Sir William Mortimer Clark (also spelled Clarke), KC (May 24, 1836 – August 10, 1915) was a Canadian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Life and career

Born in 1836 in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Scotland, Clark was educated at

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He came to Canada in 1859 and was called to the bar of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

in 1861. A prominent social activist, he became a bank director and authored a number of articles on travel. In 1866, he married Helen Gordon. Clarke was appointed the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Ontario in 1903. He supported education and hospitals during his mandate, and served until 1908. He was created 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 1907. He died in 1915 in his summer home in Prouts Neck, Maine. His remains were brought back to Toronto, where he was interred in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

References

External links

Sir William Mortimer Clark archival papers
held at th
University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, William Mortimer 1836 births 1915 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Lawyers in Ontario Canadian Knights Bachelor Lieutenant Governors of Ontario People from Aberdeen Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Immigrants to the Province of Canada