The Clarke Baronetcy, of Rupertswood in the Colony of Victoria, was created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom on 29 December 1882 for the Australian landowner and philanthropist William Clarke. [1] The Clarke family was originally from Weston Zoyland, Somerset. William John Turner Clarke, father of the first Baronet, settled in Australia in 1829. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Victoria. Sir Francis Grenville Clarke (1879–1955), fifth son of the first Baronet, was President of the Legislative Council of Victoria between 1923 and 1943.
The family seat is the Bolinda Vale estate in the Shire of Macedon Ranges, which the 4th Baronet and his wife continued to own as of 2019. [2] [3]
Former seats include Rupertswood House near Sunbury, Victoria, which was held within the family from its construction in 1876 until 1922. The 1st Baronet bequeathed Rupertswood to his eldest son and heir, who later sold the property to a younger son of the 1st Baronet, William Lionel Clarke; [4] [5] he in turn sold the property to the industrialist Hugh Victor McKay. [6] The family's town residence in Melbourne was Cliveden, reportedly the largest private residence in the city when it was completed in 1888. The 1st Baronet bequeathed Cliveden to his widow, Janet, Lady Clarke; following her death in 1909 the house and its contents were sold, and the building converted into luxury apartments. [7] [8] [9]
