Chapter 5
WILLIAM CLARK, JR.
William Clark Snr.'s third child, and second son, bore his name.
William junior was born in Melmerby, Northern Yorkshire,
on November 28, 1854.1 He was therefore only nine years old
when the family arrived in Natal. The events leading to the Clark
family's arrival in Natal are described in Chapter 2. That story is largely
based on William's account of the family's first and subsequent attempt
to get to Natal.2 Gwen Sanders recounts that William once
told her of the initial voyage which ended in the shipwreck off Flamborough
Head, Yorkshire. He went on to tell her that on returning
to their home town (presumably Osmotherley), the family were feted,
fed and housed. Friends and well wishers contributed to a fund established
to enable the family to try once again to get to Natal, and
thereby achieve what William was fond of describing as "building
a super South Africa". He
told Gwen that, from their earnings and from "devious" means,
the entire family accumulated sufficient money to repay all
who had contributed to the fund established to enable the
family to get to Natal.
William was apparently a healthy young man, and in the
1932 newspaper interview he described how he chased and ran
down an impala through the Umbilo bush - eventually capturing
it alive and taking it back to the family home in Clark Road.
William also told Gwen Sanders, "from my grandfathers
knee", of an incident which occurred when he and a friend
were meandering among the mangroves in the area where Maydon
Wharf now stands. They were dressed in their knickerbockers,
stockings and boots, with sharp knives tucked into the tops
of their stockings, when they came across an enormous python.
The python was lethargic, having just consumed a young peattie
buck. The two lads attacked the python, severed its head,
and extracted a slimy young buck! Even at the age of fifty,
according to the newspaper article referred to earlier, William
was in good enough physical shape to save a man from drowning
in the Amanzimtoti lagoon.
At the age of fifteen, i.e. in 1869, William was apprenticed
as a blacksmith to a Mr. David Gavin of Durban. However,
in 1876 he set off for Pretoria "to make a fortune".
There he "started as a joiner with Mr. Christopher Cato,
brother of the late Mr. John Cato of Cato Road Durban" .3
Cato was commandeered to join in the Sekukuni campaign, and
he asked William to look after his store and family while
he was away. However, remarking that he "was not married
and therefore would not have a wife and 12 children to mourn
his death", William joined up in Cato's place. The "campaign" consisted
of an expedition by President Burghers against Chief Sekukuni
of the Bapedi tribe in the Eastern Transvaal, in which the
Boers were "ignominously routed".4 The following
anecdote about his military service at that time is attributed
to William:
He joined the artillery under Lieutenant Johnson, who took
a great dislike to him at the Pretoria Square Drill Hall.
Johnson promised Clark that as soon as they were out on trek
he would have him tied to a disselboom and given 25 lashes.
Mr. Clark countered by assuring his officer that if he were
lashed, no Lieut. Johnson would ever return to Pretoria. "This
put great fear into him", said Mr. Clark, "and
he turned out to be one of the best friends I had on the
campaign".5
William returned to Durban in 1878, and rejoined the Royal
Durban Rifles, of which he had been a founder member in 1872.
He served with that regiment throughout the Zulu War of 1879.
After returning to Durban, William went into the wagon building
business. William became the senior partner of Clark and
Kent, which he reportedly established in 1894.6 The firm
is still in existence, but now conducts business as a panel
beater! The gold rush years were reportedly very good for
William's business, and also for his love life, because one
of his customers turned out to be William's prospective father
in law. The courtship was apparently somewhat spasmodic,
being initially dependant on the vagaries of a continuing
business relationship with the prospective father in law!
On August 18, 1880 William married Sarah Elizabeth Evans,
at Camperdown. Elizabeth was the oldest child of Thomas Evans
of Camperdown, and was born on April 16, 1860.
Grand-daughter Barbara Swanson still has in her possession
the beautifully bound gilt edged Bible which was presented
to the couple, and which is inscribed as having been presented
to William and Sarah "from Fannie Howitt and John Hamlyn
on the occasion of their marriage". By this marriage
William gave to his branch of the family the distinctive "Evans" name
which became the middle name of many of their descendants.
After several disappointments, the newlyweds found board
and lodging in a decrepid lodging house at the beach end
of Pine Street, very near to the old booms at the Point railway
line rail crossing. In 1890 William and Sarah built their
own home on an approximately two and a half acre plot at
200 Manning Road. An old photograph taken around 1890, now
in the possession of Gwen Sanders, shows a clear view from
the grounds of the Manning Road house towards the Durban
Bay, over a sparsely populated Glenwood. The Manning Road "estate" was
named Ashburton, and was thereby linked to William and Sarah's
original meeting place near Camperdown. The orchard boasted
almost every conceivable tropical fruit, including paw paws,
oranges without pips, navel oranges, naartjies, lady finger
bananas, string mangoes, kidney mangoes, guavas, china guavas,
pompelmoos, sorrel, catawba grapes, white grapes, mulberries,
lemons, limes, martingulas, figs, and loquats. The orchard
is described by Gwen Sanders as having been a "feast
for friend and foe"! William subsequently bought some
property in lower Clark Road, and built several double storey
houses on the property, as an investment for his retirement
- with the result that Clark family members owned almost
all of the land to the southwest of Clark Road, from Clark
Grove to Bulwer Road.
William was the proud owner of a horse and carriage, which
were stabled in the grounds of the home on Manning Road. Gwen Sanders remembers William and Sarah using the
carriage for weekly shopping, and tethering the horse at
their usual hitching rail outside of Kings Sports in West
Street. When this mode of transport became outdated, and
the tram service was extended to the terminus at the Bulwer
Road end of Bulwer Park, the couple started using the tram
for their trips to town. They would get to and from the terminus
by ricksha, pulled by their regular puller named Joe. According
to Barbara, Joe had woolly hair ornamented by two ornate
snuff spoons, with multi coloured earrings of about five
centimetres in diameter embedded in his ear lobes! For the
going rate of a "bob", i.e. a shilling,7Joe would transport
the William Clark's from the terminus, up Bath Road, along
Manning Road, and up the steep driveway of Ashburton!
William was a benefactor and foundation member of the Manning
Road Wesleyan (Methodist) Church. He assisted financially
and physically in the construction of what is now the hall
and Sunday School, and later financially supported the construction
of the existing church building. The William Clark family
also subscribed to and assisted in establishing the Umbilo
Road Wesleyan Church. He maintained links with his family,
friends and benefactors in Yorkshire, making three trips
back to England - accompanied with gifts for those who had
assisted the family in their efforts to emigrate to Natal.
In addition, William paid for sea passages, on four occasions,
for friends and benefactors who came to visit him in Durban.
William and Sarah had three children : William Thomas, born
October 2, 1881; Ernest Clifford, born on January 1, 1884;
and Herbert Evans, born on June 23 1886. William Thomas,
or "W.T.", as he was known, was an attorney in
Durban. He was a partner with his cousin Leslie8 in the firm
of Clark and Clark. That firm continued to exist - with Leslie's
son Robin Royal ("Nobby") Clark as a partner -
until the late 60's. At that time, as Clark and Agar, the
firm was merged into the firm of Leandy, Laroque and Partners. "W.T." Clark
was an enthusiastic lay preacher. His regular "beat" was
the steps of the main Durban Post Office, where he could
usually be found at 5 p.m. seeking prospective converts by
preaching to the afternoon cinemagoers! He married his cousin
Holly, daughter of Joseph Clark. Three children were born
of the marriage : Aubrey Desmond Garfield (nicknamed "Twiddie"),
born on November 16, 1907, an advocate and attorney of Durban,
who married Noel Gray, and carried on his law practice under
the name of Clark and Robbins; Kenneth Garfield, (February
20,1910 - January 6, 1982), who was for a number of years
the Chairman of Queens Club in Durban, who married Phyllis
Whitcutt; and Beryl Gertrude Garfield (March 26, 1912), who
married Kenneth John McFie. In the early 80's "Twiddie" was
presented with a special award by the Natal Law Society,
to commemorate his many years of service to the legal profession
in Natal. At that time he was one of the last - if not the
last - "dual practitioner" in Natal. The right
of "dual practice" i.e. the right to practise in
Natal as both an advocate and attorney, applied only to persons who entered the profession prior to 1927.
William and Sarah's second son, Ernest Clifford Clark (born
January 1, 1884), married Eva Kate Rawson (born ,January
6, 1887). Ernest was "hospitalised" out of the
army during World War 1, while serving in East Africa, having
contracted - among other things - tubercolosis, from which
he never recovered. He was nursed by, and died in the arms
of, his brother Herbert. A daughter, Lola Clifford Clark,
was born of the marriage, on September 26, 1908. She was
married, respectively, to men named McGlew and Seaton.
Herbert Evans Clark married Alice Muriel Gooden (April
24,1888 -June 9, 1972) at the Manning Road Wesleyan Church
on April 23, 1913. He was a soccer enthusiast, and a member
of the Stella Football Club for many years. Herbert eventually
became the president of the club, and also vice-president
of the Natal Football Association. At one time there were
no less than nine Clarks representing the Stella Football
Club! Herbert and Alice had four children.9 First was Maurice
Evans Clark (born September 2,1914) who married Joan Fell,
lived in Durban, and had five children - Allan, Lorraine,
Faye, Kevin and Stuart. Next was Gwendoline Evans Clark (born
December 5, 1917), who married Douglas Sanders, lived in
Durban, and also had five children - Graham, Susan, Jane,
Rohan and Richard. The third child was Raymond Evans Clark,
who married Pat Michaux, lived most of his life in Salisbury,
Rhodesia, then moved to the Cape. He had two children - Jill
Riddoch Evans Clark and Peter Murray Evans Clark. Youngest
of Herbert's family was Barbara Evans Clark, who married
Basil Swanson, lived in Durban and then Johannesburg, and
had five children - Lynne, John, Paul, Brian and Brenda.
In the joint will which William and Sarah executed in 1908
- before their son William T. Clark as the Notary Public
- William is described as a "wagon builder". He
retired from Clark and Kent in 1917, at the age of 63. At
the time he was still the senior partner, and he handed over
the reins to his partner Fred Kent.10 William died in 1938,
and Sarah on February 1, 1947.
Stella Football
Club - 1906 (Under 20)
Standing: Alfred Clark; F. Smith; C. Redman; J. Ward; C.
Hillary
Seated: Peter Clark; C. Sperryn; Frank Clark; Mr. Chiazzari;
A. Pinchon; W. Sperryn
Foreground: R Smith; B. Smith; E. Smith
Stella Football Club - 1910
Standing Top Row: H. Moore; W.N. Sperryn; Alfred Clark; D.
East
Standing: A. Williams; Robert Douglas (married Amelia "Minnie"
Clark);
W. Weber; F.D. Chase; L. Smith; H.F. Smith (married Emily
Maud Clark)
Seated: T. Ballantyne; Frank Clark (Capt.); Herbert Clark
(V. Capt.); E. Parton
Sitting Front: J. Lewis; Edgar Clark
Stella Football Club (Junior
Cup Winners 1904)
Back Standing: W. Sperryn; H. Dickinson; R. Gavin; C. Hillary
Seated (Left to Right): A. Clark; F. Smith; H. Wratten (Captain);
R.C.
Nutman (President); F. Clark; P. Clark; G. Olsen
Seated Front: E. Smith; P. East; B. Smith
Stella Football Club - 1922
(Dewar Shield and Charity Cup Winners)
Back Row: E.R. Brokensha; R. Moore; C. Stephenson; S. Martyn;
L. MacRae;
C. Tucker; R. Cutbush.
Standing: F. Scoones; A.V. Harrison; A.W. Scoones; H. Davis;
R. Scoones;
H. Millyard; Herbert Clark; C. Roper; S. Veckranges.
Seated: William "W.T." Clark; A Hutchinson; Edgar Clark (Captain);
W.H. Sperryn (President); V. Clarkson (Vice Captain); Alfred
Clark; A. Williams
1 I acknowledge
and appreciate the assistance which I received from Gwen
Sanders and Barbara Swanson, grandchildren of William
Clark, in compiling and reviewing the information contained
in this chapter.
2 "It Took Seventy
Days From England To Durban In 1861"; Week- End
Advertiser, April 16, 1932.
3 Id.
John Cato - the half brother of the well known early Durban
burgesses Christopher and George Cato, - died in 1867.
Shelagh Spencer, British Settlers In Natal Vol.
4, at p. 53. George Cato was, of course, the first Mayor
of Durban. Id., at p. 57 The various streets and areas
of Durban which bear the name "Cato" are attributed
to either George or Christopher Cato. John McIntyre, Origin
of Durban Street Names , at
p. 26.
4 Brookes and Webb, A History of Natal. at p.
126 (University of Natal Press 1965).
5 Weekly Advertiser
article, supra,
6 Durban Past
and Present. Compiled and
Edited by Allister MacMillan, at pages 195-196. However,
as mentioned in Chapter 2, Bobbin Eales suggests that
it was William Clark Senior after whom Clark and Kent
is named.
7 For the benefit of the post decimalization generation,
this was twelve pence, or the monetary equivalent (but obviously
not the equivalent in purchasing power) of the current ten
cents.
8 The Sort of
Joseph Clark, and father of Nobby. See Chapter 6.
9 Two children
of Herbert. and Alice died in infancy: Bryan Evans Clark
(born July 29, 1923), and Keith Evans Clark (born November
13, 1927). These names are recorded on the flyleaf of
the family Bible in the possession of Barbara Swanson.
10 Durban Past and Present, supra.
back to top
