(b Gloucester, Dec 13, 1770; d Holmer, nr Hereford, Feb 22, 1836). English organist and composer. He was the son of John Clarke of Malmesbury, Wiltshire (d. 1802) and Amphillis Whitfeld (d. 1813). He studied music at Oxford (against his family's wishes) under Philip Hayes. He was organist at Ludlow parish church, 1789, then at Armagh Cathedral, 1794, where his ‘irresponsibility and extravagance’ got him into bad odour with the authorities. Next he was Master of the Choristers at St Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals, Dublin, 1798; organist of Trinity and St John's colleges, Cambridge, 1799; and organist of Hereford Cathedral, 1820. He was pensioned off by the Hereford chapter in 1833, having become incapacitated by paralysis. He took the BMus degree at Oxford (1793), honorary MusD at Dublin (1795) and MusD at Cambridge (1799, incorporated at Oxford, 1810). In ...
