Charles Clarke (died 1750) was an English barrister, judge and politician.

Life

The son of Alured Clarke of

Godmanchester Godmanchester ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is separated from Huntingdon, to the north, by the valley of the River Great Ouse. Being on the Roman road network, the town has a lo ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

, by his second wife Ann, fourth daughter of the Rev. Charles Trimnell, rector of Ripton-Abbotts, and sister to Bishop

Charles Trimnell Charles Trimnell (1663–1723) was an English bishop. He was a Whig in politics, and known for his attacks on High Church views, writing on the subordination of the Church of England to the state. After the accession of George I of Great Britain i ...

, he was placed at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

in 1719 under his brother

Alured Clarke Sir Alured Clarke (24 November 1744 – 16 September 1832) was a British Army officer. He took charge of all British troops in Georgia in May 1780 and was then deployed to Philadelphia to supervise the evacuation of British prisoners of ...

, then a fellow of the college. Without taking a degree, he entered

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1717, and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1723. Clarke built up a good practice as barrister, and rebuilt the family house at Godmanchester. In 1731 he was appointed

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Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

, and in 1739 represented in parliament. In the new parliament of 1741 he was elected for in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, but in its second session in Hilary term, 1743, became a

baron of the exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was a ...

in place of Sir Thomas Abney. At this time he was counsel to the admiralty, and auditor of Greenwich Hospital, where he was succeeded by Heneage Legge. On 17 May 1750 Clarke died of a fever. It was said to have been gaol distemper, caught at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, at the so-called "black sessions" that year. The outbreak caused the deaths of other legal figures, officials and jurymen, and was attributed to the number of prisoners and the crowd present at Captain Clark's trial for killing Captain Innes in a duel. He was buried at Godmanchester.

Family

Clarke married, first, Anne, daughter of Thomas Greene, bishop of Ely, by whom he had a son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, a British Army general and secondly, Jane, daughter of Major Mullins of Winchester, by whom he had four sons including

Sir Alured Clarke Sir Alured Clarke (24 November 1744 – 16 September 1832) was a British Army officer. He took charge of all British troops in Georgia in May 1780 and was then deployed to Philadelphia to supervise the evacuation of British prisoners of ...

, lieutenant-governor of Quebec in 1792; and two daughters. His second wife survived him.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Charles Year of birth missing 1750 deaths English barristers 18th-century English judges Members of Lincoln's Inn Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 People from Godmanchester