TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Southland Times, Issue 21423, 18 June 1931, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE TIMES

The announcement of the death on April 26 of Sir Edward Clarke, K.C., in his 91st year, was accompanied in The Times by a memoir written by Sir Edward himself, the manuscript of which he sent to The Times on March 31, 1913. In the accompanying letter he wrote: “It seems to me that an obituary notice of a man should be written by himself, if be should have reached old age (as is the case with me) and should by his gradual detachment from the occupations and interests which have filled his life become capable of viewing fairly in perspective the events of his career.” Sir Edward had had an eventful as well as distinguished career at the Bar and in politics. He was by far the senior K.C. and the oldest Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn. His memoir, with a brief supplementary notice, occupied three columns in The Times. Its opening sentences were: “The death of Sir Edward Clarke was the close, so far as earthly activities are concerned, of a very busy and very happy life. Sir Edward always spoke of himself as one of the most fortunate of men, and was wont to say that the disappointments of his career had generally turned out to be good fortune in disguise.”

Sir Edward Clarke concluded his memoir with the following passage:—"Sir Edward Clarke owed none of his success to any advantages of personal appearance. He was below the middle height and of sturdy figure. His strong features gave the face a stern and almost harsh expression, and the brown eyes which might have softened it were half-closed under heavy brows. In his youth and early manhood he was not a favourite with men or women; his painful earnestness gave him an unattractive severity of appearance and manner; but in later life prosperity mellowed him, and the saving grace of humour displayed itself in some of his later speeches. His first wife died in 1882, and in the following year he marred a lady nearly 20 years his junior, and of great personal charms. In her faithful and affectionate companionship he enjoyed many more years of the greatest domestic happiness. Sir Edward left directions that after cremation his ashes should be placed beneath the chancel pavement of St. Peter's Church, in a cinerary urn which was prepared for him by the Martin Brothers in 1901, and has since stood on a bookcase in his dining room.”