Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Clarke, (27 July 1824 – 29 March 1902) was a British soldier and governor, as well as a surveyor and politician in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
[Betty Malone,]
Clarke, Sir Andrew (1824–1902)
, ''Australian Dictionary of Biography
The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...
'', Vol.3, MUP, 1969, pp 409–411.
Background and education
Born in
Southsea,
Hampshire, Clarke was the eldest of the four sons of
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir
Andrew Clarke Andrew Clarke may refer to:
*Andrew Clarke (British Army officer, born 1793) (1793–1847), Governor of Western Australia
*Sir Andrew Clarke (British Army officer, born 1824) (1824–1902), Governor of the Straits Settlements, son of the above
*And ...
, the
Governor of Western Australia (1793–1847). Clarke's early years were spent in India with his parents. He was later brought up by his paternal grandfather and two uncles, one of whom was the father of
Marcus Clarke, at the family home of Belmont, near
Lifford, Ireland. He was educated at
The King's School, Canterbury, and at
Portora Royal School at
Enniskillen,
Ireland. At 16 he entered the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...
, where one of his teachers was
Michael Faraday.
[
]
Career
Graduating in 1844, Clarke was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
and after a year of further study at Chatham was sent to Fermoy in Ireland. In 1846 he was nominated to the Oregon Boundary Commission; his father, who was then governor of Western Australia, urged him instead to come to Australia with the hope of later gaining a professional post with him. As a lieutenant in command of a detachment of Royal Engineers, Clarke sailed with the new lieutenant-governor, Sir William Denison, aboard the ''Windermere'' and arrived at Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
on 26 January 1847. His father's death the following next month left Clarke with little reason to remain in Australia but he continued to superintend convict labour and to survey the area around Hobart and design wharf accommodation and became friends with William Denison.[
Clarke's next tour of duty was in New Zealand with governor Sir George Grey, from September 1848. He and his detachment worked mainly on road building, and Clarke discovered his gift for dealing with native peoples when he was sent on a peace-making mission to the Bay of Islands.][
In 1849 Clarke returned to Hobart to become private secretary to William Denison, Governor of Tasmania and New South Wales, and was also an official nominee in the Tasmanian Legislative Council in 1851–53 and controller of the mounted police.][
In March 1853 Clarke was asked to replace Robert Hoddle as Surveyor General of Victoria and arrived at Melbourne in May. His hard work and energy resulted in more land being sold in the next 18 months than in the years since 1836. He also established the Roads Boards that preceded the introduction of local government and was responsible for much of the planning of Victoria's first railways. His proposals for a government-controlled railway system were examined by a select committee and were made law in 1857. Additionally, he set up the first electric telegraph from Melbourne to Williamstown, Victoria and was able to report in November 1857 that the service had reached the borders of New South Wales and South Australia.][ In 1855 he was elected the inaugural president of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria.
Clarke entered the Victorian Legislative Council in August 1853 as an official representative, where he was active in the drafting of the new constitution. He was also responsible for the drafting and successful inauguration of the Municipal Institutions Act in December 1854, which provided for local government based on the English model in Melbourne's growing suburbs, on the goldfields, and in the country.][
At the 1856 elections, Clarke mounted a successful campaign against David Blair for the South Melbourne seat in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, which he held until he left the colony. He joined the first cabinet under William Haines, as Surveyor-General and Commissioner for Lands.][
In March 1858 Clarke was appointed permanent head of the Lands and Surveys Department and decided to return to England. In London, he tried and failed to secure the governorship of Queensland and spent some months on barrack duty at Colchester.][
From 1859 to 1864 Clarke served in the African colony of the Gold Coast and in England, where he was Director of Works at the Admiralty from 1864 to 1873.][ During this period he co-authored a report on the Suez Canal with George Henry Richards, Hydrographer to the Admiralty.
]
Governor of the Straits Settlements
Sir Andrew Clarke served as the Governor of Singapore and the Governor of the Straits Settlements from 4 November 1873 until 8 May 1875. Clarke played a key role in positioning Singapore as the main port for the Malay states of Perak
Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...
, Selangor and Sungei Ujong.
Due to his contributions, Singapore's Clarke Quay was named after him. Clarke Street, located next to Clarke Quay, was officially named in 1896 and was originally two streets known simply as East Street and West Street in north Kampong Malacca. Today it is a pedestrian mall and a popular nightspot.
Pangkor Treaty
As Governor of the Straits Settlements, Clarke was famous for signing the Treaty of Pangkor in 1874, which established a British protectorate over the Malay States. In that same year, Clarke successfully enforced a check on the abuse of coolies with support of the prominent Chinese leaders and European merchants. Clarke achieved fame through his negotiations in regard to Sungei Ujong in Malaya
Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia:
Political entities
* British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
, sorting out the differences between different leaders in Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...
.
Clarke was blamed for the death of the first British resident in Perak
Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...
, James Wheeler Woodford Birch
James Wheeler Woodford Birch, commonly known as J. W. W. Birch (3 April 1826 – 2 November 1875) was a British colonial official who was assassinated in the Malay state of Perak in 1875, an event that led to the outbreak of the Perak War and ...
, due to his ignorance of a complaint, when Sultan Abdullah of Perak wrote a letter to inform him about Birch's rudeness against the Malay rulers, because at that time he was about to retire and did not want that problem to destroy his reputation as one of the most successful colonial administrators.
Klang War
Clarke was instrumental in determining the outcome of the Klang War which took place from 1867 to 1874 as well as placing Selangor under British protection.
The Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...
were becoming increasingly dependent on the economy of Selangor. Selangor through the 19th and the 20th was one of the world's major tin producers. Since Selangor's security affected tin trade, the British felt it needed to have a say in Selangor politics. The British saw Tengku Kudin as a ticket to reach out to Selangor's royal court. Therefore, the Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...
led by Clarke implicitly supported Tengku Kudin in the war.
Throughout the war, Tengku Kudin brought in soldiers from Kedah and Pahang along with mercenaries and European officers from the Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...
. The end result was a victory for Tengku Kudin.
While the British through Clarke was on Tengku Kudin's side, the post-war situation had weakened Tengku Kudin's power base due to the Selangor royal family's suspicion of Tengku Kudin and the British. Therefore, Andrew Clarke was forced to freeze the plan to reach out to the royal family through Tengku Kudin.
In November 1873 however, a ship from Penang was attacked by pirates near Kuala Langat, Selangor. After a number of piracy attacks took place in Selangor, Andrew Clarke assigned Frank Swettenham as a live-in advisor to Sultan Abdul Samad
Sultan Abdul Samad ibni Almarhum Raja Abdullah ( Jawi: سلطان عبد الصمد ابن المرحوم راج عبد الله ; born Raja Abdul Samad bin Raja Abdullah, 1804 - 6 February 1898) was the fourth Sultan of Selangor.
Raja Abdul ...
in August 1874. Sultan Abdul Samad accepted James Guthrie Davidson
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
, a lawyer from Singapore, as the first British Resident of Selangor in 1875. In October the same year, Sultan Abdul Samad sent a letter to Andrew Clarke requesting for Selangor to be placed under the British protectorate.
Further service
From 1875 to 1880 Clarke was on the council of the Viceroy of India. He was Commandant of the Royal School of Military Engineering at Chatham from 1881 to 1882, and finally was Inspector-General of Fortifications in England from 1882 to 1886.
After Clarke's retirement from the army, he unsuccessfully contested Chatham for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...
in 1886 and 1892 as a follower of William Ewart Gladstone and Home Rule. Clarke retained an interest in the Australian colonies, and briefly acted as Agent-General for Victoria in 1886, 1891, and 1893, before being appointed agent-general in 1899, which post he held until his death.
Clarke also served as a director of Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, the Colonial Life Assurance Society, the Delhi-Umbala Railway Co. and the British North Borneo Company.
In December 1901 he was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers.
Death
Clarke died at his house in Portland Place
Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. Named after the Third Duke of Portland, the unusually wide street is home to BBC Broadcasting House, the Chinese and Polish embassies, the Royal Institute of British A ...
, London, on 29 March 1902. He was predeceased by his wife, Mary Margaret MacKillop, whom he had married on 17 September 1867, and he was survived by their only child, Elinor Mary de Winton.[
His body was borne to Paddington Station and brought by train to ]Bath, Somerset
Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...
, where he was interred with his wife in Locksbrook Cemetery
__NOTOC__
Locksbrook Cemetery is a municipal cemetery located in Lower Weston, Bath, England. It was opened in 1864 as Walcot Cemetery, and occupies , originally serving the parishes of Walcot, Weston and St Saviour's. The cemetery was closed f ...
. Their memorial, a bronze sarcophagus with an angel, is the work of Edward Onslow Ford
Edward Onslow Ford (27 July 1852—23 December 1901) was an English sculptor. Much of Ford's early success came with portrait heads or busts. These were considered extremely refined, showing his subjects at their best and led to him receiving a ...
. It is listed Grade II by Historic England.
Honours
* Appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB), 1869.
* Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III.
...
(KCMG), 1873.
* Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE), 1877.
* Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG), 1885.
References
Sources
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*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Andrew
1824 births
1902 deaths
Royal Engineers officers
British Army lieutenant generals
British military personnel of the New Zealand Wars
Governors of the Straits Settlements
Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
People educated at Portora Royal School
Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
People educated at The King's School, Canterbury
People from Southsea
Administrators in British Malaya
Surveyors General of Victoria
Agents-General for Victoria
19th-century Australian public servants
Administrators in British Singapore
Military personnel from Portsmouth