Clarke, Charles Baron (1832-1906)

English botanist who collected and described vast numbers of botanical specimens indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.

Clarke was born in Hampshire and graduated from King's College School, London. He went up to Trinity College, Cambridge 1852, and, in 1856, became a fellow at Queen's College, lecturing in mathematics 1858-65. A man of many talents, he was also called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn 1858. He left England 1865 to become an inspector of schools for the Civil Service of Bengal, India.

While in India, he continued his interest in alpine climbing and plant collecting. By 1868, he had collected 700 specimens, which were later to be lost at sea in a ship wreck. He went on collecting specimens undeterred, and upon his return to England 1877, he was able to donate 25,000 specimens to the herbarium at Kew. He returned to India 1883 until his retirement 1887, when he settled in Kew. He became a fellow of the Linnaean Society 1867 and was president 1894-96. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and a fellow of the Geological Society. He died following injuries he sustained in a bicycling accident.