John Clarke (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1648 – November 1681), also known as John Clark, John Clerk, and John Clerke, was an English politician and Justice of the Peace who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1653 through 1660, and was a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

army between 1651 and 1659.

Biography

Family

Clarke was from

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, the son of John Clarke of

Bocking, Essex Bocking is a suburban village on the northern side of Braintree, Essex, Braintree, in Essex, England. Bocking village was historically in two parts; the original settlement around the parish church became known as Bocking Churchstreet, while a ...

.History of Parliament Online - John Clarke
/ref> Clarke married Margaret Bourne of

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, and had a son Samuel who was created

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1698, and a daughter.

Local career

Clarke was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of Bury St Edmunds by 1648 and remained until 1662.
In 1648 he was collector of assessments and

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

for

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

for

.
He was commissioner for assessment for Bury St Edmunds from 1648 to 1652 and for Suffolk from 1649 to 1652.
He was a Justice of the Peace for Suffolk from 1650 to March 1660 and was a commissioner of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

in 1650.
He was commissioner for scandalous ministers for Bury St Edmunds in 1654.
From 1655 to 1656 he was commissioner for security.
He was commissioner for assessment for Suffolk and Bury St Edmunds in 1657.
In 1659, he was commissioner for militia for Suffolk.
He was commissioner for assessment for Suffolk in January 1660 and commissioner for militia for Bury St Edmunds in March 1660.
He was

High Sheriff of Suffolk This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Suffolk. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The Sheriff was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county a ...

from 1670 to 1671.

Parliamentary career

In 1653, Clarke was nominated as Member of Parliament for

in the

Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the inst ...

.
In 1653 he was nominated as one of the representatives for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in the

.
He was elected MP for

for the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the H ...

in 1654.
In August 1654, he was returned to the

as one of the two members for the three Irish counties of Donegal, Londonderry, and Tyrone and sat till January 1655. He was at that time

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

.
In 1656 he was re-elected MP for Bury St Edmunds in the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

.
In 1656 he was elected MP for

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

and

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

in the

, and chose to sit for Cardiganshire until 10 December 1657.
He was summoned to

Cromwell's Other House The Other House (also referred to as the Upper House, House of Peers and House of Lords), established by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Humble Petition and Advice, was one of the two chambers of the parliaments that leg ...

(i.e.

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

), but did not take his seat.Besides the 61 Protectorate lords of the other house (listed by and , Citing: The Rev. Mr. Ayscough's catalogue of M.S.S. in the British Museum, no. 3246.), Clarke was one of two others given as Protectorate lords by Thurloe, but if so Mark Noble surmises they must have been invited to join the house after the year 1657.
In 1659, he was elected MP for Bury St Edmunds in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

.
In 1659, he was elected MP for

Melcombe Regis Melcombe Regis is an area of Weymouth in Dorset, England. Situated on the north shore of Weymouth Harbour and originally part of the waste of Radipole, it seems only to have developed as a significant settlement and seaport in the 13th cen ...

and for Dartmouth in a double return and chose to sit for Melcombe Regis until April 1659.
In April 1660 he was re-elected MP for Bury St Edmunds for the Convention Parliament when he was involved in a double return. He was allowed to take his seat and then unseated. In 1647, Clarke took up the accusation against the Eleven Members of the Peace Party in Parliament.
He was sent as Lieutenant Colonel Clerke with Admiral Blake to reduce the

Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the British mainland at Lizard Point, and has the souther ...

in May 1651.
He was on the Fleet Committee in December 1653 and became a Commissioner for Irish affairs in January 1654. In February 1654, he was a Commissioner of the Admiralty and was appointed a commissioner for the army on 24 June 1654.
After the death of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

he signed the order for proclaiming

Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1658 to 1659. He was the son of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. Following his father ...

Protector and was on the Committee of Safety in 1659.

Abasement

Clarke was granted a Foot regiment on 16 June 1659 by the Committee of Safety, but was cashiered with Lambert and the other generals by the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

. He was mentioned as appointed to the command of

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

in August 1659, but did not go there. He was ordered by the Council of State to depart from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 13 January 1660, and ordered on 2 February 1660 "not to stay in town". Clarke was a prisoner in the Gatehouse on 17 December 1660, when he petitioned the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

for his release, stating that he "was imprisoned on suspicion of treason, of which he knew nothing, nor had he in the least misdemeaned himself."

Death

Clarke died in November 1681 and was buried in St Mary's churchyard, Bury St Edmunds.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, John Year of birth missing 1681 deaths People from Bocking, Essex High sheriffs of Suffolk Place of birth missing Roundheads English MPs 1653 (Barebones) English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 Politicians from Bury St Edmunds Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Members of Cromwell's Other House Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales