Clarke, William, an English divine, was born at Haghmoon-abbey in Shropshire, 1696; and, after a grammar-education at Shrewsbury school, was sent to St John's college Cambridge, of which he was elected fellow, Jan. 17, 1716; B. A. 1731; M. A. 1735. He was presented by Archbishop Wake in 1724 to the rectory of Buxted in Sussex, at the particular recommendation of Dr Wotton, whose daughter he married. In 1738 he was made prebendary and residentiary of the cathedral church at Chichester. Some years before this he had given to the public a specimen of his literary abilities, in a preface of his father-in-law Dr Wotton's Leges Walliae Ecclesiasticæ et Civiles Hœli Boni; et aliorum Walliae Principum; or Ecclesiastical and Civil Laws of Howel D Da, and other princes of Wales. There is reason likewise to surmise, that an excellent Discourse of the Commerce of the Romans, which was highly extolled by Dr Taylor in his Elements of the Civil Law, might have been written by our author. It came either from his hand or from that of his friend Mr Bowyer, and is reprinted in that gentleman's Miscellaneous Tracts. But Mr Clarke's chief work was, the Connexion of the Roman, Saxon, and English coins; deducing the Antiquities, Customs, and Manners of each people to modern times: particularly the Origin of Feudal Tenures, and of Parliaments; illustrated throughout with critical and historical Remarks on various Authors both sacred and profane. This work was published, in one volume quarto, in 1767; and its appearance from the press was owing to the discovery made by Martin Folkes, Esq. of the old Saxon pound. It was dedicated to the duke of Newcastle, whose beneficent disposition is celebrated for having conferred obligations upon the author, which were not the effects of importunity. Mr Clarke's performance was perused in manuscript by Arthur Onslow, Esq. speaker of the house of commons, who honoured him with some useful hints and observations; but he was chiefly indebted to Mr Bowyer, who took upon him all the care of the publication, drew up several of the notes, wrote part of the dissertation on the Roman sesterce, and formed an admirable index to the whole. By this work our author acquired a great and just reputation. Indeed, it reflects honour upon the country by which it was produced; for there are few performances that are more replete with profound and curious learning. Mr Clarke's last promotions were the chancellorship of the church of Chichester, and the vicarage of Ampthill, which were bestowed upon him in 1772. These preferments he did not long live to enjoy, departing this life on the 21st of October, in the following year. He had resigned in 1768, the rectory of Buxted to his son Edward. In Mr Nichols's Anecdotes of Bowyer, there are several letters and extracts of letters written to that learned printer by Mr Clarke, which display him to great advantage as a man of piety, a friend, and a scholar.

In a sketch of his character in the Biographia Britannica, furnished by Mr Hayley, who was his intimate acquaintance, he is represented as not only a man of extensive erudition, but as possessed of the pleasing talent of communicating his various knowledge in familiar conversation, without any appearance of pedantry or presumption. Antiquities were the favourite study of Mr Clarke, as his publications sufficiently show; but he was a secret, and by no means an unsuccessful votary of the muses. He wrote English verse with ease, elegance, and spirit. Perhaps there are few better epigrams in our language than the following, which he composed on seeing the words Domus ultima inscribed on the vault belonging to the duke of Richmond in the cathedral of Chichester:

Did he, who thus inscribed the wall, Not read, or not believe, St Paul, Who says there is, where'er it stands, Another house not made with hands? Or, may we gather from these words, That house is not a house of lords?

Among the happier little pieces of his sportive poetry, there were some animated stanzas, describing the character of the twelve English poets, whose portraits, engraved by Vertue, were the favourite ornament of his parlour: but he set so modest and humble a value on his poetical compositions, that they were seldom committed to paper, and are therefore very imperfectly preserved in the memory of those to whom he sometimes recited them. His taste and judgment in poetry appear indeed very striking in many parts of his learned and elaborate Connexion of Coins. His illustration of Nestor's cup, in particular, may be esteemed as one of the happiest examples of that light and beauty which the learning and spirit of an elegant antiquarian may throw on a cloudy and mistaken passage of an ancient poet. In strict attention to all the duties of his station, in the most active and unwearied charity, he might be regarded as a model to the ministers of God. Though his income was never large, it was his custom to devote a shilling in every guinea that he received to the service of the poor. As a master, as a husband, and a father, his conduct was amiable and endearing; and to close this imperfect sketch of him with his most striking features, he was a man of genuine unaffected piety.