William Clarke (26 June 1843 – 9 March 1903) was an Australian businessman and member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

. Clarke was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, son of William Joseph Sayers Clarke by his marriage with Miss Mary Ann Welsford. William Clarke married Mary Ann Mortimer on 25 June 1862 in Melbourne, later moving to Sydney. Clarke was a Justice of the Peace for the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria. On 24 November 1880 Clarke was elected member for

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, until being defeated at the general election in January 1889. Clarke was

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in the fourth ministry of

Sir Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has be ...

, from 20 January 1887 to 10 January 1889. He held important positions in connection with financial institutions in the colonies, and became Managing Director of the London branch of the

Standard Bank of Australia Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

. He was one of the New South Wales commissioners for the

Colonial and Indian Exhibition The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was held in South Kensington in London with the objective to (in the words of the then Prince of Wales) "stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majes ...

in London in 1886. Clarke died on in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, Western Cape, South Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, William 1843 births 1903 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians