Marcus Clarke
Marcus Clarke was an English-born writer and journalist who settled in Australia in the 1860s after a tumultuous childhood marked by personal loss and financial instability. Born in 1846, Clarke faced significant challenges, including a stutter and a congenital arm condition, compounded by the early death of his mother and the mental illness of his father. Seeking a fresh start, he moved to Melbourne, where he initially pursued various jobs before discovering his passion for writing.
Clarke gained recognition for his incisive articles on life in Tasmania’s convict system, which were later compiled into the influential novel "His Natural Life," published in 1874. His editorial role at "The Australasian" was pivotal, though it also led to controversies that affected his career. Despite his literary achievements, Clarke struggled with financial difficulties, experiencing multiple bankruptcies throughout his life. He held positions, including sublibrarian at the Melbourne Public Library, but his career was marred by setbacks, including being passed over for a prominent library position. Sadly, his life was cut short by illness in 1881, yet his contributions to Australian literature have endured.
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Subject Terms
Marcus Clarke
Novelist
- Born: April 24, 1846
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: August 2, 1881
- Place of death: Australia
Biography
Marcus Clarke was born in England in 1846. His parents were Amelia Elizabeth and William Hislop Clarke. As a child, Clarke stuttered and had a congenital problem with his arm, and his mother died when he was four. Although his father was a successful lawyer who built modest wealth, Clarke saw none of the money when his father died in 1863. The year before, in 1862, Clarke’s father had become acutely mentally ill and was put in an insane asylum, and his money suspiciously vanished with him
Parentless and without money at seventeen, Clarke headed to Australia, where two of his father’s brothers lived. Melbourne was a frontier town, and Australia was a perhaps the perfect place to distract young Clarke from his woes. Clarke tried his hand at everything from bank clerk to sheep hand, but realized success as a writer. In Melbourne, Clark first wrote for Punch, Argus, and its weekend magazine, The Australasian. In 1870, Clarke began researching life in the convict systems in Tasmania for The Australasian. Clarke’s articles were collected in Old Tales of a Young Country, in 1871.
Clarke printed serial fiction about the penal colony system in The Australasian during 1870. Clark published the story in the novel His Natural Life in 1874, but not before he oversaw circulation of The Australasian decline, largely as a result of his editorship. His Natural Life was later considered a substantial work, and it continued to be published long after Clarke died.
In 1870, Clarke had landed a position as an official for the trustees of the Melbourne Public Library. In 1873 Clarke became sublibrarian. He went on to write for The Herald, but his disloyalty cost him his job with the Argus and The Australasian in 1873. Clarke spurned an offer from the London Daily Telegraph in 1875, although he was an occasional contributor. Clarke went into bankruptcy more than once; his second bankruptcy resulted from his efforts to borrow against future earnings as head of the Melbourne Public Library. Although he was one of three finalists, Clarke was passed over for the job in 1881, and he became ill and died that same year.