Sir Thomas Edwin Clark (6 August 1916 – 14 June 2005) was a New Zealand industrialist who played a major role in a number of different enterprises. He was a patron of New Zealand's involvement in international yachting. He was the driving force in the development of

Crown Lynn Crown Lynn was a New Zealand ceramics manufacturer that operated under various names between 1854 and 1989. Early history The pottery's origins started with an 1854 land purchase at Hobsonville, near Auckland, by Rice Owen Clark. He had arriv ...

, a ceramics manufacturer begun by his great-grandfather

Rice Owen Clark Rice Owen Clark (1816 – 16 June 1896) was an English settler in New Zealand, establishing a brickworks at Hobsonville that was the origin of Crown Lynn and Ceramco. Biography Clark was baptised in Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, on 19 ...

in the mid 1850s.

Early life and family

Clark was born in

Hobsonville Hobsonville is a suburb in West Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The area was administered by Waitakere City Council until the council was amalgamated into Auckland Council in 2010. Hobsonville Point, formerly the location of the ...

on 6 August 1916. His father was also called Thomas Edwin Clark and his mother was Margaret Clark (née Morison). He attended King's College in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

but was pulled out of school in 1931 during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, as the family could not afford the school fees, and was sent to work in the family's brick works instead. Clark married three times and had nine children.

Business career

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the country started running out of cups and saucers, as they were no longer imported and had never been manufactured locally at a grand scale. Clark Jr. started experimenting with mass production and built a tunnel kiln after reading as much about it as he could. Initially, he did not know how to attach handles successfully, and the Crown Lynn Potteries brand had a reputation into the 1950s for handles that broke off. By 1948, more than half of the company's production was sold to Australia, but when the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Walter Nash Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havin ...

, changed the

exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

by 25%, that overseas market was "lost overnight". The company had a supply contract with the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...

, and the railway cup and saucer are regarded as "one of the most famous Kiwi icons of the twentieth century". The name of Crown Lynn was changed to Ceramco in 1974, and the company diversified into areas like electronics and the wholesale of appliances. The lingerie company, Bendon, was purchased at that time. The pottery part of the business was shut down in 1989 due to cheap imports. Clark retired from Ceramco in 1993, after 62 years with the business.

Honours

Clark was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in the

1986 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1986 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, for services to manufacturing, export, sport and the community. In February 2005, Clark was presented the

Key to the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

from Bob Harvey, the

mayor of Waitakere City The Mayor of Waitakere City was the head of the former municipal government of Waitakere City, New Zealand, who presided over the Waitakere City Council. The city was New Zealand's fifth largest, and was part of the Auckland Region, Auckland regio ...

Death

Clark died on 14 June 2005 and was survived by his third wife, Patricia, Lady Clark. His funeral service was held at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell, and he was cremated at Waikumete Crematorium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Tom 1916 births 2005 deaths People from Auckland People educated at King's College, Auckland New Zealand Knights Bachelor 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople Businesspeople awarded knighthoods