1943-2026
Master Clarke, aka Tony, always maintained that he was fortunate to have two great mentors in his early life; John Buchanan, Headmaster of Oakham School (1948-57), where Tony achieved seven A levels and subsequent entrance to King’s College Cambridge, and Ken Polack, Law lecturer at King’s (1960-69). Ken tutored some of the era’s great lawyers, Bob Alexander QC, The Rt Hon The Lord Phillips and subsequently Dame Eleanor Sharpston.
It had been Tony’s ambition from a very young age to become a barrister, having been fascinated by the 1957 trial of John Bodkin Adams. It was Ken who guided Tony to Nicholas Phillips (as he then was) at 2 Essex Court, an admiralty chambers specialising in all things maritime and commercial. On his first encounter he met Barry Sheen, Head of Chambers, and was offered pupillage on the spot!
He was awarded a Harmsworth Scholarship by Middle Temple and was Called to the Bar in 1965, taking up tenancy in that chambers.
He cut his teeth on a diet of admiralty litigation, marine insurance and international trade disputes. Tony took silk in 1979 at the young age of 36 and was made Recorder in 1985. He acted for P&O in the inquiry into the loss of life of the Herald of Free Enterprise and represented Amoco in their dispute in the Amoco Cadiz oil spill.
Tony became Head of Chambers (1982-93) during a time of expansion and development, leading to the move to Quadrant Chambers. In 1993 he succeeded Barry Sheen as Admiralty Judge in the High Court, also volunteering to go on Circuit, something none of his predecessors had done.
His promotion to the Court of Appeal in 1998 was swift and there he was to be entrusted in a matter of national significance. In August 1989 the pleasure cruiser Marchioness collided with the dredger Bowbelle, causing the death of 51 young people. It took ten years for the government to set up an inquiry into safety on the Thames and to report into the need for a public inquiry. Tony was appointed. ‘The appalling disaster – on a clear warm August night in the middle of London – cried out for public scrutiny’ he said. The inquiry which he conducted in late 2000 was completed within six months. All 74 recommendations he made were taken up. He was most proud of the arrival of lifeboats on the Thames, with Tower lifeboat station being the busiest in the country.
In 2009 he was made a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, but never actually sat in the House of Lords. The UK Supreme Court had just been set up, and he became the first direct appointee to the new court.
He was granted a peerage, styled Baron Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony. He loved that, a nod to his friend Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood. His motto reflected his style; Festina Lente, make haste slowly.
In 2011 he was appointed a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, a role he cherished.
Nigel Jacobs KC later described him as ‘a mentor and guiding influence, a constant source of wisdom and wit, with boundless enthusiasm, good cheer and always a twinkle in his eye.’
David Neuberger said he was ‘the glue which ensured the cohesion of the court.’
He was made a Bencher in 1987 and appointed Treasurer of the Inn in 2012, during which time Master Arlidge persuaded him to tread the boards in the Middle Temple Hall with his wife for the Dicken’s trial of Bardell v Pickwick from The Pickwick Papers. Still doing the day job!
He was Prime Warden for 2014-15 at the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights. His appointment as Admiralty Judge of the Cinque Ports was entirely due to the Middle Temple who seized the opportunity to have one of theirs when the Queen Mother was their patron and Alastair Aird, her Private Secretary was made an Honorary Bencher.
In his private life, family was everything. He was a keen skier, tennis player (he played for the Bar), bridge player and golfer. In his year as Captain of the Middle Temple Golf Club, the Inn won the Scrutton cup – but sadly not through his play. He was ever the optimist, especially with golf. Every year he entered the Bar golf championships. He never got through the first round. But he often won the Pinks Cup!
