Family and Education

s. of John Clarke of Bocking, Essex. m. Margaret, da. of one Bourne of Bury St. Edmunds, 1s. 1da.1

Offices Held

Elder, Bury St. Edmunds classis 1645; alderman, Bury by 1648-?62; collector of assessments, Suff. 1648; commr. for assessment, Bury 1648-52, Suff. 1649-52, Suff. and Bury 1657, Suff. Jan. 1660, militia, Suff. 1648, 1659, Bury Mar. 1660; j.p. Suff. 1650-Mar. 1660, commr. for scandalous ministers 1654, security 1655-6, sheriff 1670-1.2

Commr. for high court of justice 1650.

Biography

Clarke’s father was descended from a Kentish family. He himself settled in Bury St. Edmunds, of which he was an alderman by 1648. He does not seem to have taken any active part in the Civil War, but he held local office continuously during the Interregnum and sat in the Barebones and Protectorate Parliaments. He was involved in a double return for Bury at the general election of 1660. He was allowed to sit on the merits of the return, but unseated 11 days later. During his few days in the Convention he was not appointed to any committees and made no recorded speeches. He made no further attempts to enter Parliament. In 1672 his house in Bury was licensed for Presbyterian worship. He died in November 1681 and was buried in St. Mary’s churchyard, Bury. In his will he mentioned lands in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and left legacies totalling £4,200. His son Samuel was proposed as court candidate for Cambridgeshire in 1688 and created a baronet in 1698.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: M. W. Helms / Paula Watson

Notes

• 1. Dorm. and Ext. Baronetcies, 117.
• 2. County of Suff. Divided (1647), 11; Thurloe, iii. 225.
• 3. Parl. Intell. 21 Apr. 1660; CJ, viii. 9, 25; CSP Dom. 1671-2, pp. 410, 435; PCC 179 North.