Biographical entry
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Bright Sparcs
Biographical entry
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Clarke, William John (1831 - 1897) |
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| Stud-breeder, Philanthropist and Agriculturalist | |
| Born: 31 March 1831 Lovely Banks, Tasmania, Australia. Died: 15 May 1897 Victoria, Australia. | |
| (Sir) William John Clarke was a prominent colonist who contributed greatly to all facets of life in Victoria. He was one of Victoria’s top stud-breeders, but was also heavily involved in other areas such as the Freemasons, the Legislative Council and the Colonial Bank of Australia. Clarke was a great benefactor and freely gave large sums of money to charitable institutes. |
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John Clarke was a very successful livestock farmer. He was an advocate of farming based on sound scientific principles and organized for lectures in agricultural chemistry to take place across Victoria’s farming communities. Clarke imported top quality equipment and animal stocks to establish some of Victoria’s best farms. His farming interests, which even expanded to Queensland, included a model tenant farm, Leicester and merino sheep, Aberdeen Angus cattle and draught and thoroughbred horses. Clarke was also great supporter of the arts and many local organizations including the Victorian Freemasons Society, the Blind Asylum, and in 1882 on a trip to England he established the Clarke Music Scholarship (3000 guineas) for entry to the Royal College of Music. He was governor of the Colonial Bank of Australia for twenty years and president of numerous organizations including the Homoeopathic Hospital, agricultural societies, The Australian Club, The Victorian Football League and the Melbourne Cricket Club. During the late 1870’s Clarke became disillusioned with the lack of colonial defence so established his own battery of horse artillery. Chronology
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Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007 Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre Disclaimer, Copyright and Privacy Policy Submit any comments, questions, corrections and additions Prepared by: Acknowledgements Updated: 26 February 2007 http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P000093b.htm |