unknown 'Farnham' 78 Elphin Road Launceston Tasmania Australia Joseph Ebenezer Clarke Eliza, Amy & Sidney Herbert

Mrs Eliza Clarke was born in 1836 at St Martin's parish, Stamford Baron, Northamptonshire, England. She was the only daughter of William Samuel Clarke (1805-1871), a tailor, and his wife Martha Coleman (1804-1884). The Clarke family sailed from Liverpool as bounty passengers on the Great Tasmania arriving in Hobart, Tasmania, on 27 Jan 1857. The surgeon on the ship provides a description of 21-year-old Eliza, a nursegirl: 'Very well looking, oval face, blue eyes, tall, good figure'. Her father worked as a tailor in Launceston and Deloraine.

On 14 Feb 1861 Eliza Clarke married her cousin Joseph Ebenezer Clarke at a Registry Office in Melbourne. Her brother Thomas was a witness at the wedding. Their first child Eliza was born in Melbourne in 1863, before they moved to Launceston where their second daughter Amy was born on 11 Aug 1867. Joseph set up a bootmaking business in St Marys where their son Sidney Herbert was born on 22 Aug 1873. They returned to Launceston when Joseph retired. Eliza died on 22 Nov 1909 aged 73, at her home 'Farnham', 78 Elphin Road. She was buried with her husband at the Cypress Street Cemetery. Joseph and their daughter Amy Horne also are pictured in the Launceston Family Album.

Marion Sargent & Carolyn Southam Jul 2011