When I first read this novel a very long time ago I did not look into the life of the author Marcus Clarke, but now I am intrigued about the man who actually wrote what is considered the best account of convict life in a penal colony in Australia in the 19th Century.
So it made sense to me to write a post on Marcus Clarke before talking about his famous novel.
(Here is a photoI found of Marcus Clarke on Wikipedia. He looked quite the bohemian dandy!)
Who was Marcus Clarke?
From my limited sources on Kindle and Wikipedia I have found out that Marcus Clarke was born on 24 April 1846 in Kensington London, the only child of William Hislop Clarke ( barrister) and his mother, Amelia Elizabeth Clarke. He was well educated at the best schools and after his father's passing in 1862 he emigrated to Australia at the tender age of 17. (His poor mother, she probably never say him again!) An uncle, James Langton Clarke was a county Court Judge in Australia where I can only assume he stayed on his arrival in the country.
Marcus tried his hand in the banking world and farming at first until he was employed at The Argus, an Australian Newspaper. He had already been writing short stories for an Australian Magazine. Marcus was sent to Tasmania to visit the penal colony at Port Arthur to get a first hand view of the conditions and treatment of convicts. He was researching and writing essays about convicts for the paper at the time.
(Here is the Argus building in Melbourne. The Newspaper closed down in 1957.)
source
The following month the serialisation of his great novel, For The Term of His Natural Life started in an Australian journal. Marcus Clarke considered himself a Bohemian, he became secretary to the trustees of the Melbourne Athenauem in 1872 and became sub assistant librarian in 1868. It is documented that Marcus wrote other pieces of work, like other novels, comedies and pantomimes.
In 1868 he married Marian Dunn (an actress) and fathered 6 children. it is reported that he was often in financial difficulties, he died at the young age of 35 on 2 August 1881. (Writing did not pay well in the 19th Century, he had a wife and 6 children to support. Feeding, clothing and educating cost money.)
Marcus Clarke is recognised as a big contributor to Australian literacy. A main street in Canberra bears his name and in 1973 he was commemorated with a postage stamp.
Cheers and Blessings
