Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

Tema Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most popul ...

Tema Harbour Tema Harbour is a harbour located in Tema in the southeastern part of Ghana, along the Gulf of Guinea. The first chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ghanaian parastatal, the

Tema Development Corporation Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra Region, Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolis District, Tema Met ...

as well as a

presidential advisor Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...

to Ghana's first

Head of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

,

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

, T. S. Clerk was a founding member and the first president of the first post-independent, wholly indigenous and self-governing Ghanaian professional body, the

Ghana Institute of Architects The Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA) is a professional society for architects and built environment affiliates located in Accra, Ghana. The first professional body in independent Ghana, it was registered in 1962 and inaugurated in December 196 ...

(GIA), that had its early beginnings in 1963. He was also an Associate of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

and the

Royal Town Planning Institute The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) is the professional body representing planners in the United Kingdom, and Ireland. It promotes and develops policy affecting planning and the built environment. Founded in 1914, the institute was gra ...

.

Early life and family

Theodore Clerk was born in

Larteh Larteh is a language of southeastern Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast i ...

in the Akuapem Mountains on 4 September 1909, where his father,

Nicholas Timothy Clerk Nicholas Timothy Clerk (28 October 1862 – 16 August 1961) was a Protestant theologian, clergyman and pioneering missionary of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society in southeast colonial Ghana. His father was the Jamaican Moravian missiona ...

(1862 – 1961) was stationed as a Basel missionary at the time. His father, a Basel-trained theologian, was the first Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1918 to 1932. N. T. Clerk was a founding father of the all boys’ boarding high school, the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School established in 1938. His mother, Anna Alice Meyer (1873 –1934) was of Ga-Danish descent. His paternal grandfather,

Alexander Worthy Clerk Alexander Worthy Clerk (4 March 1820 – 11 February 1906) was a Jamaican Moravian pioneer missionary, teacher and clergyman who arrived in 1843 in the Danish Protectorate of Christiansborg, now Osu in Accra, Ghana, then known as the Go ...

(1820 – 1906), a Jamaican Moravian missionary arrived in the Danish Protectorate of Christiansborg (now the suburb of Osu) in 1843, as part of the original group of 24

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

missionaries who worked under the auspices of the

Basel Evangelical Missionary Society The Basel Mission was a Christian missionary society based in Switzerland. It was active from 1815 to 2001, when it transferred the operative work to , the successor organization of ''Kooperation Evangelischer Kirchen und Missione'' (KEM), foun ...

of

Basel, Switzerland , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

. A.W. Clerk was a pioneer of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and a leader in education in colonial Ghana, establishing a middle boarding school, the Salem School in 1843. His paternal grandmother, Pauline Hesse (1831–1909) was from the Gold Coast, and was of

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

, Ga and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

descent. Theodore Clerk's grandaunt was

Regina Hesse Regina Hesse (1832–1898), also Rottmann, was a Gold Coast Euro-Africans, Euro-African Teacher, schoolteacher in colonial Ghana. As an educationist, she was one of first women exemplars on the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast to become ...

(1832 –1898), a pioneer educator and school principal. T. S. Clerk had eight other siblings and was a member of the historically important

Clerk family The Clerk family () is a Ghanaian historic family that produced a number of pioneering scholars and clergy on the Gold Coast. Predominantly based in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, the Clerks were traditionally Protestant Christian and affiliated ...

. His older brother,

Carl Henry Clerk Carl Henry Clerk (4 January 1895 – 28 May 1982) was a Ghanaian agricultural educationist, administrator, journalist, editor and church minister who was elected the fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast, assuming t ...

(1895 – 1982) was an editor, agricultural educationist and church minister who served as the fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1950 to 1954 as well as the Editor of the Christian Messenger newspaper between 1960 and 1963. Among his sisters were Jane E. Clerk (1904 – 1999), a pioneering woman education administrator along with Matilda Johanna Clerk (1916 – 1984), the second Ghanaian female medical doctor and the first Ghanaian woman in any field to be awarded an academic merit scholarship for university education abroad.

Education and training

T. S. Clerk attended Basel Mission primary schools in Larteh Akuapem, the boys' boarding middle school, the Salem School at Osu and had his secondary education at

Achimota College Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The schoo ...

, as a member of one of the institution's earliest generations of students. He also took

draughtsmanship A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans fo ...

or technical drawing lessons at the then Achimota College Engineering School where he was taught by Charles Deakin. At Achimota, Clerk's contemporaries included

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

, Ghana's first president,

R. P. Baffour Robert Patrick Baffour, (born 14 May 1912 – 6 June 1993), was a Ghanaian engineer, politician and university administrator who served as the first Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He was also ...

, the first

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

of the

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is a public University of Ghana that focuses on science and technology. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the public university established in the country, as well a ...

(KNUST) as well as

Charles Odamtten Easmon Charles Odamtten Easmon or C. O. Easmon, popularly known as Charlie Easmon, (22 September 1913 – 19 May 1994) was a medical doctor and academic who became the first Ghanaian to formally qualify as a surgeon specialist and the first Dean of t ...

, the first Ghanaian surgeon. Clerk secured a government scholarship for a diploma course in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

at the

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

, a constituent college of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

where he attended from October 1938 to June 1943. Records of his nomination for admission to the professional associations for architecture and

town planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

suggest that he also completed a diploma in town planning in 1944. Theodore Clerk's nomination papers are housed at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in

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 ...

. During the

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

term of 1941, Clerk was in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

on a vacation scholarship and later that summer in 1941, he undertook measuring work for the Scottish branch of the National Buildings Record. In the summer of 1942, he carried out a housing survey assignment for the

Department of Health for Scotland Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

. Theodore Clerk passed the intermediate examination in June 1941 and the final examination in June 1943, and was admitted as an associate (ARIBA) by the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

on 1 October 1943, with Frank Charles Mears, Leslie Grahame Thomson and John Ross McKay listed as his proposers. Furthermore, Clerk was also an Associate Member of the

Royal Town Planning Institute The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) is the professional body representing planners in the United Kingdom, and Ireland. It promotes and develops policy affecting planning and the built environment. Founded in 1914, the institute was gra ...

(AMTPI).

Career

In the summer of 1943, Clerk was awarded the ''Rutland Prize'' by the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

; an award which facilitated a critical study and tour of the Building Research Station in Garston and the Forest Products Research Lab in

Princes Risborough Princes Risborough () is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England, about south of Aylesbury and north west of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns, the south end ...

, in addition to analysing the architecture, housing and town planning in

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 ...

,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

. He joined th
Town and Country Planning Department
in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

in 1946 and was later transferred to its

Sekondi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indus ...

office from 1948 to 1953. For a time, Clerk was the only Ghanaian architect in the country and later, one of three Ghanaian architects in the late 1950s. He had been appointed the Chief Architect and Town Planner in the

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

,

Tema Development Corporation Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra Region, Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolis District, Tema Met ...

by 1954. By 1960, he had led the design, urban planning and development of the post-independent port city of Tema, a project commissioned by Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah. In planning the first three Communities at Tema, Theodore Clerk led a team of English architects to design affordable, middle class, standard houses, with four out of every five houses reserved for industrial workers, especially, low-income dockworkers at the harbour, who were facing a housing shortage at the time. The British architects who worked under Clerk were D. C. Robinson, D. Gillies-Reyburn, N. R. Holman, M. J. Hirst, W. D. Ferguson, C. Kossack, G. Rochford, D. B. Duck and H. G. Herbert. A few of these British architects were alumni of the

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in t ...

in London, where they had taken courses in tropical architecture. T. S. Clerk later became the first chief executive officer (CEO) of the

Tema Development Corporation Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra Region, Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolis District, Tema Met ...

when an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

, the ''Tema Development Corporation Act'' was passed in 1963, making the institution a publicly owned corporate entity. Theodore Clerk was also an external examiner at the Department of Architecture of the

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is a public University of Ghana that focuses on science and technology. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the public university established in the country, as well a ...

(

KNUST , mottoeng = The knot of wisdom is untied only by the wise , established = 1952;

). Sometime in 1963, a group of about fifteen mostly British and American-trained Ghanaian architects came together to streamline the architectural practice, education and accreditation through a professional body, the

Ghana Institute of Architects The Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA) is a professional society for architects and built environment affiliates located in Accra, Ghana. The first professional body in independent Ghana, it was registered in 1962 and inaugurated in December 196 ...

(GIA) as the successor of the pre-independence ''Gold Coast Society of Architects'', a colonial

social club A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...

for Gold Coast-based architects founded in August 1954. These architects were T. S. Clerk, D.K. Dawson, J.S.K. Frimpong, P.N.K., Turkson, J. Owusu-Addo, O.T. Agyeman, A. K. Amartey, E.K. Asuako, W.S. Asamoah, M. Adu-Donkor, K.G. Kyei, C. Togobo, V. Adegbite, M. Adu Bedu and E. Kingsley Osei. On Friday 11 December 1964 at 8:30 p.m., the inauguration of the body took place at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

,

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Accra Metropolis District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. Ghanaia ...

, where T. S. Clerk was elected the first president of the G''hana Institute of Architects'', after which he gave his inaugural speech. Theodore Clerk also authored the first constitution of the Ghana Institute of Architects. T. S. Clerk had previously served as the president of the erstwhile ''Gold Coast Society of Architects'' during the British colonial era. Kwame Nkrumah later reassigned Theodore Clerk to the Ghanaian presidency as a senior advisor.

Personal life

On 20 March 1948, Theodore Clerk married Paulina Quist, a

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...

from Christiansborg, Accra, at the

Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu The Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, formerly known as the Basel Mission Church, Christiansborg, is a historic Protestant church located in the suburb of Osu in Accra, Ghana. The church was founded by the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society in 18 ...

. Quist was the daughter of

Emmanuel Charles Quist Sir Emmanuel Charles Quist, also known as Paa Quist (21 May 1880, in Christiansborg, Accra – 30 March 1959) was a barrister, educator and judge who served as the first Speaker of the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly and the first Speaker of ...

(1880 – 1959), a barrister and judge who became the first African President of the Legislative Council from 1949 to 1951, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Gold Coast from 1951 to 1957, and Speaker of the National Assembly of Ghana from March 1957 to November 1957. Clerk belonged to the District Grand Lodge of Ghana under the

United Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic grand lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron T ...

. T. S. Clerk was an

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and also served as a

Presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as ...

and the Choir President of the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu.

Death and legacy

Clerk died in 1965 of complications relating to

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

. T. S. Clerk's funeral service was held at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu and his remains were buried at Accra's Osu Cemetery, previously known as Christiansborg Civil Cemetery. The

Ghanaian government The Government of Ghana was created as a parliamentary democracy, followed by alternating military and civilian governments in Ghana. In January 1993, military government gave way to the Fourth Republic after presidential and parliamentary electi ...

named a street in Tema, ''T.S. Clerk Street'', between ''Akojo School Park'' and ''Tweduaase Primary School'' at Site 6 of Community I, in his honour, in appreciation of his pioneering services to the development of Ghana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerk, Theodore S. 1909 births 1965 deaths Alumni of Achimota School Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Clerk family of Ghana Deaths from stomach cancer Ga-Adangbe people Ghanaian architects Ghanaian Freemasons Associates of the Royal Institute of British Architects Ghanaian people of Danish descent Ghanaian people of German descent Ghanaian people of Jamaican descent Ghanaian Presbyterians Ghanaian Protestants People from Accra Osu Salem School alumni Ghanaian presidential advisors