Lancelot Pease Clark (30 April 1936 – 27 February 2018), was an English shoemaker, businessman, and member of the Clark family, which is the majority owner of shoe retailer
Clarks which they had founded in the 1820s.
Career
Clark was born in
Street, Somerset
Street is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, with a population of 12,709 in 2021. On a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, it is southwest of Glastonbury. There is evidence of Roman occupation. ...
into the sixth generation of the Clarks
shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear.
Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or '' cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cen ...
family.
He was educated at
Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having ...
and
New College, Oxford
New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...
. While working in the family business, he was managing director of Clarks UK, prior to the business being placed under non-family management.
He is credited with the creation of the
Wallabee shoe in 1965.
After retiring from Clarks, Clark went on to work with the
Edward Green and
Terra Plana shoe brands.
As of 2017, the Clark family still owned more than 80 per cent of the company, according to ''The Sunday Times''.
Lancelot Clark's branch of the family collectively owned about 25 per cent.
In 2008, Clark set up ethical footwear brand Soul of Africa, which raises money for South African orphans who have lost their parents to
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
.
Personal life
Based in Street, Somerset for much of his life, Clark was a painter. He had seven children in total.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Lancelot
1936 births
2018 deaths
20th-century English businesspeople
People from Street, Somerset