A Research Essay, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Barnes, Vaudine (1995). “Frodsham to New Zealand via Russia: Thomas Plummer Clarke a Victorian Engineer (1840-1905)”. Frodsham Local History Society Journal pp9-11.

Barnes, Vaudine (2002). “A Victorian engineer” The New Zealand Genealogist Vol. 33, no 278, Nov/Dec 2002, pp393-395.

Cyclopedia of New Zealand 1902-Vol. 2 Auckland Province and District. A profile of Thomas Plummer Clarke, p504.

Hudson, Douglas Russell (2008) "The Holes Was Eaten By Rats”. My English & Irish ancestors were early settlers in Australia & New Zealand and included families Hudson, Goddard, Askew, Dunstan, Bolitho, Clarke, Stelfox, Douglas and Cuttle. Link to Clarke Family Page: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~russellhudson/clarke.htm

Link to William George Clarke (1878-1941): http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~russellhudson/cla-wgclarke.htm

Ivan CLARKE (1866-1909)

Ivan CLARKE b 30 Nov 1866 (Yaroslav, Russia) d 10 Jul 1909 (Auckland, NZ) m 20 Aug 1890 (St Silas, Waterloo, Sydney) Elizabeth Alice DAVENPORT b 26 Sep 1865 (Bolton, England) d 11 Mar 1951 (Auckland, NZ).

Ivan Clarke was the eldest child of Thomas Plummer and Frances Clarke and was born on 30 November 1866 at Yaroslav, Russia. He was baptised in Britain when his parents returned to live there for a short period. Ivan was sent back to England for schooling from the age of seven and after leaving school, took some exams administered by the Department of Science and Education. He trained first at Bolton as a civil engineer, passing Stage 1 Magnetism and Electricity on the 14th May 1884. More importantly, he also became friendly with Alice Davenport, whose parents and brother were moving to New Zealand.

The combination of political uncertainty in Russia and new opportunities in the Southern Hemisphere encouraged the Clarke family to move to New Zealand and settle in the same city as Ivan’s future in-laws. Thomas Plummer Clarke and his second son Alfred arrived in July 1885 and Ivan traveled with his mother and the other children on the SS Kaikoura to Port Chalmers, arriving at Auckland on the SS Hawea in January 1886. Ivan’s diary records that Alice Davenport left Bolton for NZ in January 1885 and that Ivan and his family left London 10 months later on the 19th November 1885. Ivan and two of his younger brothers presumably worked with their father at the Onehunga Timber Mill which their father had bought in 1886 and then sold to the Kauri Timber Company in 1888. The mill was closed in 1906. Also about this period, some of the Clarke brothers played rugby in the Ngapuhi Football Club.

In May 1890, Ivan sailed for Sydney to a new job with the Otis Elevator Company and few months later on 20 Aug 1890, he married Elizabeth Alice “Alice” Davenport at St Silas, Waterloo, Sydney.

Alice, his friend from Bolton, was born on 26 Sept 1865 at Bolton, England and died on11 March 1951 at Auckland. Between 1891and 1893 they lived at 119 Beattie Street, Balmain and then, in 1893, at 33 Thomley Street, Drummoyne. During this period 2 children were born. Sometime between 1895 and 1899 the family returned to Auckland to live at 99 Lincoln Street, Ponsonby (on the corner of Oliphant Street at the bend of Richmond Road) until shifting, finally, to 62/174 Gilllies Avenue. This later house was removed in 1993 and replaced with townhouses.

Unfortunately Ivan did not keep good health. In his later years he worked as a cabinet maker, possibly in the Davenport Furniture factory, and some beautiful pieces of furniture are still held by the family. As well as the furniture factory, the Davenports maintained a retail shop in Karangahape Road, which continued in existence till 1954.

Ivan died age 42 years on 10 July 1909 at Auckland, leaving his widow Alice with 5 children, the youngest only 4 years old. His eldest daughter Bertha had died 18 months earlier.

Descendants:

Alice Bertha Clarke (1891-1907)

Jessie Inez Clarke (1893-1977) m Ernest Robert Glass

            Ian Davenport Glass (1925—1969)

            William Ivan Glass m1 Barbara Fahey - 4 children

                        m2 Valerie McCauley -l child

                        m3 Alison McGregor -l child

            Prudence Elizabeth Glass m1 Stephen Hanbury Sparrow (1928-2006) - 3 children

                        m2 Stephen Dewdney Golledge

Marcus Davenport Clarke (1899-1974) m Bessie Emma May Gayton

            Ann Patricia Clarke m James Charles Thornton - 4 children

            Frances Winifred Clarke ml Henry John Coventry (1932-2006) - 5 children

                        m2 Frederic James Conolly

Mercia Marguerite Clarke (1899-1987) m Lewis Agassiz Barnes

            Vaudine Marguerite Barnes (1929-2006)

            Mercia Annette Barnes (1930-1995)

            Paul Agassiz Davenport Barnes m Irene Yvonne Lapthorn - 3 children

Francis Ivan Clarke (1901-1968) m Margaret Ada Forbes Mowat

            Anthony Ivan Clarke (1935-2004) m Ruth Shirley Gain - 3 children

            Sandra Stelfoxe Clarke

Eric Stelfoxe Clarke (1905-1943) m Esther Maureen Law

            Rosanne Erica Clarke m Graham Ward - l child

References:

Glass, Bill.                    Inez 1985

Glass, Bill                     Bob. 1986

Glass, Bill                     From Inez to Bob. 1988

Glass, Bill                     Matthew. 1989

Thornton, Ann.             Bessie Emma May Gayton (28/7/1911-8/02/1944)

Marcus Davenport Clarke (12/11/1894-2/05/ 1974. 2003)

Jessie Ann CLARKE (1868-1920)

Jessie Ann CLARKE b Jan 1868 (Northwich, Cheshire, UK) d 23 Jun 1920 (Fort McCoy, Florida, US).

Jessie Ann Clarke was born in January 1868 at Witton, Northwich in Cheshire, U.K. She was the only member of the family born in England, when her parents had returned home after the first term of work for Thomas Plummer Clarke in Russia. She and her brother Ivan, who was born in Russia, were baptised at St Helen’s Church in Witton, Northwich on 02 Feb 1868. Subsequently, her parents returned to Russia and Jess was educated by a German governess. Jess was 18 when the family arrived in New Zealand and for the first few years she helped her mother establish their home at Avondale, then at Onehunga. In Russia, there had been both a cook and a governess to help in the home, so it would take some time for the family to adjust to the new style of living. However, Jess had decided to train as a nurse and also to travel, so on the 1st of January 1891 she began her training as a probationary nurse at Auckland Hospital; she remained there until the14th May 1895, when she left to join her family who were then living at Waihi. There she practised her new-found profession for four years. During her time at Auckland Hospital, she was able to take time to go to Sydney and be with her sister-in-law Alice at the birth of the second child, Jessie Inez, on the 12th March 1893. The year 1899 brought many changes for the family. Jess’s elder brother Ivan and his wife Alice and their two children returned from Sydney. In April, two of her brothers, Alfred and Ernest, were married in Auckland and in November Ivan’s wife had twins. On Christmas Eve of that year, Jess left for Sydney on her way to England to enlist with the English nurses going to the Boer War. Her brother William had enlisted and another brother, Robert, was also about to leave New Zealand, never to return.

Between 1900 and May 1902 Jess was in South Africa and then in England as a military nurse. A letter written to her parents on the 15th March 1901 from Ladysmith, just after the Battle of Mafeking, is still held by the family. Later, after the war, Jess returned to NZ to nurse at Waihi for a while before setting off once again on her travels, visiting her sister in Sydney before going to Britain, France and finally settling in USA where she remained till she died, age 52 years, on 23 June 1920 at Fort McCoy, Florida, USA. . Between at least 1920 and 1928 her brother Robert was also in the USA.

A bible presented to her in South Africa, written in Afrikaans, is held by Kate’s descendants in Sydney. Jess never married.

References:

1. Brown, M, Masters, D, Smith,M Nurses of Auckland. 1994

2. Kendall, S and Corbett, D New Zealand Military Nursing. 1990

Letters:

Jessie Clarke                16 March 1901 from Ladysmith

                                    20 March 1914 from Walla Walla Washington

                                    18 April 1914? Ditto

Mrs S.M. Gray             20 July 1990 to Vaudine Barnes. Research on J.A.Clarke deposited in Auckland Museum archives.

Alfred CLARKE (1869-1944)

Alfred CLARKE b 10/22 Dec 1869 (Russia) d 30 Jan 1944  (Auckland, NZ) m 02 April 1899 (Onehunga, NZ)  Maud BLACKBURN b 1877 d 15 May 1960 .

Alfred Clarke was born at Teikoro, near Moscow in Russia on 10/22 December 1869 and was baptised at the Anglican Church at Moscow in March 1871.

Alfred was, like his brothers, sent to England for schooling from Russia. When the family shifted to New Zealand it was Alfred who traveled with his father in advance of his mother and the other children. They arrived in Auckland on the 14th July 1885 on the Te Anau from Sydney. In January 1886, the rest of the family reached Auckland and they lived briefly at Avondale before shifting to Onehunga, close to where Alfred remained for the rest of his life. His final address was 377 Great South Road, Otahuhu.

Alfred worked for his father at the Onehunga Timber Mill and subsequently trained as an engineer. He was a very proud of being the engineer on the SS Takapuna (93O tons). This ship was built in 1883 by Barrow Shipbuilding Company for the Union Steam Ship Co. She carried 200 passengers and until 1908 ran a fast mail and passenger service between Onehunga and Lyttelton, with a 2 hour call at Wellington and 1 hour call at New Plymouth. She was in fact the first inter-island ferry and ceased to run the service only when the main trunk railway line reached Wellington from Auckland in 1908. After his retirement from the Union Company, Alfred used his engineer’s certificate to run the local engine at Westfield Freezing Works.

On 02 April 1899 at Onehunga, Alfred married Maud Blackburn (1877-15 May 1960). Maud was the grand-daughter of William and Charlotte Blackburn who came to NZ in 1849 on the Berhampore to the Auckland Fencible settlements (four small towns were established near Auckland in the 1840’s for “Fencibles”, retired soldiers who had enlisted to serve for seven years in exchange for land and a house). Her father Richard also worked in the Union Steam Ship Co.

Three of Alfred’s five children lived to be adults and his son, Fred lived till 1999 at Auckland. Vaudine Barnes, Tony Clarke and wife Ruth attended Fred Clarke’s funeral in Auckland and met many second cousins including Norval Winchester who was said to have “looked just like Grace Clarke/Baird”, the Western Australian born daughter of William George Clarke.

Alfred died at Auckland on 30 Jan 1944 aged 74 years.

Descendants:

Thomas Percival Clarke (1899-2 1 May 1983) m Bertha Marguerite Irvine (Rita)

            Theo Percival Clarke m1 Dorothy Rose Smith — 2 children

                        m2 Judith Ann Williams —2 children (1 son)

            Beverly Dawn Clarke m H.G.R.Todd —5 children

            Lola Valma Clarke m C.E.Wilkie — 6 children

            Bertha Maureen Clarke m E.D.Roe —7 children

            Raymond Francis Clarke m Barbara Joan Tunnicliffe — 3 children (2 sons)

            Trevor Gregory Clarke m Pamela Isobel Dye — 1 daughter

Leila May Clarke (190 1-1906)

Edith Frances Clarke (1904-1987/8?) m Gerald Francis Walsh

            Ann Walsh m R.E. Travena — 6 children

            Morval Marie Walsh m J.G.C. Winchester — 4 children

Raymond Stelfoxe Clarke (1907-1908)

Frederick George Clarke (1910- 8th Dec 1999) m Morval Marie Richards

            Raewyn Frances Clarke m B. J. Cornwall —3 children

            Russell James Clarke m Wendy Dawn Williams —2 daughters

Reference:

McLauchlan, G. (1987) “The Line That Dared”.

Thomas CLARKE (1872-1957)

Thomas CLARKE b 20Dec/01 Jan 1872 (Russia) d 04 June 1957 (Waihi, NZ)

Thomas was born in Russia on 20 December/01 January 1872 and was baptised at the Anglican Church in Moscow in July 1872. Like his elder brothers, probably at the age of seven, Thomas was sent back to England to attend school. By the time the family reached NZ he was 14. Like Ivan and Alfred, his elder brothers, he worked at the Onchunga Timber Mill owned by his father.

It seems as though he went to Waihi with his parents in 1894. He may have spent some time managing flax mills in the Bay of Plenty. Tom trained as an assayer at the Waihi School of Mines which opened with 60 students in 1897. He appears in a group photo of the staff and students of the School of Mines (undated) in J.B. MacAra’s book. He was employed at the Martha Mine as a metallurgist for the rest of his working life. He lived with his parents at Clarke Street, Waihi until his mother died in 1924. He then was the “live-in” caretaker at the Bank of New Zealand until his retirement, when he went to live at Waihi Beach.

Tom was a keen sportsman and fisherman and was a foundation member of the Waihi Golf Club. He was also a frequent visitor to 62 Gillies Avenue in the years prior to his mother’s death, when he escorted her to Auckland to see the Ivan Clarkes. He had a lot to do with his brother Alf and his grandchildren, who delighted in spending their Christmas holidays at his house at Waihi Beach.

Tom never married. He died on 04 June 1957 age 85 at Waihi, New Zealand

Reference:

MacAra, J.B. (1978) “Gold Mining of Waihi”, 1878-1952.

Kate CLARKE (1873-1954)

Kate CLARKE b 20 Sept/2 Oct 1873 -possibly 27 Aug-1873 (Russia) d 1954 (Sydney ,NSW) m 09 Aug 1900 (St Mark’s, Darling Point, Sydney)  George Murchison MACKENZIE b 1869 d 1959?

Kate Clarke was born at Teikoro in Russia on 20 September/02 October 1873 (possibly 27 August 1873) and was baptised at the Anglican Church in Moscow in April 1874. While in Russia she was taught by a German governess and, of course, learnt to speak Russian. She returned to England for some schooling as well. She was twelve when the family arrived in New Zealand. After a few months at Avondale School, she was enrolled at Onehunga Primary School which she attended till 04 August 1890, when she was aged 17. It is possible that she then went to live in Sydney with her eldest brother Ivan who married on the 20 August 1890 at Sydney.

Subsequently she met George Murchison Mackenzie (1869-?1959) and they were married on 09 August 1900 at St Mark’s, Darling Point, Sydney. George Mackenzie was a business man whose forbears had lived for some generations near Milsons Point. George was the 7th of 14 children. His father, William Henry Mackenzie, was born on 03 April 1833 (and worked) at the Bank of Australia, George Street, Sydney. On 24 February 1854, William married Marianne Mackenzie Murchison who was born on 24 February 1837 at Taradale Station, Goulbourn.

Kate Clarke and husband George had three children and she spent the rest of her life in Australia except for regular visits to Tails, her sister in Auckland. By 1993, four generations of her family had been married at St Mark’s Church and many descendants live in the Sydney area. Her grandson, Donald Mackenzie of Chatswood, North Sydney, holds the Afrikaans bible given to Jessie Clarke during her service as a military nurse at the Boer War.

Kate Clarke/Mackenzie died at Sydney, NSW in1954 at the age 81.

Descendants:

Joyce Murchison Mackenzie (1901 -1960s), m 24 June 1924 Robert Stanley Bowman

            Mackenzie Bowman b1925

            B. Robert Bowman b1927

Jean Murchison Mackenzie (1904-1988), m 22 October 1935 at St Marks, Sydney Mark Elmer Tregarthen

            Hugh Manning Tregarthen m Frances Balfour - 3 daughters

Roy Murchison Mackenzie (14 August l905-1977 at Port Macquarie) m 9th March 1932 Muriel Hargrave Fleming d1967 at Neutral Bay, NSW

Barbara Murchison Mackenzie b 2 Aug 1934 m1 Harry Robert James- 2 children

            m 2 Edward John Munday - 3 sons

            Ian Murchison Mackenzie b19 Jul1936 m Heather Troup —1 son

            Donald Murchison Mackenzie b.5 Sept 1940 — 0 children

Reference:

Bickel, Leonard. “Australia’s First Lady”. Reference to the marriage of Mary Isabella Macarthur and James Bowman, surgeon.

References:

E-Mail of 26/06/2005 from B.M. Mackenzie to V.M. Barnes. Barbara Mackenzie was living in Melbourne in 2007.

Ernest CLARKE (1875-1933)

Ernest CLARKE b 15/27 July 1875 (Russia) d 03 Feb 1933 (Auckland, NZ) m 05 April 1899 (All Saint’s, Howick ) Grace ROBERTS b 1873? d 19 Nov 1964

Ernest Clarke was born on 15/27 July 1875 in Russia near Vorozneh (this is the nearest large town to Losevo which, in turn, is quite a distance from Moscow. He was baptised in the Anglican Church at Moscow in April 1876. He was 10 when the family arrived in New Zealand and presumably, like his brothers, had some schooling in England. After a few months at Avondale School he was enrolled in September 1886 at Onehunga Primary School, where he remained till the end of the following year. Between 1888 and 1889 he went to Auckland Grammar School.

Ernest then joined the Railways Department as a cadet and between 1916 and 1924 he held positions at Auckland, Taumarunui, Ohakune, Palmerston North and Wellington. From 1925 to 1828 he was Stationmaster at Frankton in Hamilton.

On 05 April 1899, at All Saint’s, Howick, he married Grace Roberts (?1873-19 November 1964). Ernest and Grace had only one daughter, who died young.

Ernest resigned from the railways due to ill health and a few years later he died age 57 years in Auckland, on 03 February 1933.

Descendants:

            One daughter who died young.

Robert CLARKE (1877-?)

Robert CLARKE b 28th Jun 1877 d ? m Blanche A

Robert Clarke was born on 28 June/10 July 1877 in Losevo near Moscow, Russia. He was baptised at the Anglican Church in Moscow in 1878. When the family arrived in NZ he was 8 years old. He spent a few months at Avondale School and then in September 1886 was enrolled at the Onehunga Primary School and remained there till February 1890. He obtained a scholarship to Auckland Grammar School which he attended between 1890 and 1892. After school he did three years bush work then he spent two years studying at the Thames School of Mines.

In 1897, he received his certificate as a battery superintendent and also as an assayer of bullion for the Customs Department. In 1899, he was battery superintendent at the Waitekauri Battery.

Robert Clarke left New Zealand in November 1899 for Western Australia and he never came back. When his brother “Willie” (William George Clarke) returned from the Boer War he went to join Robert near Coolgardie in Western Australia. Unfortunately the two brothers were attracted to with the same young woman, a schoolteacher at the gold-mining town of Burbanks, to the south of Coolgardie. Robert left Western Australia for the USA about the same time as his brother William George married the teacher (Elizabeth Annie Douglas)on 28 December 1905.

Robert was living at Denver Colorado between at least 1920 and 1928. A letter written in 1920 indicates he had married and had a daughter by that date. No further information on him has been found. His last known address was: Robert Clarke, Mining Engineer, 911 Foster Building, Denver Colorado, USA.

Descendants:

Beverly Clarke b. possibly 10/7/19 17; a daughter.

References:

NZ Mines Record v2, No6, 16 January, 1899, p240 - Robert Clarke appointed battery superintendent of a 40 stamp mill at Waitekauri

NZ Mines Record 1899-1900, 16 August16, 1899, p28 - Robert Clarke appointed assayer of gold.

Cyclopedia of New Zealand (1902), Vo1. 2, p498

Letter dated 22 July 1920 by Robert Clarke from Denver, USA concerning Jessie Clarke’s death at Fort McCoy, Florida, USA.

William George CLARKE (1878-1941)

William George CLARKE b12 Dec 1878 (Russia) d 09 Mar 1941 (Perth, WA) m 28 Dec 1905 (Coolgardie, WA) Elizabeth Annie DOUGLAS b 01 Feb 1882 (Dunedin, NZ) d 23 May 1943

William George Clarke was born on 30 November/12 December 1878 in Vyazniki in the district of Vladimir in Russia and was baptised in the Anglican Church, Moscow on 09/21 February 1879. He was the 8th child in the family of 9 and was aged 7 years when the family arrived in Auckland. He had his birthday just before arriving at Port Chalmers and started his formal schooling when he was enrolled at Onehunga Primary School on the 1st September 1886. He remained there till December 1891 and the next year became a pupil at Auckland Grammar School. He left Auckland Grammar during Term 3 1894, presumably when the family shifted to Waihi.

After leaving school he trained as an assayer, possibly at the Thames School of Mines.

Between 31 March 1900 and 16th July 1901 he saw service at the Boer War as a Sergeant in the Artillery Section of No 11 Company of the NZ Fifth Contingent. His elder sister, Jessie, also served in South Africa as a nurse. William returned to New Zealand from South Africa by the Tagus to Dunedin on 11 July 1901. He was discharged on completion of his term of service on 11 August 1901.

Following his return to New Zealand, William George decided to join his brother Robert, a mining engineer, in the rapidly-growing and prosperous Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. It is believed they spent time in the goldfields near Leonora, to the north of Kalgoorlie, but by 1904 both Robert and William George were employed at the King Soloman Gold Mine, near Coolgardie. In 1905, William George was appointed metallurgist on the Burbanks Main Lode, several kilometers to the south of Coolgardie.

Elizabeth Annie Douglas was born at Dunedin, New Zealand on 01 February l882 and came to Australia with her parents and brother in the 1890’s. The family settled briefly in Parramatta, NSW before moving to Western Australia, where Elizabeth Annie studied as a teacher before being appointed to Burbanks School. She married William George Clarke in Coolgardie on 28 December 1905. Their four children, three girls and one boy, were all born at Burbanks during the period 1905-1914, whilst he was metallurgist at the “Main Lode”. His major hobbies at the time were rifle shooting and gold prospecting.

Following diminishing gold returns from the “Main Lode”, William George and his family moved to Kalgoorlie, where he served as a metallurgist at the Ivanhoe and Boulder Perseverance Mines before being appointed in 1928 as research metallurgist at the Kalgoorlie (now WA) School of Mines. Here he worked on a number of problems facing the minerals industry, but in particular made a significant contribution to the development of flotation techniques for the recovery of gold from refractory ores.

The Clarke family lived at 96 Piccadilly Street, Kalgoorlie. William George continued his rifle shooting interests and was president of the Eastern Goldfields District Rifle Club and captain of the State team which defeated the British team in 1938. He was on the executive of the National Rifle Association, President of the South African Veteran’s Association, and served on the Kalgoorlie Municipal Council within the period 1922-1926. His service at the School of Mines was recognized in the 1980’s by the creation of the William Clarke Scholarship in Extractive Metallurgy.

After a period of illness, he retired from the School of Mines about December 1940 and he died soon after in Perth on 04 March 1941 at the age of 62 years. He was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery. His wife, Elizabeth Annie continued to live in Kalgoorlie until she too became unwell and she later died (23 May 1943) and was buried in Bunbury, Western Australia.

Descendants:

Frieda Frances Clarke (1907-1981) m Robert Charles Goodacre

            Margaret Elizabeth Goodacre m M.H.E. Pinchback - 4 children

Joyce Elizabeth Clarke (1909-1984) m William Russell Hudson

            Douglas Russell Hudson m Jennifer Elizabeth.Baldwin - 3 children

            John William Hudson m Maxine K.Turton - 3 children

            Geoffrey Robert Thomas Hudson m J.Nicole Wilkins - 4 children

Grace Clarke (1911-2004?) m Keith Hugh Baird

            Susan Jennifer Baird m C.H. Watkins - 4 children

            Barbara Anne Baird 0 children

            Leslie Allison Baird m J. Harrison 0 children

            Peter David Baird m Christine Kerr - 2 children

Robert Douglas (Tim) Clarke (1913-1942) m Billie Thompson - ?children

References:

“Kalgoorlie Miner” Newspaper (1941). W.G. Clarke obituary.

Hudson, Douglas Russell (1987). William George Clarke (1978-1941). Feature article in “85 Years”, the anniversary magazine of the W.A. School of Mines, Curtin University of Technology, pp91-92.

Hudson, Douglas Russell (2008) "The Holes Was Eaten By Rats”. My English & Irish ancestors were early settlers in Australia & New Zealand and included families Hudson, Goddard, Askew, Dunstan, Bolitho, Clarke, Stelfox, Douglas and Cuttle. Link to William George Clarke (1878-1941): http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~russellhudson/cla-wgclarke.htm

Frances Ray CLARKE (1880-1957)

Frances Ray CLARKE b 3/15 Aug 1880 (Russia)  d 1963 (Auckland, NZ) m Percy Maximilian THOMSON b 1872 (Auckland, NZ) d 04 July 1957 (Auckland, NZ).

Frances Ray Clarke, or "Tatts" as she was known in the family ("Tatts", short for Tatiana or Tatyana), was five when she arrived in New Zealand. She was born in Losevo, Russia on 03/15 August 1880 and baptised at the Anglican Church at Moscow, like most of her brothers and sisters.

In New Zealand, the family lived for a few months at Avondale and then shifted, first to Normans Hill Road and then to Beach Road, Onehunga. Her sister Kate and three brothers, Ernest, Bob and Willie were enrolled at the Onehunga School on 01 September 1886 but Tatts did not start school till 25 October. At that time, five of the Clarke children were pupils at the school, and the school roll was about 70. Tatts remained at the same school till 16 October 1894, except for a break in 1890 when she was away for 6 weeks in September and October. Her eldest brother Ivan had been married in Sydney in August 1890, so it was possible that the Clarke parents and some of their children went to visit the newly-weds in Sydney shortly after their marriage and took Tatts out of school for 6 weeks for the visit.

On the 16 October 1894, Tatts was taken out of Onehunga school and shortly afterwards her parents left Auckland to live in Waihi, where her father, Thomas Plummer Clarke, had become Manager of the Number 2 Battery at the Martha Gold Mine.

Tatts married her husband, Percy Maximilian Thomson, on 28th August 1907 at St John’s Waihi. The Thomsons were connected to the English Quaker family called Gurney - a well known banking and insurance family. Percy was born in Auckland in 1872 and was a share-broker but later managed an insurance company. He died in Auckland on 04 July 1957.

Tatts’ father, Thomas Plummer Clarke, died about two years before Tatts’ wedding, leaving her mother, Frances, living with only the single brother, Tom, at Waihi.

In 1910 Tatts’ first child Ray was born and two years later her son Bruce. In the later part of their life the family lived at Remuera. Tatts saw a lot of her sister Kate Mackenzie, who had married and settled in Sydney in 1900. Tatts’ son-in-law, Alan Harper, died suddenly in 1953 at Wanganui and almost 12 months later Ray died, leaving two young sons to be brought up by their uncle Bruce with his own three children. Alan Harper had been the Manager of DIC in Wanganui at the time of his death.

Tatts died in Auckland in 1963 at the age of ~83 years. Most of Tatts’ grandchildren still live in the Auckland area.

Descendants:

Ray Gurney Thomson (1910-1954) m Allan Raymond Harper

            Christopher Harper

            John Harper

Bruce Gurney Thomson (1912- 1998?) m Mary Hughlings Jackson

            Michael Bruce Gurney Thomson m Wendy - some children

            Susan Hughlings Thomson - 0 children

            Guy William Gurney Thomson

Reference:

New Zealand Graphic, 07 September 1907 p50. Wedding: Thomson-Clarke.

Clarke Family Photographs from Russia, New Zealand and Australia

Thomas Plummer Clarke and Frances Stelfox/Clarke photographed in Russia about 1875. (Cla-fam-106; source via Vaudine Barnes from Bruce Thomson ).

Frances Stelfox/Clarke as a young bride in Russia . (Cla-fam-103; photo source Andrew Preston and Vaudine Barnes).

Frances Stelfox/Clarke photographed in Russia. (Cla-fam-102; photocopy of original sent by Mercia Barnes). 

The young Clarke family photographed in Bolton, England about 1885, prior to their departure for New Zealand. Back row, from left: Ernest, Tom, Alfred, Frances and Jessie. Front row, from left: Kate, Robert and William.

(Cla-fam-108; from Vaudine Barnes; original photo Morval Clarke).

A young Ivan Clarke photographed in Moscow, Russia. (Cla-fam-109; from a photocopy of an original sent by Mercia Barnes)

Ivan Clarke photographed in Bolton, England where he trained as an engineer. (Cla-fam-105; from a photocopy sent by Mercia Barnes).

Grandchildren of Ivan Clarke. Back row, from left: Paul Barnes, Tony Clarke, Sandra Clarke and Bill Glass. Front row, Pru Glass/College, Mercia Barnes, Vaudine Barnes, Frances Clarke/Coventry and Ann Clarke/Thornton. (Cla-fam-121; photocopy of an original from Sandra Clarke).

Grandchildren of Ivan Clarke. From left:  Sandra Clarke, Rosanne Clarke/Ward, Mercia Barnes and Vaudine Barnes.

Alfred Clarke (age 29) and Maud Blackburn/Clarke (age 24) were married at Onehunga, New Zealand in 1899. (Cla-fam-122; photocopy of original from Sandra Clarke).

Fred Clarke (1910-1999) and his wife Morval Richards/Clarke. (Cla-fam-123; photo taken 1986; photocopy of original from Sandra Clarke)

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William George Clarke (1878-1941). The photograph was taken in his early twenties about the time of his marriage to Elizabeth Annie Douglas. (Cla-fam-002).

William George Clarke (1878-1941), was Metallugist at the Burbanks Main Lode (1905-1914), Metallurgist on various mines near Boulder (1915-1927) and was Research Metallurgist at the WA School of Mines, Kalgoorlie (1928-1940). (Cla-kal-100).

William George Clarke (1878-1941) in his time at Kalgoorlie. (Cla-fam-004).