Vice Admiral Sir William Clarkson, (26 March 1859 – 21 January 1934) is regarded as the co-founder of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

(RAN), in which he served as a senior commander.

Early life

Born in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

, North Yorkshire, to James, a draper, and his wife Mary (née ''Dixon''). Clarkson was privately educated in the town. Later he was

articled Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

into

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

for R. & W. Hawthorn. In his time at the company he became a marine engineer.

South Australian Naval Service

Clarkson joined the South Australian Naval Service as an Engineer Lieutenant in May 1884, travelling to Australian in . It was in this time that he served under Captain William Creswell (Later Vice Admiral and Commander of Commonwealth Naval Forces) who shared his interest of creating a united Australian Navy. He was Chief engineer aboard ''Protector'' in the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

in 1900–01, which carried despatches in the conflict.

Commonwealth Naval Forces

Following the Boxer Rebellion, Clarkson transferred to the Commonwealth Naval Forces upon the

Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...

. In October 1905 Clarkson was promoted to Engineer Commander. On 27 March 1907 he was selected to visit

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in order to study Naval dockyards, ship construction and training methods. In this period he oversaw the building of

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s for the CNF, which would become the first ships of the newly founded Royal Australian Navy.

Royal Australian Navy

Upon the founding of the RAN in 1911, Clarkson became the third member of the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board, joining Creswell and Captain Gordon Smith. Subsequently, the decision was made to build a naval base at Western Port and Clarkson was a driving force in its creation. Work on Flinders Naval Base started in 1913 and was opened in 1920, for the purpose of training. In 1913 he was made a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

. He was promoted to

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

on 1 April 1916. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he became the Director of Transports and Controller of Shipping. By 1918 he was regarded as ''"without peer in Australian maritime affairs"''. Upon the formation of the Inter-State Central Committee he became Chairman and Controller of coastal shipping. For his duties in this capacity, in 1919 he was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. The citation reads He was promoted to vice admiral on 1 November 1922 and transferred to the retired list.

Commonwealth Shipping Board

In 1923, he was appointed Director of the Commonwealth Shipping Board.

Death

He died of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

at the family home in

Darling Point Darling Point is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, Australia. It is 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Woollahra Council. Darling Point is bounded by Sydney Harbour to t ...

, Sydney, Australia on 21 Jan 1934. He was cremated at the Rookwood Crematorium and a funeral with full military honours was held. His ashes were then transported back to his hometown, where they were interred in the family memorial at the

Church of Saint Mary, Whitby The Church of Saint Mary is an Anglican parish church serving the town of Whitby in North Yorkshire England. It was founded around 1110, although its interior dates chiefly from the late 18th century. The church was designated a Grade I listed ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, William 1859 births 1934 deaths People from Whitby Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire British emigrants to colonial Australia