Andrew Clarke (administrator)

Infobox Governor
honorific-prefix = The Honourable
name =Sir Andrew Clarke
honorific-suffix =
GCMG


order =Governor of Straits Settlements
term_start =1873
term_end =1875
deputy =
predecessor = Major General Sir Harry St. George Ord
successor = Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois
birth_date =birth date|1824|7|27|df=y
birth_place =Southsea, Hampshire, England
death_date =death date|1902|3|29|df=y
death_place =Bath, Somerset
spouse =Lady Frances Jackson
religion =Christian
constituency =
party =
languagesspoken =

Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Clarke (1824 – 1902) was born on 27 July 1824 in Southsea, Hampshire in England. He died on 29 March 1902 in Bath, Somerset. Clarke was the eldest of the four sons of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Andrew Clarke, the Governor of Western Australia (1793 - 1847).

Education

Clarke's early years were spent in India with his parents. He was later brought up by his paternal grandfather and two uncles, one of whom was the father of Marcus Clarke, at the family home of Belmont, near Lifford, Ireland. He was educated at The King's School, Canterbury, and at Portora Royal School at Enniskillen, Ireland. At 16 he entered the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, where one of his teachers was Michael Faraday.

Career

Graduating in 1844, Clarke was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers and after a year of further study at Chatham was sent to Fermoy in Ireland. In 1846 he was nominated to the Oregon Boundary Commission; his father, who was then governor of Western Australia, urged him instead to come to Australia with the hope of later gaining a professional post with him. As a Lieutenant in command of a detachment of Royal Engineers, Clarke sailed with the new lieutenant-governor, Sir William Denison, aboard the "Windermere" and arrived at Hobart on 26 January 1847. His father's death the following next month left Clarke with little reason to remain in Australia but he continued to superintend convict labour and to survey the area around Hobart and design wharf accommodation, and became friends with Willian Denison.

His next tour of duty was in New Zealand with governor Sir George Grey, from September 1848. He and his detachment worked mainly on road building, and Clarke discovered his gift for dealing with native peoples when he was sent on a peace-making mission to the Bay of Islands.

In 1849 he returned to Hobart to become private secretary to William Denison, Governor of Tasmania and New South Wales, and was also an official nominee in the Legislative Council in 1851-53 and controller of the mounted police.

In March 1853 he was asked to replace Robert Hoddle as Surveyor-General of Victoria and arrived at Melbourne in May. His hard work and energy resulted in more land being sold in the next 18 months than in the years since 1836. He also established the Roads Boards that preceded the introduction of local government and was responsible for much of the planning of Victoria's first railways. His proposals for a government-controlled railway system were examined by a select committee and were made law in 1857. Additionally, he set up the first electric telegraph from Melbourne to Williamstown, Victoria and was able to report in November 1857 that the service had reached the borders of New South Wales and South Australia.

Clarke entered the Victorian Legislative Council in August 1853 as an official representative, where he was active in the drafting of the new constitution. He was also responsible for the drafting and successful inauguration of the Municipal Institutions Act in December 1854, which provided for local government based on the English model in Melbourne's growing suburbs, on the goldfields, and in the country.

At the 1856 elections Clarke mounted a successful campaign against David Blair for the South Melbourne seat in the Legislative Assembly, which he held until he left the colony. He joined the first cabinet under William Haines, as Surveyor-General and Commissioner for Lands.

In March 1858 he was appointed permanent head of the Lands and Surveys Department and decided to return to England. In London, he tried and failed to secure the governorship of Queensland and spent some months on barrack duty at Colchester.

From 1859-1864 he served on the Gold Coast and in England, where he was Director of Works at the Admiralty from 1864-1873.

Governor of the Straits Settlements

Sir Andrew Clarke served as the Governor of the Straits Settlements from 4 November 1873 until 7 May 1875. He was famous for signing the Treaty of Pangkor in 1874, which established indirect British rule over the Malay States. In that same year, he successfully enforced a check on the abuse of coolies with support of the prominent Chinese leaders and European merchants. Clarke achieved fame through his negotiations in regard to Sungei Ujong in Malaya, sorting out the differences between different leaders in the state. Clarke was blamed for the death of the first British resident in Perak, James Wheeler Woodford Birch, due to his ignorance of a complain, when Sultan Abdullah of Perak wrote a letter to inform him about Birch's rudeness against the Malay rulers, because at that time he was about to retire and did not want that problem to destroy his reputation as one of the most successful colonial administrators. Today Singapore's Clarke Quay is named after him.

Further service

From 1875-1880 Clarke was on the council of the Viceroy of India. He was Commandant of the Royal School of Military Engineering at Chatham from 1881-1882, and finally was Inspector-General of Fortifications in England from 1882-1886.

After his retirement from the army, he unsuccessfully contested Chatham for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in 1886 and 1892 as a follower of William Ewart Gladstone and Home Rule. Clarke retained an interest in the Australian colonies, and briefly acted as agent-general for Victoria in 1886, 1891, and 1893, before being appointed agent-general in 1899, which post he held until his death.

Clarke died at his house in Portland Place, London, on 29 March 1902. He was predeceased by his wife, Mary Margaret MacKillop, whom he had married on 17 September 1867, and he was survived by their only child, Elinor Mary de Winton.

Honours

* Appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB), 1869.
* Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG), 1873.
* Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE), 1877.
* Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG), 1885.

References

* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030386b.htm Sir Andrew Clarke Biography]
*cite book | last = Vetch | first = Robert Hamilton | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Life of Lieut-General the Hon. Sir Andrew Clarke | publisher = E. P. Dutton and Company | date = 1905 | location = Plymouth | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn =