Physical description

Alfred Thomas Clark was born in Edmonton, a suburb of London, on 11 August, 1844. He was the third child of seven children to well-known Australian artist Thomas Clark (1814-1883) and Jane, nee Clarkson.

He originally signed on as a seaman on the Australian coastal ships and then worked in H.B. Donaldson’s ship chandlery business in Port Melbourne. In the 1864-65 Victorian Gazette he is listed as an Acting Tide Waiter in the Customs Office. In 1871 he stood and was elected, as the member for Williamstown in the Victorian Parliament. He founded The Williamstown Advertiser in 1875. He was a partner in an auctioneering firm, a director of several insurance companies, involved in two building societies and in control of a land syndicate which is where he made his fortune. He was a Justice of the Peace and President of the Williamstown Football Club.

He died at sea on board the Oceana on 19 May, 1888, on his way to London, where he was to put a South Australian Mining Venture on the market. His wife and three children who had been travelling with him returned to Melbourne.

Source: williamstownhistsoc.org.au