Lancelot Pease Clark (30 April 1936 – 27 February 2018), was an English shoemaker, businessman, and member of the Clark family, which is the majority owner of shoe retailer
Clarks.
Career
Clark was born in
Street, Somerset
Street is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, with a population of 11,805 in 2011. On a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, it is south-west of Glastonbury. There is evidence of Roman occupation. ...
into the sixth generation of the Clarks
shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear.
Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...
family.
He was educated at
Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, havin ...
and
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...
. While working in the family business, he was managing director of Clarks UK, prior to the business being placed under non-family management.
He is credited with the creation of the
Wallabee shoe in 1965.
After retiring from Clarks, Clark went on to work with the
Edward Green and
Terra Plana shoe brands.
As of 2017, the Clark family still owned more than 80 per cent of the company, according to ''The Sunday Times''.
Lancelot Clark's branch of the family collectively owned about 25 per cent.
In 2008, Clark set up ethical footwear brand Soul of Africa, which raises money for South African orphans who have lost their parents to
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
.
Personal life
Based in Street, Somerset for much of his life, Clark was a painter. He had seven children in total, four in his first marriage: Galahad, Odette, Conrad and Tony, as well as three in his second: Yoyi, Yomei and Fiona.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Lancelot
1936 births
2018 deaths
20th-century English businesspeople
People from Street, Somerset