Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Clarke, Joseph (1811?-1860)
CLARKE, JOSEPH (1811?–1860), divine, of St. John's College, Cambridge, B.A. 1837, M.A. 1841, was incumbent of Stretford, Lancashire, and rural dean of Manchester. He was wrecked in the Orion, passenger steamer between Liverpool and Greenock, on 17 June 1850, and was picked up by a boat when almost exhausted. He published an account of this event with the title ‘The Wreck of the Orion,’ three editions, 8vo, also ‘Trees of Righteousness,’ 12mo. He made collections for a history of his parish, and bequeathed his manuscripts to the Bishop of Manchester; they were of considerable use to the Rev. F. R. Raines in preparing his ‘History of the Chantries within the County of Lancaster,’ published by the Chetham Society in 1862. Clarke died at Stretford on 18 Feb. 1860 at the age of forty-nine.
[Gent. Mag. 3rd ser. 1860, viii. 463, 1863, xv. 243; Clarke's Wreck of the Orion; History of the Chantries (Chetham Soc.), introd. xxxi.]