William Henry Clark (1815–1870) was an early settler and brewer in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, in the
Colony of South Australia
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
. He was the founder of the Halifax Street Brewery around 1844 (sold in 1856), and in 1859 was responsible for the building of a brewery at the western end of
Hindley Street
Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...
. However he fell into
insolvency
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...
, leaving the state in 1860 to avoid his debtors, and the Hindley Street brewery taken over by
William Knox Simms
William Knox Simms (1830 – 25 December 1897) was a brewer, businessman and politician in the early days of South Australia.
History
Simms migrated to South Australia from England, arriving in December 1845.
He formed a partnership with John ...
, later becoming the
West End Brewery.
Early life
William Henry Clark was born in
Newry
Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011.
Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...
, Ireland, and arrived in South Australia in June 1839 aboard ''Sir Charles Forbes'' from Liverpool; the following year he married fellow-passenger Sarah Ann Blakely.
Halifax Street Brewery
He founded the Halifax Street Brewery (also known as the Halifax Brewery
[) around 1844,] and by May 1848 was described as an "enterprising brewer" when he founded a copper mine
Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...
on land he owned near Strathalbyn.
At the annual meeting of South Australian Justices of the Peace in December 1947, Clark qualified as a Grand Juror, mentioning Halifax Street, Adelaide as his address.
In 1854 he formed a partnership "W. H. Clark & Co." with J. B. Spence
John Brodie Spence (15 May 1824 – 7 December 1902) was a prominent Scottish-born banker and politician in the early days of South Australia. He was a brother of the reformer Catherine Helen Spence.
Spence was born in Melrose, Scottish Bord ...
, J. H. Parr and Edward Logue, to purchase the Crawford brothers' Hindmarsh Brewery
The Hindmarsh Brewery was a brewery founded 1844 in Hindmarsh, in the then colony of South Australia, by E. J. F. "Fred" Crawford. Crawford lost possession of the business in 1859, then re-established it on a different site before becoming bankru ...
assets in an attempt to reduce competition and increase their client base. The brewery was unpopular with nearby residents due to the stench of the waste liquid discharged into the Gilles Street gutters. Clark built a mill and malthouse
A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain food ...
on the same side of Halifax Street, with just the Rob Roy Tavern between them.
In March 1856, Clark announced that the Halifax Street Brewery would be run by W. K. Simms & Co. (William Knox Simms
William Knox Simms (1830 – 25 December 1897) was a brewer, businessman and politician in the early days of South Australia.
History
Simms migrated to South Australia from England, arriving in December 1845.
He formed a partnership with John ...
)[ In February 1858, ]Henry Noltenius
Heinrich "Henry" Noltenius (11 August 1820 – 10 January 1884) was a German settler in the British colony of South Australia, and a prominent wine and spirit merchant.
History
Noltenius was born in Bremen, and arrived in South Australia in Septem ...
bought the Halifax plant, taking on Simms as manager in July, and ran the business until 6 November of that year, when he sold the business to Simms. Noltenius was insolvent by 1860.
Halifax brewery after Clark
Clark's Halifax Street brewery, after sixteen years lying idle, was revived by W. J. Disher in 1875 as the Imperial brewery, and by 1909 was the site of the Enterprise Boot Factory.
Other enterprises
In 1859, having borrowed money from pastoralist John Haimes
John Haimes (c. 1826 – 26 May 1890) was pioneer mail coach operator, hotelier and brewer in South Australia, and pastoralist and racehorse breeder and owner in Victoria, Australia, where he was universally known as "Captain Haimes".
History
Ha ...
, Clark built another brewery at the western end of Hindley Street
Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...
, which would later become the profitable West End Brewery.
However, not long afterwards Clark was in debt to the bank. Clark's house at Walkerville on the banks of the Torrens was advertised for sale in May 1858.
Further examples of "enterprise" were his subdivision of land at North Adelaide
North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands.
History
Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...
and at Gilles Plains
Gilles Plains is a suburb of the greater Adelaide, South Australia area, approximately 10km north-east of the Adelaide central business district.
History
It is named after the first Colonial Treasurer Osmond Gilles who owned a sheep station adj ...
, his property on Hindley Street
Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...
, and the office building he erected on King William Street between Currie
Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...
and Waymouth Waymouth is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Edward Waymouth Reid (1862–1948), British physiologist
* Henry Waymouth (1791–1848), one of the British founding directors of the South Australian Company in 1835
* Louis Waymout ...
streets, later owned by the Bank of Adelaide
The Bank of Adelaide was founded in 1865 in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It was incorporated by an act of the Parliament of South Australia. The original directors of the company were Henry Ayers, Thomas Greaves Waterhouse, Robert B ...
.
Later life
Clark left South Australia for 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 ...
around January 1860, a few months before his insolvency hearing and out of reach of his creditors, leaving W. K. Simms and G. P. Gardner to run the business.
Clark died sometime between 1862 and 1873, but not mentioned in the newspapers of either colony. His death is not registered in South Australia. Nor has his date of birth been established, but it could be assumed he would have been between 20 and 30 years of age when he emigrated and married.
Family
Edward Clark of 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 ...
**William Henry Clark (died before 1873) was the second son of Edward Clark of 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 ...
; he married
***Sarah Ann Blakely (1825 – 18 December 1894) on 19 February 1840. They arrived in South Australia aboard ''Sir Charles Forbes'' in June 1839. She died in Glenelg, South Australia
Glenelg is a beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of ...
. Their children included:
****Jessie Clark (1842 – 8 January 1906) married:
*****Judge William Alfred Wearing
William Alfred Wearing (12 November 1816 – 24 February 1875) was a prominent jurist in the Colony of South Australia, who lost his life in the wreck of '' S.S. Gothenburg''.
Wearing was born in London, a son of businessman Christopher Hamm ...
(12 November 1816 – 24 February 1875) on 4 October 1860. He died with the wreck of SS ''Gothenburg''; she and their five children left for London shortly after.
****Anne Glenn "Annie" Clark (4 November 1843 – 4 December 1921) married:
*****Clement Sabine
Clement Sabine (c. 1831 – 27 November 1903) was a manager of several large pastoral properties in the early days of South Australia.
History
Sabine was born in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk to John Sabine and Adelaide Isham Sabine (née Eppes) and em ...
(11 January 1833 – 27 November 1903) on 6 March 1862. By this time W. H. Clark had moved to Melbourne.
****Edward Clark (1846 – 4 April 1900) married Elizabeth Jones? Wolfe? (died 1874). He married again, to (Harriett Frances) Jane Long (c. 1857 – 11 October 1938) on 11 May 1876. Jane married again, to Oscar John Herbert on 23 July 1914. Edward was also a brewer, owner of East Adelaide Brewing Company, which merged with Walkerville Brewing Cooperative and A. W. & T. L. Ware & Co., owners of Torrenside Brewery, to form Southwark Brewing Company. His large family included:
*****Elizabeth Jones? Wolfe? (died 1874) wife of Edward Clark
******Mary Glenn Clark (10 December 1868 – 6 October 1954) married Joseph Conigrave (c. 1841 – 3 April 1905) in 1898, his second wife. He died by cutting his own throat.
******Elinor Joy Clark (1870 – 14 November 1943) married Richard Fordham (c. 1870 – 22 March 1935) in 1895; he died after falling down flight of stairs
*****(Harriett Frances) Jane Long (c. 1857 – 11 October 1938) married on 11 May 1876 to Edward Clark.
******Stella Ethel Clark (1877–)
******Edward Blakely Clark (1879–1947)
******Elsie Muriel Clark (1880– not 1937)
******Rita Beatrice Clark (27 November 1881 –)
******George Oscar Murray Clark (27 May 1883 – 1959)
******Harold Hamilton Clark (1886–) married Lucy Amelia May Devonshire in 1912
******Stanley Roy Clark (1889–)
******Eric Gordon Tarcoola Clark (1893–1915)
****** Gwendolyn Gladys Blakely Clark (1896– 1983)
****William Henry Clark (1846 – 18 December 1875) born in Newry, Armagh, Ireland; married:
*****Jeannie Wilson on 3 March 1871 married William Henry Clark; and died at Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Victoria
Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Yarra local government area. Fitzroy recorded a population of 10,431 at the 2021 census.
Pl ...
His wife had a son six days later.
****George Clark (11 September 1857 –) was manager of Blanchwater Station.
See also
* Trilby Clark
Trilby Clark (born Gwendolyn Gladys Blakely Clark; 30 August 1896 – 7 July 1983) was an Australian actress who appeared in British films beginning in the silent film era. She was a lead role, leading lady in British films during the 1920s and ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, William Henry
Date of birth missing
Date of death missing
Australian brewers
People from Newry
Year of birth uncertain