When they married in 1830, Thomas Clarke and Ellen Walsh began a dynasty that would grow to thousands of descendants.
Arriving in Sydney in 1836 with the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot, Sergeant Thomas Clarke travelled to Bathurst, Port Macquarie and Van Diemen’s Land escorting convicts. But the lure of land ownership and a healthy climate encouraged Thomas and Ellen to leave the Army and settle near Clarence Town, building their home and raising their children.
Spanning the years from 1805 to 2010, Eugenia Rauch paints a fascinating picture of the life of the British Army soldier and his wife – in Corfu, Ireland and Australia. She brings to life the voyage to Hobart Town, the tiresome life of a soldier in colonial New South Wales and the possibilities open to settlers.
Through tales of everyday life, we see how our forebears lived, coping with bushfires, heatwaves, floods and drought. Eugenia looks at all aspects of early Australian life – food, work, social customs, etiquette and politics – to highlight their contribution to the young nation. Francis Clarke, with his nobe act of self-sacrifice, aided the federation of Australia.
The Clarke family, now numbering over six thousand five hundred descendants, have worked on the land, lived in the growing towns and cities, struggled through the Great Depression and two Wars. Intertwining with other Macleay River families – McMahon, Hayes, Smyth, Barrie, Egan, Campbell and McCarthy – they raised families that spread across Australia.
Eugenia invites you to celebrate the lives of Thomas and Ellen, their nine children and seventy-eight grandchildren and to discover their absorbing story.
For more information about Clarkes in Australia: The families of Thomas and Ellen Clarke, contact us.