04 Apr The Clarke Family
Newspaper notification of my parents wedding I was sent this newspaper notification by a friend in Melbourne, David Kitchens. It was a real surprise and cetainly all new information for me.
The Clarke Family History is very well researched by R.H. Clarke and recorded in his publication
A Family History of the CLARKES OF MELROSE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Sydney Walter Clarke(1884-1960) was born in Adelaide and worked on the trains between Adelaide and Kalgoolie during the goldrush of the 1890’s. Family memory is that he resigned from the railways 1909 and took a job with McCalls department store in Adelaide. There was a box for suggestions there and from his experience in Kalgoolie and Perth he suggested that they open a branch in Perth. The owners agreed and made him the manager. He of course was delighted but by 1928 he was wanting to establish his own store. This disappointed the owners so they gave him a 10 year contract with an increased salary and a car. This unexpectedly gave him security all through the depression that commenced after October 1929.
Kenneth John Clarke (1919-2002) married Evelyn Jean Ford (1916-1992) in 1941. She was a country girl who grew up in Katanning, WA and went to school at Victoria Square Catholic girls School in Perth. the point that she was a country girl is important because when they began to discuss retirement she thought it was a good idea to move to Albany because of the cooler weather. Dad, having been born and raised in Perth was not persuaded. My youngest sister Fiona Louise loved riding horses so it seemed a very good idea to buy a property in the country not too far from Perth. In 1975 Enderslea Farm was on the market, about 100 acres subdivided into 7 lots. The old settlers house, stone barn built by ticket of leave men and other out buildings happily have now been in the family for 40 years.
This The Honor Flag Certificate was given to Elsie Souter Ford (Jean Ford Clarke’s mother) when she subscribed to the Seventh War Loan. There is no date on it so it is not clear if it is from the first or second World War. Her only brother James McGuirgan Souter (1889-1918) Army No 3321 was declared as missing in action on April the 6th 1918 fighting with the 48th Infantry Battalion at Villers-Bretonneux, France. 770 Australian soldiers are now buried there though James has no known grave. So this certificate is probably from World War 1 though her son Frederick Ford was fighting at Tobruk in World War 2 so it could have been that war.
UK nursing certificate for Diane Elizabeth Clarke (1942- ). Im gathering together many certificates from various Clarke family members so I thought I should at least contribute some of my own…I even have a couple of crossing the equator. In the 1960’s it was much more common to travel to Europe via ship rather than plane. I trained as a nurse at Charles Gairdner Hospital starting in 1963. After finishing general nursing I then went to Guys Hospital London to do Midwifrey Nursing Part 1.
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