Frank Clarke (Australian politician)

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

He was born in Sunbury to grazier William John Clarke and Janet Marion Snodgrass. His grandfather William John Turner Clarke had been an early member of the Victorian Parliament, while his father Sir William Clarke 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. On 24 July 1901 he married Nina Ellis Cotton, with whom he had six children. In 1913 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council as a non-Labor member for Northern Province. 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. During this time he changed provinces twice, to Melbourne South in 1925 and Monash in 1937. During his time in parliament he was a member of the Nationalist, United Australia, Liberal and Liberal and Country parties. He was knighted in 1926. Clarke died at South Yarra in 1955.[1]

References

  1. Parliament of Victoria (2001). "Clarke, Sir Francis Grenville (Frank)". re-member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
Victorian Legislative Council
Preceded by
Sir Walter Manifold
President of the Victorian Legislative Council
19231943
Succeeded by
Clifden Eager
Preceded by
Richard Abbott
Member for Northern
19131925
Served alongside: William Baillieu; Richard Abbott
Succeeded by
George Tuckett
Preceded by
Sir Arthur Robinson
Member for Melbourne South
19251937
Served alongside: Thomas Payne; Norman Falkiner; Harold Cohen; Archibald Crofts
Abolished
New seat Member for Monash
19371955
Served alongside: Archibald Crofts; Frank Beaurepaire; Thomas Brennan
Succeeded by
Charles Gawith
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