Richard Henry Clarke

Another of the old identities of Timaru’s pioneer days has passed away in the person of Mr. R. H. Clarke, who died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Charles Brown, Ashburton, on Saturday morning. Mr. Clarke left Cornwall, England, for New Zealand with his wife and family in October, 1863, in the ship Tiptree, arriving at Lyttelton three months later, and came on direct to Timaru in the steamer City of Dunedin, and from the open roadstead were brought ashore in surf boats. Timaru was only just beginning in those days, the hardships were great, and food was scarce and very dear, but those early settlers were a noble band of workers, who toiled long and arduously to make a little home for themselves and their families. After some time, Mr. Clarke got a position in a store owned by Messrs. Cain and LeCren, which afterwards became Miles, Archer, and Co.’s business, where he worked himself up to be head storeman, and was universally respected by all who did business with the firm. He remained in the firm’s employ for 32 years, when the business was wound up. He then entered into business on his own account as a grocer, which he worked for eight years, and then had to retire owing to ill health. Mr. Clarke leaves a family of four daughters and one son, the daughters being Mrs. J. B. Courtis of Dunedin, Mrs. G. Watts, and Mrs. A. R. Rule, of Timaru, and Mrs. Chares Brown, of Ashburton, and the son, Dr. R. E. Clarke, of Birmingham, England. His wife predeceased him by ten and a half years