802 John Clarke

Constituency : Abingdon  1874-85

John  recovered  Abingdon  from  the  Tories.

John  was  a  cloth  merchant  and  railway  director, originally  from  Devon. He  was  mayor  of  Abingdon  in  the  1840s . He  was  a  Methodist. He  was  a  philanthropist  who  funded  the  building  of  a  church  and  cottage  hospital.

John  did  not  speak  in  the  Commons.

John  was  described  as  "  a  high-toned  gentleman, handsome  in  person".

He  died  in  1895  aged  73.