William John Clarke
Date of birth / Date established
1831
Date of death / Date closed
1897
Place of birth / Place established
Person/Corporate type
Individual
Biography
"Sir William John Clarke, Bart., M.L.C., L.L.D., J.P., was the eldest son of the late Hon.W.J.T. Clarke, M.L.C.. He was was born in 1831 in Tasmania and arrived in Victoria in 1850. He studied sheep farming on his father's Dowling Forest station for about two years, and then focussed on the management of the Woodlands station, in the Wimmera. He then returned to Tasmania, where he lived for the next ten years, working the Norton-Mandeville Estate in conjunction with his brother, Joseph. In 1862 he became manager of his father's concerns in Victoria, and on the latter's death in 1874 succeeded to his Victorian estates. Sir William was particularly interested in farming as a science, and supported scientific instructor R.W.E. M'Ivor, who lectured on agricultural chemistry. He also founded the Rupertswood Battery of Horse Artillery, Victoria. He was a generous philanthropist." Source: Museum Victoria http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/themes/2566/william-j-clarke-farmer-1831-1897
