CLARKE, William P. (1850-1891) was active in Saint John, New Brunswick from 1874 until after 1880. He frequently advertised his services as an architect in Saint John and described himself as a 'designer of all classes of public and private buildings' (Saint John Daily Telegraph, 16 Dec. 1876, 1). In 1874 he submitted a design in the competition for the City Market Hall, Saint John, for which he was awarded Third Prize of $50 (Reports of the Accounts for the City of Saint John, 1875, 22). A list of well- known citizens of Saint John who were presumably his clients for whom he prepared designs included the Count Robert Visart de Bury, Simeon Jones, Stephen Whittaker, James E. Whittaker, and John O'Gorman (Saint John Daily Telegraph, 11 March 1878, 4). He was briefly in partnership with Frank Goddard, but this association was dissolved shortly after the Great Fire of 20 June 1877, and he then formed a new partnership with David Dunham in late June of that year (see works under Dunham & Clarke).
An adept delineator, Clarke was thoroughly familiar with the elements of classical architecture, and a number of his watercolour drawings for improvements to the interiors of the Court House, NEWCASTLE, N.B., 1880, still survive, although it is uncertain if this scheme was actually executed (PANB, MC 139). Clarke appears to have left Canada after 1880, and he moved to Detroit, Michigan where his name was recorded in 1886 as a draughtsman for Elijah E. Myers, a prominent Detroit architect (Detroit City Directory, 1886, 399). Clarke remained in Detroit until January 1890 when he left to find work in Providence, R.I., in Duluth, Minn., and in Mount Clemens, Mich. He became increasingly destitute, and by May 1891 he had registered as a patient at the Wayne County Poor House in Nankin, Michigan, where he died on 7 June 1891 at the age of 41 years (obituary Detroit Free Press, 9 June 1891, 7, with commentary on 10 June 1891, 5; obituary Daily Sun [Saint John, N.B.], 11 June 1891). An essay on the career of Clarke appears in Gary Hughes, Music of the Eye, 1991, 64-5.
SAINT JOHN & AREA
PORTLAND, rebuilding of Simonds house and barn, 1875 (Morning Freeman [Saint John], 29 June 1875, 3, t.c.)
INDIANTOWN, commercial block for John Collins, Bridge Street, 1875-76 (Saint John Daily Telegraph, 16 Nov. 1875)
PORTLAND, commercial block for Henry Maher, Main Street, 1875 (Saint John Daily Telegraph, 22 Dec. 1875)
PRINCESS STREET, commercial block for Dr. Joseph C. Hatheway, 1875 (Saint John Daily Telegraph, 22 Dec. 1875)
UNION STREET, near Coburg Street, extensive remodelling of a commercial block for John R. Smith, 1875 (Saint John Daily Telegraph, 22 Dec. 1875)
WATERLOO STREET, at Golding Street, a terrace of four houses 'with Mansard roof and bays' (Saint John Daily Telegraph, 11 April 1878, 2, t.c.)
CROTHERS, HENDERSON & WILSON BLOCK, Waterloo Street, 1878 (Halifax Citizen, 8 June 1878, 3)
(with Henry N. Black) UNION STREET OPERA HOUSE, a remodelling of Dockrill's Hall for a new Opera House (Saint John Daily Telegraph, 29 Oct. 1878, 3, descrip.; Morning Freeman [Saint John], 29 Oct. 1878, 3, descrip.)
REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH, Charlotte Street, 1878-79 (New Brunswick Museum, A 148, 10)
ELSEWHERE
BOUCTOUCHE, N.B., Roman Catholic Convent, 1877, a commission which was "....superintended by Rev. Mr. Michaud' of Montreal" (Saint John Daily News, 22 Sept. 1877, 3, descrip.)
JACQUET RIVER, N.B., Presbyterian Church, 1877 (Saint John Globe, 7 Nov. 1877, 2)
HAMPTON, N.B., School House in District 2, 1879 (Daily Sun [Saint John], 20 June 1879, 1, t.c.; 18 Sept. 1879, 3)
HAMPTON, N.B., major addition to residence of J.M. Humphrey, 1879 (Daily Sun [Saint John], 31 Oct. 1879, 1)