John Clarke ( fl. 1648 – November 1681), also known as John Clark, John Clerk, and John Clerke, was an English politician and

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1653 through 1660, and was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

army between 1651 and 1659.

Biography

Family

Clarke was from

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, the son of John Clarke of

Bocking, Essex Bocking is an area of Braintree, Essex, England, which was a former village and civil parish. In 1934 it became part of the civil parish of Braintree and Bocking, which is now within Braintree District. It forms an electoral division for Essex Co ...

.History of Parliament Online - John Clarke
/ref> Clarke married Margaret Bourne of

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, and had a son Samuel who was created

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1698, and a daughter.

Local career

Clarke was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of Bury St Edmunds by 1648 and remained until 1662.
In 1648 he was collector of assessments and

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

for

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

for

.
He was commissioner for assessment for Bury St Edmunds from 1648 to 1652 and for Suffolk from 1649 to 1652.
He was a

for Suffolk from 1650 to March 1660 and was a commissioner of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cou ...

in 1650.
He was commissioner for scandalous ministers for Bury St Edmunds in 1654.
From 1655 to 1656 he was commissioner for security.
He was commissioner for assessment for Suffolk and Bury St Edmunds in 1657.
In 1659, he was commissioner for militia for Suffolk.
He was commissioner for assessment for Suffolk in January 1660 and commissioner for militia for Bury St Edmunds in March 1660.
He was

High Sheriff of Suffolk This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Suffolk. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The Sheriff was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county a ...

from 1670 to 1671.

Parliamentary career

In 1653, Clarke was nominated as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

in the

Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the ins ...

.
In 1653 he was nominated as one of the representatives for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the

.
He was elected MP for

for the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Hou ...

in 1654.
In August 1654, he was returned to the

as one of the two members for the three Irish counties of

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

, Londonderry, and Tyrone and sat till January 1655. He was at that time

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

.
In 1656 he was re-elected MP for Bury St Edmunds in the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in t ...

.
In 1656 he was elected MP for

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

and

Cardiganshire Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

in the

, and chose to sit for Cardiganshire until 10 December 1657.
He was summoned to

Cromwell's Other House The Other House (also referred to as the Upper House, House of Peers and House of Lords), established by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Humble Petition and Advice, was one of the two chambers of the parliaments that legis ...

(i.e.

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

), but did not take his seat.Besides the 61 Protectorate lords of the other house (listed by and , Citing: The Rev. Mr. Ayscough's catalogue of M.S.S. in the British Museum, no. 3246.), Clarke was one of two others given as Protectorate lords by

Thurloe John Thurloe (June 1616 – 21 February 1668) was an English politician who served as secretary to the council of state in Protectorate England and spymaster for Oliver Cromwell and held the position of Postmaster General between 1655 and 1660. ...

, but if so Mark Noble surmises they must have been invited to join the house after the year 1657.
In 1659, he was elected MP for Bury St Edmunds in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...

.
In 1659, he was elected MP for

Melcombe Regis Melcombe Regis is an area of Weymouth in Dorset, England. Situated on the north shore of Weymouth Harbour and originally part of the waste of Radipole, it seems only to have developed as a significant settlement and seaport in the 13th centu ...

and for Dartmouth in a double return and chose to sit for Melcombe Regis until April 1659.
In April 1660 he was re-elected MP for Bury St Edmunds for the Convention Parliament when he was involved in a double return. He was allowed to take his seat and then unseated. In 1647, Clarke took up the accusation against the Eleven Members of the Peace Party in Parliament.
He was sent as Lieutenant Colonel Clerke with Admiral Blake to reduce the

Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

in May 1651.
He was on the Fleet Committee in December 1653 and became a Commissioner for Irish affairs in January 1654. In February 1654, he was a

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 ...

and was appointed a commissioner for the army on 24 June 1654.
After the death of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

he signed the order for proclaiming

Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. On his father's death ...

Protector Protector(s) or The Protector(s) may refer to: Roles and titles * Protector (title), a title or part of various historical titles of heads of state and others in authority ** Lord Protector, a title that has been used in British constitutional l ...

and was on the Committee of Safety in 1659.

Abasement

Clarke was granted a Foot regiment on 16 June 1659 by the Committee of Safety, but was cashiered with Lambert and the other generals by the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

. He was mentioned as appointed to the command of

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 13 January 1660, and ordered on 2 February 1660 "not to stay in town". Clarke was a prisoner in the Gatehouse on 17 December 1660, when he petitioned the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

for his release, stating that he "was imprisoned on suspicion of treason, of which he knew nothing, nor had he in the least misdemeaned himself."

Death

Clarke died in November 1681 and was buried in St Mary's churchyard, Bury St Edmunds.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, John Year of birth missing 1681 deaths People from Bocking, Essex High Sheriffs of Suffolk Place of birth missing Roundheads English MPs 1653 (Barebones) English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 Politicians from Bury St Edmunds Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Members of Cromwell's Other House Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales