Henry Clarke (Australian politician)

Henry Clarke (22 June 1822 – 22 November 1907) was an Australian businessman and politician in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Broulee in 1843; painted by John Skinner Prout in watercolour and gouache

Clarke was born in Maghera, County Londonderry, Ireland, he emigrated to New South Wales in 1841 and he farmed for a while at Broulee. He returned to Sydney and married Jane Rayner in 1847 and they eventually had eleven children. He and Robert Gee established a successful shipping agency and owned three ships operating between Sydney and Melbourne by 1861. In the early 1860s, he lived for a period at Bergalia station near Moruya, but returned to Sydney in 1865 and worked at his agency until 1894.[1]

Parliamentary career

In 1860, he contested the seat of Eden and lost to Daniel Egan. In 1869 he re-contested Eden and won. He held the seat continually until he was beaten 1894 by William Wood and then after a gap of 13 months won a by-election for Bega, which he held until 1904. He was briefly Postmaster General in early 1889. He was noted as a hard-working parliamentarian.[2]

Clarke died in Randwick. On his eightieth birthday he had claimed to have two hundred grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.[1]

References

Rutledge, Martha. "Clarke, Henry (1822-1907)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 17 December 2020 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
"Mr Henry Clarke (1822-1907)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 11 May 2019.

Political offices
Preceded by Charles Roberts	Postmaster-General January–March 1889	Succeeded by John Kidd
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Daniel Egan	Member for Eden 1869 – 1880	Succeeded by Henry Clarke James Garvan
Preceded by Henry Clarke	Member for Eden 1880 – 1894 Served alongside: James Garvan	Succeeded by William Wood
Preceded by Thomas Rawlinson	Member for Bega 1895 – 1904	Succeeded by William Wood

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[adb-1] Rutledge, Martha. "Clarke, Henry (1822-1907)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 17 December 2020 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.

[nsw-2] "Mr Henry Clarke (1822-1907)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 11 May 2019.