Thornton Gainsborough "Tom" Clarke (27 November 1891 – 19 July 1916) was an
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er who played with
Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
**FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...
in the
Victorian Football League (VFL), and the
Essendon Association Football Club
Essendon (Association) Football Club (often shortened to Essendon 'A') was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) from 1900 until 1921. The ''Dreadnoughts'' wore black and red, and played th ...
in the
Victorian Football Association (VFA).
Family
The son of Arthur Clarke (-1934), and Rebecca Ann Clarke (-1940), née Cooke, Thornton Gainsborough Clarke was born in
Essendon, Victoria
Essendon is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Essendon recorded a population of 21,240 at the 2021 census.
Essen ...
on 27 November 1891.
He married Annie Muriel Walker (1889–1976) on 16 June 1915.
Their son, Thornton Vernon Clarke – later, Flight Lieutenant Thornton Vernon Clarke, DFC (408954) – was born on 4 March 1916, after Clarke had left Australia with the First AIF.
Football
Fitzroy (VFL)
Granted a permit from Mount Lyell to Fitzroy on 17 May 1911, 19-year-old Clarke played four First XVIII games for Fitzroy in the
1911 VFL season
The 1911 VFL season was the 15th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria.
The season featured ten clubs, ran from 29 April until 23 September, and comprised an 18 ...
.
Essendon A (VFA)
He played in 88 games and scored 218 goals over six seasons (1910 to 1915) for
Essendon Association Football Club
Essendon (Association) Football Club (often shortened to Essendon 'A') was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) from 1900 until 1921. The ''Dreadnoughts'' wore black and red, and played th ...
in the
Victorian Football Association (VFA).
In 1913 and 1914 he was the VFA's leading goalkicker, with 58 and 46 goals respectively.
Military service
Qualified as an electrical engineer, and employed at G. Weymouth Pty. Ltd., Electrical Engineers, in Richmond, he enlisted in the First AIF in July 1915, and served with the
60th Infantry Battalion.
Death
Clarke was killed in action on 19 July 1916, soon after arriving on the
Western Front, during the
Battle of Fromelles
The Attack at Fromelles (, Battle of Fromelles, Battle of Fleurbaix or ) 19–20 July 1916, was a military operation on the Western Front during the First World War. The attack was carried out by British and Australian troops and was subsidiary ...
.
Initially listed as "missing", he was officially declared "killed in action", by a Court of Enquiry held in France on 4 August 1917.
[Service Record; also, 335th Casualty List.]
Buried in a mass grave at the time of his death, his remains were never recovered, and he is commemorated at the
V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial
The V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission World War I cemetery and memorial. The site is located in the ''commune'' of Fromelles, in the Nord ''departement'' of France, about northwest of the vill ...
in Fromelles, France.
See also
*
Footnotes
References
*
World War One Embarkation Roll: Private Thornton Gainsborough Clarke (2830) collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
World War One Nominal Roll: Corporal Thornton Gainsborough Clarke (2830) collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau files, 1914-18 War: 1DRL/0428: 2830 Corporal Thornton Gainsborough Clarke: 60 Battalion Collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
World War One Service Record: Corporal Thornton Gainsborough Clarke (2830) ''National Archives of Australia''.
Roll of Honour: Corporal Thornton Gainsborough Clarke (2830) ''Australian War Memorial''.
Roll of Honour Circular: Corporal Thornton Gainsborough Clarke (2830) collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
Australian Roll of Honour: Missing: Victoria, ''The Age'', (Saturday, 16 September 1916), p.11 this is a combined version of 212th and 213th Casualty lists, simultaneously released om 15 September 1916 (Clarke was listed in the 212th list).
335th Casualty List: Victoria: Previously Missing, now Reported Killed, ''The Herald'', (Monday, 3 September 1917), p.3.Football at Lemnos, ''The Essendon Gazette'', (Thursday, 9 March 1916), p.6.
External links
Corporal Thornton Gainsborough Clarke (2830) ''Commonwealth War Graves Commission''.
*
Tom Clarke at ''AustralianFootball.com''
Thornton "Tom" Clarke at ''The VFA Project''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Thornton
1891 births
1916 deaths
Australian rules footballers from Tasmania
Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents
Fitzroy Football Club players
Essendon Association Football Club players
Australian military personnel killed in World War I
Missing in action of World War I
Australian rules footballers from Melbourne
People from Essendon, Victoria
Military personnel from Melbourne