George Clarke (7 May 1661 – 22 October 1736), of All Souls, Oxford, was an English architect, print collector and Tory politician who sat in the English and

British House of Commons 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 mem ...

between 1702 and 1736.

Life

The son of Sir William Clarke, he enrolled at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

in 1676. He was elected a Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

in 1680. He was returned in a contested by-election on 23 November 1685 as Member of Parliament for Oxford University, but never took his seat as Parliament had been prorogued. He became Judge Advocate to the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and was

Secretary at War The Secretary at War was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. Aft ...

in Ireland from 1690 to 1692 and in England from 1693 to 1704 under

William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic fro ...

and Queen Anne. He served as secretary to Prince George of Denmark, Queen Anne's consort and the Lord High Admiral and Generalissimo of England. Clarke was returned as Member of Parliament for Winchelsea at the

1702 English general election The 1702 English general election was the first to be held during the reign of Queen Anne, and was necessitated by the demise of William III. The new government dominated by the Tories gained ground in the election, with the Tory party winning ...

, coinciding with his office as Joint Secretary of the Admiralty. At the

1705 English general election The 1705 English general election saw contests in 110 constituencies in England and Wales, roughly 41% of the total. The election was fiercely fought, with mob violence and cries of " Church in Danger" occurring in several boroughs. During the p ...

he was returned as MP for East Looe. He was not nominated for a seat at the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by Novembe ...

. He was returned in a by-election on 29 May 1711 as MP for Launceston from 1711. He did not stand at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 Robert Harley had led a government appointed after the downfall of the Whig Junto, attempting to pursue a moderate and non-controversial policy, ...

. Over the latter period he was Lord

Commissioner of the Admiralty This is a list of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was ...

from 20 December 1710 until 14 October 1714, when he was dismissed following the accession of

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dol ...

. Clarke returned to the House of Commons as MP for Oxford University at a by-election on 4 December 1717 following the death of

William Whitelock Sir William Whitelock KC (27 December 1636 – 22 November 1717) was an English barrister and Tory politician. His name is also spelt Whitelocke (which was preferred by his father) and Whitlock. Early life Whitelock was the second son of S ...

. He was reelected in

1722 Events January–March * January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel ''Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London. * February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), as ...

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

, and

1734 Events January– March * January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Georgia in America. * February 16 – ...

, by which point he had lost his left eye and was losing sight in the other. He was also an amateur architect.page 216, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, Howard Colvin 2nd edition 1978 John Murray His known work is largely confined to Oxford, (Clayton's DNB entry for Clarke offers more detail of his architectural endeavours) and he is known to have designed buildings and also to have collaborated with

Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...

, amongst others. Timothy Clayton discusses Clarke's print collection, noting “John Vanburgh, Alexander Pope and George Vertue travelled to Oxford to use his library with its unique collection of notes and drawings by

nigo is a Japanese fashion designer, disc jockey (DJ), record producer and entrepreneur. He is best known as the creator of the urban clothing line A Bathing Ape (Bape) and currently serves as creative director for Kenzo. Additionally he is a membe ...

Jones” (Clayton 1992, p. 124). The library of Worcester College, Oxford houses Clarke's collection of books, MSS, prints and drawings. Building work on the library, which was started within a few years of the college's founding in 1714, was completed in 1736. A spat between Clarke and All Souls resulted in the bequest to Worcester.

List of architectural works

The library in the Peckwater Quad,

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

(1717–38) Rebuilt The Queen's College, Oxford, with Hawksmoor (1710–21) The New Buildings,

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 ...

(1733) The Hall, Chapel and Library, Worcester College, Oxford (1733–1753) The Rectory,

Kingston Bagpuize Kingston Bagpuize () is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor, about west of Abingdon. It was part of Berkshire, England, until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded th ...

(c.1723) Cokethorpe House, alterations (c.1710)

Gallery of architectural work

File:Library, Christ Church, Oxford - geograph.org.uk - 187943.jpg, The Library, Christ Church, Oxford File:Library (rear view), Christ Church, Oxford - geograph.org.uk - 187942.jpg, The rear of The Library, Christ Church, Oxford File:The Queens' College Oxford, quad.jpg, Quad, The Queens' College Oxford File:Queens College Ball 2010.jpg, Quad, The Queens' College Oxford File:The Queen's half-mast.jpg, High Street front, The Queens' College Oxford File:Magdalen College Oxford panorama.jpg, Magdalen College, Oxford, New Buildings in the background File:WorcesterCollegeTHShepherdEarly19thc edited.jpg, Front, Worcester College, Oxford File:WorcQuad.JPG, Quad, Worcester College, Oxford

References

Clayton, T. (1992) “The Print Collection of George Clarke at Worcester College, Oxford”. ''Print Quarterly'' 9(2) 123–141.
George Clarke Print Collection
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/clarke-george-1661-1736

Life

List of architectural works

Gallery of architectural work

References

Further reading