Francis Clarke was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician. Born in Stroud, New South Wales

Stroud, New South Wales

Stroud is a small country town one hour north of Newcastle, New South Wales. It is part of the Great Lakes Council area. The major road through Stroud is the Bucketts Way...

, the son of Thomas Clarke and Ellen Walsh. He attended St Stanislaus College

St Stanislaus College

St Stanislaus College was a school in Tullabeg, County Offaly, Ireland. It was founded as a school for boys under the age of thirteen in 1818. It was endowed by the O'Briens, a local gentry family, and was intended to cater for upper middle class Catholics, as was the sister college at Clongowes...

 at Bathurst

Bathurst, New South Wales

-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...

 before becoming a surveyor. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 from 1893 to 1898, representing the seats of Macleay

Electoral district of Macleay

Macleay was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales established in 1880 in the Macleay River area. Between 1889 and 1894, it elected two members with voters casting two votes and the two leading candidates being elected. In 1894, it was...

 and Hastings and the Macleay

Electoral district of Hastings (New South Wales)

Hastings was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1859 to 1880. It was replaced by Hastings and Manning from 1880 to 1894, which elected two members with voters casting two votes and the two leading candidates being elected. In 1894 it...

. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council

New South Wales Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

 from 1899-1900, representing the Protectionist Party

Protectionist Party

The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...

. In 1901, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 as the Protectionist member for Cowper

Division of Cowper

The Division of Cowper is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election and is named for Charles Cowper, an early Premier of New South Wales...

. He held the seat until his defeat in 1903 by Henry Lee

Henry Lee (Australian politician)

Henry William Lee was an Australian politician. Born in Gerringong, New South Wales, he was a dairy farmer on the Hunter Valley, and became a leader in the dairying industry. In 1903, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the Free Trade Party, emphatically defeating...

 of the Free Trade Party

Free Trade Party

The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909...

. He had also served as the mayor of North Sydney

North Sydney

North Sydney may refer to:*North Sydney Council, a Local government area in Sydney*North Sydney, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia*Division of North Sydney, an electoral division serving the suburb...

 in the late 1890s.

He died in 1939.

Historical Relevance

He is best noted for his role in expediting the re-inclusion of Edmund Barton

Edmund Barton

Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia....

 in the Australasian Federal Convention for the establishment of the Australian Federation. Barton was a major driver in the Federation movement but as he lost his seat in the NSW Colonial parliament he faced exclusion from the discussions. To expedite his return to the political process Francis Clarke resigned from his safe seat of Hastings and the Macleay triggering a by-election which Barton won with Clarke's endorsement.

After leaving politics he was drafted as a member of the Royal Commission on Customs and Tariff 1904-07 and the Royal Commission on Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

railways and ports (1913-1914). He had been a pioneer of surveying this hitherto undeveloped part of the Australian continent.