Charles Goddard Clarke

Charles Goddard Clarke (10 May 1849 – 7 March 1908) was a British businessman and Liberal politician.^[1][2][3][4]

The son of Richard Clarke and his wife Mary née Millard, he was educated in Liverpool. He left school early, entering employment with a relative. In 1873 he married Rebecca Potter and in 1875 became a partner in Potter & Clarke Limited, wholesale druggists, of Artillery Lane, London.^[4][5] He lived in the Peckham area of South London, and was a member of the Coopers Company of the City of London.^[3][4][5] A Baptist, he was a member of the Metropolitan Tabernacle.^[5]

At the 1895 general election he unsuccessfully contested the constituency of Dulwich for the Liberal Party.^[3][4][5] In 1898 he was elected to the London County Council as a member of the Liberal-backed Progressive Party majority group, representing Peckham. He was re-elected in 1901 and 1904.^[6][7][8]

In 1900 he was once more a Liberal parliamentary candidate, standing at Mile End, but again without success.^[3][4][5] With the creation of the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell in 1900, Clarke was made an alderman on the borough council, and was mayor of Camberwell in 1902–1903.^[3][4][5]

The 1906 general election was Clarke's third attempt to enter the Commons, and he was chosen to contest the constituency of Peckham. There was a large swing to the Liberals, and he won the seat, defeating the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament Sir Frederick Banbury.^[5] Although not formally a member of the Liberal-Labour group, he was described by The Times as "an addition to the Labour group of members".^[5]

Early in 1908 Clarke became ill, and died of pneumonia at his home at Champion Hill in March, aged 68.^[3] He was buried at Nunhead Cemetery.^[3]

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