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 William Denison.
Clarke's 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 Clarke 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 Tasmanian Legislative Council in 1851-53 and controller of the mounted police.
In March 1853 Clarke 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 Victorian 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 Clarke 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 to 1864 Clarke served in the African colony of the Gold Coast and in England, where he was Director of Works at the Admiralty from 1864-1873.
Read more about this topic: Andrew Clarke (British Army Officer)
Famous quotes containing the word career:
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