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Clarke, Marcus (1846 - 1881)

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    Australian Tales
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    Holiday Peak and other tales
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    Stories of Australia in the Early Days
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    'Twixt Shadow and Shine : an Australian story of Christmas
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    Sensational Tales
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Born
24 April 1846
Kensington, England
Died
2 August 1881
Victoria, Australia

Summary

Clarke was born in Kensington, London, in privileged circumstances. Following his father's financial ruin and subsequent death in 1863, however, Clarke decided to immigrate to Australia where he worked in a variety of occupations. In 1867 he became a staff writer for the Argus, where he wrote a regular, often humorous column, 'The Peripatetic Philosopher'. He was also heavily involved in colonial theatrical life, writing pantomimes, and comedies as well as a libretto for a satirical, political operetta called The Happy Land (1880) which was subsequently banned. Burdened by debt, Clarke was forced into insolvency in 1874. His early writings were published in the Australian Monthly Magazine, Colonial Monthly (which he edited 1868-69), The Australasian and other newspapers and periodicals. His most famous work, the novel, His Natural Life, was serialised in The Australian Journal 1870-72 and published by George Robertson in 1874. A different version, For the Term of His Natural Life, was published posthumously in 1884-85.

Published resources

Books

  • Clarke, Marcus, Old tales of a young country, Melbourne?, 1871, 210 pp. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, Holiday Peak and other tales, George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, 1873, 84 pp. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Twixt Shadow and Shine : an Australian story of Christmas, George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, 1875, 104 pp. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, Sensational Tales, M'Carron, Bird, Melbourne, 1886, 91 pp. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, 138 pp. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, 200 pp. Details

Short Stories

  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Horace in the bush', in Holiday Peak and other tales, George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, 1873, pp. 34-42. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Holiday Peak', in Holiday Peak and other tales, George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, 1873, pp. 1-17. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Grumbler's gully', in Holiday Peak and other tales, George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, 1873, pp. 24-33. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Pretty Dick', in Holiday Peak and other tales, George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, 1873, pp. 43-56. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'How the circus came to Bullocktown', in Holiday Peak and other tales, George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, 1873, pp. 57-72. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Poor Jo', in Holiday Peak and other tales, George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, 1873, pp. 73-78. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Arcades Ambo', in Holiday Peak and other tales, George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, 1873, pp. 79-84. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'An up-country township', in Holiday Peak and other tales, George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, 1873, pp. 18-23. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Island of Gold - New Guinea', in Sensational Tales, M'Carron, Bird, Melbourne, 1886, pp. 1-24. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Mind-Readers Curse', in Sensational tales, M'Carron, Bird, Melbourne, 1886, pp. 26-53. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Dual Existence', in Sensational tales, M'Carron, Bird, Melbourne, 1886, pp. 54-79. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Mysterious Coincidence', in Sensational tales, M'Carron, Bird, Melbourne, 1886, pp. 80-91. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Australian Scenery', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 1-2. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Romance of Lively Creek', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 77-88. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Future Australian Race', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 127-138. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Squatter's - Past and Present', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 122-126. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Horace in the Bush', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 114-121. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Holiday Peak', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 101-113. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'King Billy's Troubles', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 89-100. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'How the Circus Came to Bullocktown', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 65-76. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'A Romance of Bullocktown', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 58-64. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Grumbler's Gully', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 50-57. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Bullocktown', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 45-49. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Gentleman George's Bride', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 25-44. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Poor Joe', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 20-24. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Learning Colonial Experience', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 3-8. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Pretty Dick', in Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. 9-19. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'A Settler's Life in Convict Days', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 58-70. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Port Arthur Visited, 1870', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 190-200. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Michael Howe, the Demon Bushranger', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 102-111. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The "Nelson" Gold Robbery', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 184-189. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Irish Patriot-Convict's Escape', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 172-183. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'An Australian Crusoe', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 158-171. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The First Queensland Explorer', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 149-157. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The South Australian Land Bubble', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 141-148. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Buckley, the Escaped Convict', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 131-140. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Governor Ralph Darling's "Iron Collar"', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 43-51. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Seizure of the "Cyprus"', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 112-117. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Jorgenson: King of Adventurers', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 71-101. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'A Leaf From an Old Newspaper', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 52-57. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Governor Bligh and the "Rum" Revolt', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 31-42. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Barrington: Prince of Pickpockets', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 24-30. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Scotch Martyr Convicts', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 18-23. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Settlement of Port Jackson (N.S.W.)', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 12-17. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'Abel Jansen Tasman: Explorer', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 6-11. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'William Dampier: Navigator', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 1-5. Details
  • Clarke, Marcus, 'The Last of Macquarie Harbour', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. 118-130. Details
  • Mackinnon, Hamilton, 'Biography', in Clarke, Marcus (ed.), Australian Tales, A. & W. Bruce, Melbourne, 1896, pp. i-xviii. Details
  • Mackinnon, Hamilton, 'Biography', in Stories of Australia in the Early Days, Hutchinson, London, 1897, pp. i-xviii. Details

See also

Archival resources

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

  • Papers of Marcus Clarke, 1783 - 1898, MS 8222; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Rachael Weaver