Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke (1 July 1862 – 3 November 1948) was a
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
officer, naturalist, horticulturist, and landowner. During his army posting in Africa, he collected many bird species, describing several including what is known as
Clarke's weaver
Clarke's weaver (''Ploceus golandi'') is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae.
It is endemic to Kenya.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
It is threatened by habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also ter ...
(''Ploceus golandi''), named after his brother Captain Goland Clarke.
Clarke was born in Marylebone, London to Agnes Maria Bridger and Stephenson Clarke. He was educated at Winchester and spent some time in France where he learned French interacting with bird-catchers. After finishing school he went on a voyage to New Zealand where he collected his first bird specimens. He joined the Royal Sussex Light Infantry in 1880 and served in South Africa during which time he collected African birds. He commanded the regiment from 1906 to 1912. He was made
CB in 1911. He also served in the family business of Stephenson Clarke and Company. He served as a
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 ...
for Sussex.
Clarke described the species ''
Lybius chaplini'' from Northern Rhodesia. In 1923, he gifted his collection of bird specimens to the British Museum. He took a great interest in plants and collected many species on his estate at
Borde Hill
Borde Hill Garden is a garden located north of Haywards Heath, West Sussex in southern England. It is set in over of garden, park and woodlands which has views across the Sussex High Weald.
Borde Hill Garden is planted in “living garden ro ...
. He received a
Veitch Memorial Gold Medal.
Clarke married Edith Gertrude, daughter of Joseph Godman (and niece of
Frederick DuCane Godman
Frederick DuCane Godman DCL FRS FLS FGS FRGS FES FZS MRI FRHS (15 January 1834 – 19 February 1919) was an English lepidopterist, entomologist and ornithologist. He was one of the twenty founding members of the British Ornithologists' Un ...
) in 1890. After her death in 1941, he married Constance Gwendoline.
References
External links
Borde Hill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Stephenson Robert
1862 births
1948 deaths
English horticulturists