George Thomas Clarke (13 November 1853 – 11 March 1925) was an Australian local government politician, accountant and estate agent. Clark served many years in local government, beginning in New Zealand when he was Town Clerk of

South Dunedin South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...

and an alderman and mayor of St Kilda before coming to Sydney and was elected an Alderman of the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

, rising to become Lord Mayor for a single partial term from May to December 1912. Clarke also served a single term as

Mayor of North Sydney The Mayor of North Sydney is the head of North Sydney Council, which is the local government area in the lower north shore region of Sydney including North Sydney, Neutral Bay, Cremorne and Crows Nest in the State of New South Wales, Austral ...

(1922–1923), having served on both North Sydney Municipal Council and its predecessor the Borough of St Leonards.

Early life and career

George Thomas Clarke was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in the

Colony of Victoria In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

on 13 November 1853, the son of William Joseph Sayers Clarke and Mary Ann Welsford. His elder brother William Clarke became prominent in banking and rose to be Member of Parliament for Orange and Minister for Justice in the Government of the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

. After receiving his education at Collins Street Grammar School, Clarke studied accountancy but owing to health issues decided to travel away from busy Melbourne, taking a sea voyage in 1875. Clarke went no further than

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

in the

Colony of New Zealand The Colony of New Zealand was a Crown colony of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that encompassed the islands of New Zealand from 1841 to 1907. The power of the British government was vested in the Governor of New Zealand, as th ...

and after accepting warehouse work there, soon established his own accountancy and real estate business.

Political career

In 1878 he was appointed

Town Clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a To ...

of the Borough of

, but later left office to become a Councillor. Clarke also served as a Councillor for the St Kilda Borough Council and was elected as mayor for two terms in 1878–1880. While in New Zealand, in 1876 Clarke joined the

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political and non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd ...

, an interest in which he carried over when he returned to Australia, arriving in Sydney in the early 1880s. After setting up his business in the

St Leonards St Leonards may refer to: Places Australia *St Leonards, New South Wales **St Leonards railway station *St Leonards, Tasmania, suburb of Launceston * St Leonards, Victoria Canada *St. Leonard's, Newfoundland and Labrador New Zealand * St ...

region in northern Sydney, Clarke re-entered municipal politics when he was elected as an Alderman for Belmore Ward of the

Borough of St Leonards The Borough of St Leonards was a local government area in the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. First proclaimed as the Municipality of St Leonards in 1867, it became a borough in 1868 and in 1871 a petition for the ...

in February 1888. As a member of the St Leonards council in 1890, Clarke was involved in the official representations to the colonial government to merge St Leonards with the neighbouring boroughs of East St Leonards and Victoria to form a single North Sydney borough. These representations were subsequently accepted and the Borough of North Sydney was proclaimed on 29 July 1890. As the proclamation continued the terms of office of the three elected councils, Clarke continued as an aldermen for the new borough. Clarke was not among those elected to the new six-member council elected in February 1891, but succeeded in returning by way of a vacancy in August 1891. He was elected an alderman of the

in 1904, and was elected Lord Mayor in 1912.

Later life

Survived by two sons, Clarke died while still serving as a North Sydney alderman on 11 March 1925 at his

Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

residence on Milner Crescent, "Domus", and was buried with Congregational and Masonic rites at

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, George Thomas 1853 births 1925 deaths Australian people of English descent Australian accountants Australian real estate agents People from Melbourne Independent Order of Odd Fellows Mayors of Dunedin Australian emigrants to New Zealand Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney Mayors of North Sydney Burials at Waverley Cemetery