Edward Mann Clark (12 April 1854 – 30 May 1933), often referred to as E. M. Clark, was an Australian politician. He was a North Sydney alderman for many years and served six terms as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in North Shore electorates. He was counted amongst the thirty-five Labor Electoral League members elected to parliament in 1891, but for most of his political career, Clark was identified with free trade fiscal beliefs, mostly as an independent and occasionally representing the Free Trade Party.
Early life Edward Arthur Mann Clark was born on 12 April 1854 at Hobart, Van Diemen's Land, the son of William and Selina Clark. Edward's father was a carpenter.
Young Edward was educated at Oldfield's Commercial Academy in Hobart.Mr. E. M. Clark, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 29 June 1891, page 6.
Edward's father died in 1866, when he was aged twelve, after which the family moved to Sydney.
Early career Clark was first employed by N. Dawson, a watchmaker with business premises in Barrack Street, Sydney. He intended learning the watchmaking trade, but after Dawson's death he left and took a position with the timber merchants, Messrs. Goodlet and Smith, an established business with a steam saw and joinery mill at Darling Harbour and a head office at 483 George Street.Messrs. Goodlet and Smith's Steam Saw and Joinery Mills, Illustrated Sydney News and New South Wales Agriculturalist and Grazier, 14 November 1874, page 4. For the remainder of his working life Clark was connected with the timber and building trade.
By 1878, Clark was working for the timber merchants, Miller and Harrison.Lost and Found, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 November 1878, page 1.
By July 1881, Clark was a partner of Clark and Priestman, timber merchants of the corner of Walker and Blue streets in North Sydney.Building Materials, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 July 1881, page 9. In late November 1883, Clark's business partner, Edward Priestman, appeared before the Insolvency Court.Insolvency Court: Surrenders, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 November 1883, page 5. After Priestman became insolvent, the partnership was terminated, and Clark took over the running of the business on his own account.Insolvency Court, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 February 1884, page 3.
In 1884, Clark was elected as an alderman of the municipality of East St. Leonards. He was elected mayor in 1885.
In June 1885, Clark's timber business on Sydney's North Shore, E. M. Clark and Company, was the subject of insolvency proceedings and assigned to trustees.Insolvency Court: Examination Meetings, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 May 1886, page 5. In about March 1886, Clark resigned as alderman of East St. Leonards, and a clearing sale of timber was held by the trustees.To the Ratepayers of East St. Leonards, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 April 1886, page 12.Great Clearing Sale of Timber, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 March 1886, page 12. In November 1886 an allotment with a brick cottage fronting Arthur and Little Walker streets, St. Leonards, was sold in order to close the accounts "in the assigned estate of E. M. Clark". mportant Sale of Freehold Property, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 November 1886, page 12.
Clark was re-elected as an alderman of the borough council of East St. Leonards in 1888. He was actively involved in the proposed amalgamation of the boroughs of East St. Leonards, St. Leonards and Victoria to form the municipality of North Sydney. After the amalgamation in July 1890 Clark was elected as an alderman of the North Sydney Council. He was an alderman of the North Sydney Council on a continuous basis from its incorporation in 1890 until 1928.Obituary: Mr. E. M. Clark, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 May 1933, page 15.
By 1891, Clark was the manager of a brick company.
Political career Clark's first attempt to win a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was at the October 1885 general election when he was a candidate for the two-member electorate of St. Leonards. The contest for the electorate was closely watched by the colonial press and the general public, with the premier George Dibbs being one of the sitting members. Dibbs had only recently become leader of the colonial government upon the resignation of Alexander Stuart (on the day parliament was dissolved). As well as Clark and Dibbs, the other candidates for the seat of St. Leonards was the veteran parliamentarian and prominent opposition politician, Henry Parkes, as well as the other sitting member Isaac Ives (who had won the seat in a by-election three months earlier). Parkes had been one of the members for Argyle prior to the election, elected in a by-election in late March 1885, but he chose to contest the St. Leonards electorate at the general election as a direct challenge to Dibbs. At the election held on 16 October 1885, Parkes topped the poll with 1,506 votes (33.4 percent) and Ives polled second to retain his seat. Dibbs was defeated with 23 percent of the vote, and Clark finished fourth with 18.2 percent.St Leonards – 1885, 'New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007', Parliament of New South Wales (website); accessed 28 December 2025.St Leonards – By-election, 'New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007', Parliament of New South Wales (website); accessed 28 December 2025.
Clark was urged by supporters to become a candidate at the 1887 general election. However, at that time the fiscal issue of free trade versus protectionism dominated the political discourse and Clark was asked by Henry Parkes, parliamentary leader of the emerging Free Trade Party, to retire from the contest in order that he and his colleague Isaac Ives might be returned unopposed.St Leonards – 1887, 'New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007', Parliament of New South Wales (website); accessed 29 December 2025.
Clark made a second attempt to win a seat in the Legislative Assembly at the 1889 general election, for which St. Leonards was allocated one extra seat making it a three-member electorate. Of the five candidates, four were identified as free trade candidates (including Clark), and the fifth was a protectionist. Isaac Ives had decided not to re-contest his seat and Parkes chose Joseph Cullen and John Fitzgerald Burns (previously the member for The Hunter) as the other two Free Trade Party candidates, leaving Clark to run as an independent candidate. Parkes and his two Free Trade Party colleagues were elected, with Clark polling fourth and again failing to be elected.St Leonards – 1889, 'New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007', Parliament of New South Wales (website); accessed 29 December 2025.
In September 1890 Clark was prominently involved in establishing a branch of the Single Tax League at North Sydney.Single Tax and Unionism, Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 4 September 1890, page 7.
At the 1891 general election Parkes again chose Cullen and Burns as his fellow Free Trade Party candidates. They were opposed by Clark, one other independent free trade supporter and a protectionist. On this occasion, at the election held on 17 June 1891, Clark outpolled John F. Burns for the third seat, attracting 1,917 votes (18.4 percent). Although he had campaigned as an independent free trade candidate, Clark recognised that his election was "largely due to the vote of the working-men in his own neighbourhood". He had not contested as a nominee of the Labor Electoral League, but claimed he was "in thorough accord with the labor platform" and announced that he would "sit on the cross benches with the party", as a result of which Clark was considered to be one of the initial thirty-five elected Labor Electoral League candidates to win seats at the 1891 New South Wales election.St Leonards – 1891, 'New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007', Parliament of New South Wales (website); accessed 29 December 2025. Clark was one of a group of members of parliament who attended the fourth annual meeting of the Single Tax League of New South Wales, held in January 1892 in Sydney.Single Tax and Unionism, Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 4 September 1890, page 7. He served a term as mayor of North Sydney from May to February 1893.
In September 1893 the Electoral Districts Commissioners presented their scheme of redistribution of seats under the new Electoral Act before the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. As part of the process, multi-member electorates were abolished and the electorates were realigned and in some cases renamed. The St. Leonards electorate was split into three separate constituencies, the original name being retained for one and the other two named Warringah and Willoughby.The New Electoral Districts, Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 30 September 1893, page 4.
Clark was one of the original trustees of the Kuring-gai Chase Trust, established in June 1894 to manage the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.'Ku-ring-gai Chase Trust', Dictionary of Sydney website, State Library of New South Wales; accessed 31 December 2025.The Old Road, Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 20 May 1929, page 6.
Even though E. M. Clark was considered to be one of the thirty-five Labor members elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1891, by the time of the 1894 general election he was not counted amongst their number, neither as a solidarity candidate adhering to the caucus pledge or as an independent Labor candidate.The Pith of Politics, The Worker (Wagga), 7 September 1901, page 4. At the 1894 general election the election of the member for St. Leonards, now a single-member electorate, became a contest between Henry Parkes and Clark, both of whom had been sitting members. Parkes, representing the Free Trade Party, was opposed by three independent free trade candidates (including Clark) and a protectionist. At the election held on 14 July 1894, Parkes topped the poll with 1,028 votes (50.1 percent), with Clark in second place with 825 votes (40.8 percent).St Leonards – 1894, 'New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007', Parliament of New South Wales (website); accessed 30 December 2025. At the 1894 election Joseph Cullen won the seat of Willoughby for the Free Trade Party. However, four months later, in November 1894, he was required to resign his seat after filing for bankruptcy.In Bankruptcy: Re Joseph Francis Cullen, New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney), 27 November 1894 (Issue No. 792), page 7493.The Seat for Willoughby, Evening News (Sydney), 21 November 1894, page 4. Cullen immediately offered himself for re-election at the by-election which was held on 30 November 1894. He was opposed by three other candidates, two of whom, Clark and George Howarth, also represented the Free Trade Party. In a closely fought by-election Clark was elected to the seat, attracting 453 votes (39.5 percent).The Willoughby Electorate, Goulburn Evening Penny Post, 22 November 1894, page 3.Willoughby – By-election, 'New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007', Parliament of New South Wales (website); accessed 30 December 2025.