Thomas Henry CLARKE 1816-1865 & Mary Ellen DENTON 1825-1855

Yarmouth, England, Digby & Merino, Victoria, Australia

Thomas Henry CLARKE, b.1816 Yarmouth England, son of Thomas CLARKE and Elizabeth ELLIS was Capt. of the Brig 'Cornelius'.

He was married about 1845 to Mary Ellen DENTON, b. ca 1825, daughter of William DENTON and Mary ___.

T. H. and E CLARKE were listed as buyers of the one of the first Digby town allotments.

Thomas CLARKE and Mary Ellen DENTON had the following known children:

  1. Mary Ellen Elizabeth CLARKE b. 1845, Liverpool, England, d. ?, m. 1869, Archibald SMITH 1836-? (they had a number of children in the 1870s in Gippsland & at Horsham);

  2. Thomas Denton CLARKE b. 1847, Liverpool, England, d. 1937, Merino, Vic, m. 1907 Margaret "Maggie" McPHERSON 1852-1922 of "Heathfield Station", Strathdownie.;

  3. Sarah Hopper CLARKE b. ~1850, Liverpool, England, m. ___ KENYON, still living in England in 1937, aged 90y.;

  4. William Denton CLARKE b. 1852, Liverpool, Eng, d. 1941, m. 1877, Mary Kate FORD 1857-1930, dau of Frederick FORD and Kate Mary McKENZIE of Merino and they had children in the Edenhope & Apsley area...;
    1. Maud CLARKE, b. 1878, Chetwynd, Vic, d. 1960
    2. Ellen Kenyon CLARKE, b. 1879, Chetwynd, Vic, d. 1930
    3. Kate Mary CLARKE, b. 1882, Chetwynd, Vic, d. 1971, m. Robert LEIGO ~1874-1941
    4. Frederick William CLARKE, b. 1885, Apsley, Vic, d. 1949
    5. Ruth Jean CLARKE, b. 1890, Apsley, Vic, d. 1951
    6. Grace Ford Denton CLARKE, b. 1900, Edenhope, Vic, d. 1999, m. Percy Douglas SQUIRREL

  5. James Fethers CLARKE b. 1854 Portland, Vic, d. 1936, m. 1882, Catherine MOTEN 1863-1897 and they had the following family at Merino...;
    1. Mary Ellen CLARKE, b. 1883, Myaring, Vic, d. 1968, m. Douglas McINTOSH 1882-1941
    2. Thomas Henry CLARKE, b. 1884, Merino, Vic............?
    3. James Herbert 'Bert' CLARKE, b. 1890, Merino, Vic, d. 1966, m. Catherine Queenie Elizabeth PICKETT 1891-1951
    4. George William CLARKE, b. 1897, Merino, Vic, d. 1973, m. Elsie Gertrude BEATTIE 1893-1959
      • enlisted WW1 14 Aug 1915, grocer
      • served as Pte 4463, 14th Battalion, 5th Machine Gun Battalion, AIF
      • RTA 15 May 1919
      • Named on Casterton Town Hall Honour Roll
      • Named on Merino War Memorial



Thomas Henry CLARKE 1816-1865 & Ann CLARKE 1837-1898

Thomas CLARKE's first wife Mary Ellen died in 1855 and he then married in 1857 at Merino, Vic to Ann F CLARKE b. 1837 Dublin, Ireland, daughter of Patrick CLARKE and Alice LYNCH and they had the following children:

  1. Flora CLARKE b. 1857 Casterton, Vic, d. 1927, Sydney, NSW, m. Hugh McPHERSON 1854-1941 from Strathdownie, moved to Sydney, NSW.;

  2. Henry CLARKE b. 1859 Merino, Vic,..............?;

  3. George James CLARKE b. 1861 Digby, Vic, d. 1910. m. 1896, Annie Frances Victoria O'LEARY;
    1. Beatrice Mary CLARKE, b. 1899, d. 1899, Flemington, Vic
    2. George Francis CLARKE, b. 1904, Flemington, Vic

  4. Herbert Frederick CLARKE b. 1865, Merino, Vic,...........?.

Thomas Henry CLARKE established himself as an Auctioneer & General Agent at Merino Water Holes (later Merino) in 1856 as outlined in the following advertisement in "The Argus" Tuesday, 11th March 1856.

T. H. CLARKE, Auctioneer, and General Agent for the District of Hamilton, Victoria.
THOMAS HENRY CLARKE desires to inform, the settlers, stock-holders, farmers, graziers, butchers, and others that he has established himself at the Merino Waterholes, about fifty-two miles from Portland, where he intends holding periodical cattle sales, for all sorts of stock ; well-watered capacious paddocks are provided. He also intends holding monthly sales at the Grange, Bryant's Creek, and Casterton.
T. H. Clarke calls the attention of drovers and dealers in cattle from the neighboring colonies to the Merino as a sure and certain market for the purchase, disposal, and exchange of all sorts of stock.
Government land sales regularly attended, and purchases made for parties in the country.
Cattle sales at the Merino Waterholes on the first Wednesday of each month, commencing in April.
Established sales
Emu Creek..... February 9th
Hamilton....... February 16th
Casterton...... February 23rd
continuing the same each Saturday throughout the year.
The auctioneer will attend at Bryant's Creek the second Wednesday in each month, and be glad to attend to any other orders in the intermediate time.
Communications addressed to T.H. Clarke, Merino Waterholes, Post Offices of Casterton or Portland, will reach him.


Daryl Povey

Links to..

Digby Pioneer Names

Hotspur Pioneer Names

Merino Pioneer Names

Casterton & District Historical Society