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George Clarke
George Clarke (1661–1736) (Studio ofGodfrey Kneller)
Member of Parliament
In office 1717–1736
Preceded by	William Whitelock
Succeeded by	William Bromley
Constituency	Oxford University
In office 1711–1713
Preceded by	Henry Hyde
Succeeded by	Edward Herle
Constituency	Launceston
In office 1705–1708
Preceded by	John Hayes
Succeeded by	Harry Trelawny
Constituency	Winchelsea (1702–1705) East Looe (1705–1708)
Secretary at War
In office 1690–1704
Monarch	William III
Preceded by	William Blathwayt
Succeeded by	Henry St John
Personal details
Born	7 May 1661
Died	22 October 1736 (aged 75)
Alma mater	Brasenose College, Oxford

George Clarke (7 May 1661 – 22 October 1736), of All Souls, Oxford, was an English architect, print collector andTory politician who sat in theEnglish andBritish House of Commons between 1702 and 1736.

The son ofSir William Clarke, he enrolled atBrasenose College, Oxford in 1676. He was elected aFellow ofAll Souls College, Oxford in 1680. He was returned in a contested by-election on 23 November 1685 asMember of Parliament forOxford University, but never took his seat as Parliament had been prorogued.^[1] He became Judge Advocate to theArmy and wasSecretary at War in Ireland from 1690 to 1692 and in England from 1693 to 1704 underWilliam III of England andQueen Anne. He served as secretary toPrince George of Denmark, Queen Anne's consort and the Lord High Admiral and Generalissimo of England.^[2]

Clarke was returned asMember of Parliament forWinchelsea at the1702 English general election, coinciding with his office as Joint Secretary of the Admiralty. At the1705 English general election he was returned as MP forEast Looe. He was not nominated for a seat at the1708 British general election. He was returned in a by-election on 29 May 1711 as MP forLaunceston from 1711. He did not stand at the1713 British general election. Over the latter period he was LordCommissioner of the Admiralty from 20 December 1710 until 14 October 1714, when he was dismissed following the accession ofGeorge I.^[2]

Clarke returned to the House of Commons as MP forOxford University at a by-election on 4 December 1717 following the death ofWilliam Whitelock.^[3] He was reelected in1722,1727, and1734, by which point he had lost his left eye and was losing sight in the other.^[4]

He was also an amateur architect.^[5] His known work is largely confined to Oxford, (Clayton's DNB entry for Clarke offers more detail of his architectural endeavours) and he is known to have designed buildings and also to have collaborated withNicholas Hawksmoor, amongst others.

Timothy Clayton discusses Clarke's print collection, noting "John Vanburgh, Alexander Pope and George Vertue travelled to Oxford to use his library with its unique collection of notes and drawings by [Inigo] Jones" (Clayton 1992, p. 124).

The library of Worcester College, Oxford houses Clarke's collection of books, MSS, prints and drawings. Building work on the library, which was started within a few years of the college's founding in 1714, was completed in 1736. A spat between Clarke and All Souls resulted in the bequest to Worcester.

The library in the Peckwater Quad,Christ Church, Oxford (1717–38)

RebuiltThe Queen's College, Oxford, with Hawksmoor (1710–21)

The New Buildings,Magdalen College, Oxford (1733)

The Hall, Chapel and Library,Worcester College, Oxford (1733–1753)

The Rectory,Kingston Bagpuize (c.1723)

Cokethorpe House, alterations (c.1710)

• 
  The Library, Christ Church, Oxford
• 
  The rear of The Library, Christ Church, Oxford
• 
  Quad, The Queens' College Oxford
• 
  Quad, The Queens' College Oxford
• 
  High Street front, The Queens' College Oxford
• 
  Magdalen College, Oxford, New Buildings in the background
• 
  Front, Worcester College, Oxford
• 
  Quad, Worcester College, Oxford

Clayton, T. (1992) "The Print Collection of George Clarke at Worcester College, Oxford".Print Quarterly 9(2) 123–141.

George Clarke Print Collection

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/clarke-george-1661-1736

Clayton, T. (1997)The English Print 1688–1802. Yale University Press. London.

Clayton, T. (2004) "Clarke, George (1661–1736)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004. Online edition. DOI:http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/5496

• 1661 births
• 1736 deaths
• British MPs 1715–1722
• British MPs 1722–1727
• British MPs 1727–1734
• British MPs 1734–1741
• British MPs 1710–1713
• British MPs 1707–1708
• Lords of the Admiralty
• Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
• Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
• Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Oxford University
• Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for East Looe
• Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for East Looe
• English MPs 1702–1705
• English MPs 1705–1707
• English blind people
• 18th-century Royal Navy personnel
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• Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Launceston
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