Harold George Michael Clarke (29 September 1898 – 19 August 1978) was an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

in the 20th century.

Education

Clarke was educated at

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...

. ''Who Was Who 1897–2007''. London,

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing ''Who's Who'' since 1849 and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' between 1827 and 1903. It offers a wide variety of boo ...

, 2007 His education was interrupted by the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and he served with the 2nd Field Company

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in France during 1918. After the war he went up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he took a first class in 1919 in the mathematics

tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

part i, and a second class in 1921 in the history tripos part ii.

Teaching career

He was an Assistant Master at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

from 1921 to 1932, when he was appointed

Headmaster A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

Rossall School Rossall School is a private Day school, day and boarding school, boarding school in the United Kingdom for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey, St Vincent Beechey as a ...

, serving for five years until 1937. In 1937 he became Headmaster of

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was th ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. He led the school during one of the most difficult periods of its history, when mounting debts and falling numbers, together with the effects of the war, led to questions as to the continuing viability of the institution. Clarke was obliged to close houses and departments within the school during this period, successfully keeping it open. Of his six immediate predecessors as Headmaster, five went on to very senior roles in the Church of England - a Dean of Winchester Cathedral, a

Dean of York The Dean of York is the member of the clergy who is responsible for the running of the York Minster cathedral. As well as being the head of the cathedral church of the diocese and the metropolitical church of the province, the Dean of York holds ...

Minster, a

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft, following the Confirm ...

, and two

Archbishops of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop was Augustine ...

( William Temple and Geoffrey Fisher). In the same pattern, Clarke left the school in 1943 to pursue an ecclesiastical career.

Church career

Clarke was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1938, whilst at Repton, and became Rector of Holy Trinity, St Marylebone in 1945. In 1951 he became Provost of Birmingham Cathedral, and held the post for over a decade, retiring in 1962.

Private life

Clarke was a prominent

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, under the

United Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales, and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic Grand Lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron ...

. He held multiple lodge memberships, including the prestigious Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge No 4 (which predates even the first Grand Lodge of 1717), and the Royal Alpha Lodge No 16, a private lodge of the Grand Master. He rose to prominence in Birmingham Freemasonry, being appointed Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire. He was installed in December 1953 by Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarbrough, Grand Master. He held the position until 1965. He was also a very prominent member of the

Holy Royal Arch The Royal Arch is a degree of Freemasonry. The Royal Arch is present in all main masonic systems, though in some it is worked as part of Craft ('mainstream') Freemasonry, and in others in an Masonic appendant bodies, appendant ('additional') ord ...

, holding national office as the Third Grand Principal, one of three conjoint national leaders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Michael 1935 births Headmasters of Repton School People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Provosts and Deans of Birmingham Teachers at Winchester College 1978 deaths