George Edward Clark — ‘the father of Cambridge’
George Edward Clark 1840-1935
How refreshing to walk up Ward Street, Hamilton, and see that the G. E. Clark & Sons building is being treated with the respect due to an iconic building and its place in our heritage it has been given a fresh coat of paint and the letters G.E. Clark & Sons not painted over or ground off but highlighted in contrasting white.
But although the date on the fac¸ ade states ‘‘established 1880’’, the firm was not established under that name until 1903. It refers back to George Clark’s earlier business.
George Clark was born in Cambridgeshire, England, in 1840 and was brought up on his father’s farm. In 1864 he migrated to New Zealand. He met and married Elizabeth Garlick after which they moved to Cambridge and began farming on a 300-acre property. He later increased his holding to 600 acres, and he farmed there for 27 years. By 1872 he was advertising prize-winning potatoes for sale from his Cambridge farm.
In December 1880 Clark established a grain and seed supply business, in partnership with Joseph Gane, who was based in Auckland. They were bought out in 1885 by the North New Zealand Farmers’ Association. In 1894 Clark sold the farm, after which he continued alone as commission agent and produce merchant.
Clark was known also for his ‘‘splendid horse stock’’: in the Auckland Show in November 1893 he took four prizes with four horses in the roadster class, and in the Waikato show seven prizes with six horses. Other horses bred by Clark also took prizes – at the Waikato show all nine horses bred by him took prizes.
In obituaries Clark was described as ‘‘the father of Cambridge’’, or the ‘‘grand old man’’. He was 94 when he died and had been a part of the Cambridge community for many years. In particular, he was involved with farming organisations, being an organiser of the original Waikato Farmers’ Club and an active member of the Waikato A&P Association. Clark was a Waikato County councillor for six years, the Cambridge Road Board and the Cambridge Borough Council.
He was a staunch member of the Methodist Church and of the Cambridge Bowling Club; he stopped bowling just five years before his death.
According to the Waikato Independent, Clark was ‘‘the benefactor of more bodies and institutions than is generally known.
He had the welfare of many organisations at heart and with a keen interest in social reforms, time and again assisted with more than the sound advice that was often sought from him’’.
He ascribed his longevity to ‘‘moderation in all things, and the splendid, clean, Christian life’’; or perhaps it was his practice of indulging in a cold bath every morning?
Ward Street was not opened up until 1906, and the small sections for commercial premises not surveyed until 1907, so GE
Clark’s was one of the first buildings on what had been stockyards. By that time Hamilton was developing fast as the service centre for the Waikato farming industry, and several stock and station agents, and produce suppliers, had been established in the town.
George’s son Harry Herbert Clark set up the firm of GE Clark & Sons with his father. In 1907 he came to Hamilton to open up the Hamilton branch.
Elements of the early building remain, with the twin gables of the original roof visible above the fac¸ ade, which was given a Moderne makeover in the 1940s.
George Clark died in 1935 and was buried at Cambridge Cemetery, Hautapu, in the grave of his wife, who had died in 1913. He was survived by four sons and two daughters.
GE Clark & Sons remained in business in Cambridge and Hamilton until 1977, when it seems they were taken over by Allied Farmers.
The current owners clearly value the building and its place in Hamilton’s streetscape. It serves as a reminder of a man who was well-known and respected, especially those in farming communities.