Frank Clarke (Victorian politician)

Sir Francis Grenville Clarke KBE (14 March 1879 – 13 February 1955) was an Australian politician.

Clarke was born in Sunbury to grazier William John Clarke (later Sir William Clarke, 1st Baronet) and Janet Marion Snodgrass. His grandfather William John Turner Clarke had been an early member of the Victorian Parliament, while his father had also served in the parliament. His brothers Sir Rupert Clarke and Russell Clarke and nephew Michael Clarke were also MPs. Frank Clarke attended Scotch College, the University of Melbourne, and Oxford University, becoming a grazier with widespread properties.

Political career

In 1913 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council as a non-Labor member for Northern Province.[1] He was Minister of Lands from 1917 to 1919, Minister of Water Supply from 1917 to 1921, and Minister of Public Works from 1919 to 1923. In 1923 he left the ministry and was elected President of the Victorian Legislative Council, a position he held for the next twenty years.[1] During this time he changed provinces twice, to Melbourne South in 1925 and Monash in 1937.[1] During his time in parliament he was a member of the Nationalist, United Australia, Liberal and Liberal and Country parties.[1] He was knighted in 1926.

Personal life and family

On 24 July 1901 he married Nina Ellis Cotton, with whom he had six children:[2]

  • John Holywell Clarke (1902 - 1918)
  • Margaret Mary Clarke (b. 1904) married John Egerton Oldham in 1933 (divorced 1952)
    • John Christopher Clarke Oldham (b. 1934)
    • Patricia Anne Oldham (b. 1950)
  • Patricia Kathleen Clarke (1906 - 1973) married Raymond Vincent O’Burne
  • William Antony Francis Clarke (1908 – 1953) married Jessie Deakin Brookes, a granddaughter of three-time Australian Prime Minister Alfred Deakin
    • Francis Brookes Clarke (b. 1940) who married (1) Jacqueline Crossley in 1969 (div. 1976) and (2) Viva Spens
      • Antony Graham Clarke (b. 1970)[3]
    • Janet Deakin Clarke (b. 1942)
    • William Severn Clarke (b. 1945)
    • Barbary Cotton Clarke (b. 1950)
  • Colin Grenville Clarke (1914 – 1962) married Elizabeth Lennox Spiers
    • Sally Miranda Clarke (b. 1949)
    • Jason William Clarke (b. 1952)
  • Valerie Janet Cotton Clarke (1920 – 1977) married Robert John Southey
    • Robert Clarke Allen Southey (b. 1948)
    • Guy Francis Southey (b. 1950)
    • Jonathan Edward Southey (b. 1951)
    • William Blaise Southey (b. 1957)
    • Patrick Richard Christian Southey (b. 1963)

Sir Frank Clarke died at South Yarra on 13 February 1955.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Sir Francis Grenville Clarke". Members of Parliament. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
  2. ^ Howard, Joseph Jackson; Crisp, Frederick Arthur (1921). "Visitation of England and Wales, Vol. 21". Archive.org — Internet Archive. Privately printed (Grove Park Press), London. Retrieved 7 February 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage". Internet Archive. Debrett’s Peerage & Baronetage. 1985. p. 195. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
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