Editing Marcus Clarke (section)

=== Background and early life ===
Marcus Clarke was born in 11 Leonard Place, [[Kensington]], London, the only son of London barrister William Hislop Clarke and Amelia Elizabeth Matthews Clarke, who died when he was just four years old. He was the nephew of [[Andrew Clarke (British Army officer, born 1793)|Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Andrew Clarke]], a [[Governor of Western Australia]], and grandson of a retired military medical officer, Dr Andrew Clarke, who made his fortune in the [[West Indies]] and settled in [[Ireland]].<ref name="AuDB" /> Clarke was born with his left arm at least two inches shorter than the right, which prevented him from joining the army, though he became an accomplished diver in his days at Cholmeley Grammar, [[Highgate School]].<ref name=White>{{cite book |author1=White, Norman |title=Hopkins: a literary biography |date=1992 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=New York: [[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-812099-5 }}</ref>{{rp|30}} Clarke also had a slight [[stammer]] which remained his whole life.

Marcus Clarke was educated at [[Highgate School]] (1858–62), where his classmates included [[Gerard Manley Hopkins]], Cyril Hopkins and [[Ernest Hartley Coleridge|E.H. Coleridge]]. Clarke attracted Hopkins' attention primarily due to his eloquence, leading Hopkins to describe him as a "kaleidoscopic, parti-coloured, harlequinesque, thaumatropic Being"<ref name="White" />{{rp|30}} Clarke had problems with applying himself to his schoolwork, and was deprived, in his senior year, of the poetry prize as punishment.<ref name="AuDB" /> On one hand he was considered charming and witty, but on the other spoilt, conceited and aimless which could be partially attributed to his [[Bohemianism|Bohemian]] upbringing by this father, and the novels which he spent much of his time reading.<ref name="AuDB" />[[File:Marcus Clarke as a young man.jpg|upright|thumb|Marcus Clarke as a young man, 1858|alt=]]

In 1862, father William was sent to [[Northumberland House]] suffering a mental, physical, and financial breakdown and died there a year later, leaving Clarke an orphan and without the means to live as a dilettante, which had been his expectation. The biography "Cyril Hopkins' Marcus Clarke" is the only first-hand account of Clarke's early life in London.<ref name="Hopkins">{{cite book|author1=Hopkins, Cyril|title=Cyril Hopkins' Marcus Clarke|author2=Hergenhan, Laurence Thomas|author3=Stewart, Ken|author4=Wilding, Michael|author5=State Library of Victoria|author5-link=State Library of Victoria|publisher=Australian Scholarly Publishing|isbn=978-1-921509-12-4|date=2009}}</ref> It draws on first-hand experiences of both author and subject.<ref name="Hergenhan" />{{rp|24}}<ref>{{Citation|author1=Hergenhan, Laurence Thomas|title=Cyril Hopkins' Marcus Clarke|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/35435026|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Australian Scholarly Publishing; [[State Library of Victoria]]|access-date=28 December 2019|author2=Wilding, Michael|author3=Stewart, Ken}}</ref>

At age 17, his cousin, [[Andrew Clarke (British Army officer, born 1824)|Andrew Clarke]], suggested he emigrate to [[Colony of Victoria|Victoria]] where another relative, their uncle, James Langton Clarke, was a county court judge working in [[Ararat, Victoria|Ararat]]. Writing from his journey to Australia, he sent Hopkins a letter describing a sunset he had witnessed; this letter probably figured as partial inspiration for Hopkins' poem "A Vision of the Mermaids".<ref name="White" />{{rp|31}} After arriving in Melbourne on 6 June 1863, Clarke was at first a clerk in the [[Bank of Australasia]], but showed no business ability. After a year, he moved to the country and proceeded to learn farming at a [[Station (Australian agriculture)|station]] on the [[Wimmera River]], near [[Glenorchy, Victoria]] where his uncle had an interest.<ref name="AuDB">{{cite AuDB |id2=clarke-marcus-andrew-3225|title=Clarke, Marcus Andrew (1846–1881)|year=1969|access-date=28 December 2019 }}</ref>