Sir Andrew Edmund James Clark, 3rd Baronet, (18 July 1898 – 19 May 1979) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and barrister, described as "the leading advocate of at the Chancery Bar" by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''.

Early life

Andrew Clark was the son of Colonel Sir James Richardson Andrew Clark, Bt. and the grandson of the prominent doctor Sir Andrew Clark, 1st Baronet. Clark was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. He did not proceed to university owing to the outbreak of the

First World War 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 ...

. Instead, he was commissioned into the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

in 1916. He saw service in France and Belgium, and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. He left the

in 1921, and according to ''The Times'', "there followed seven years which his biographer would find it hard to document but which certainly enlarged his horizon and experience."

Legal career

After completing his studies by correspondence from Monte Carlo, Clark was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1928, and joined Lincoln's Inn in 1930. After a pupillage with Raymond Evershed (later Lord Evershed), he joined the Chancery Bar and built a successful practice. In 1939, he was recalled to military service, and served in a number of senior administrative posts. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel and honorary

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

and was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. Clark became a King's Counsel in 1943 and was elected Bencher of the Inner Temple in 1951. In 1945, he stood as the Conservative Party candidate for Barnet, but lost narrowly to the Labour candidate. Returning to legal practice in 1945, Clark was involved in high-profile cases such as the Bank Rate Tribunal and the

Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in British politics during the early 1960s. John Profumo, the 46-year-old Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with the 19-year-old model ...

. In 1953, he conducted the inquiry into the Crichel Down affair, which led to the resignation of the Minister of Agriculture, Sir Thomas Dugdale. He inherited his father's baronetcy in 1948. In 1961, he successfully represented The Crown against the election court petition of Viscount Stansgate in ''

Re Bristol South-East Parliamentary Election ''Re Bristol South-East Parliamentary Election'' ( 9642 QB 257, 9613 All ER 354) is a 1961 United Kingdom election court case brought about by an election petition by Malcolm St Clair against Anthony Wedgewood Benn, 2nd Viscount Stansgate (al ...

''.

Family

Clark married Angelica Taylor in 1921, but she died the following year. In 1924, he married Adeline Frances Derviche-Jones, daughter of Colonel A. D. Derviche-Jones; they had two daughters. Clark died in 1979, when the

baronetcy 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 ...

became extinct.

References

* ''The Times'', 16 November 1979 * ''Who Was Who'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Andrew Edmund James 1898 births 1979 deaths English King's Counsel Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Members of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War I British Army brigadiers of World War II Royal Field Artillery officers People educated at Eton College Members of the Inner Temple Members of Lincoln's Inn Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates English barristers