Sir Humphrey Orme Clarke, 5th Baronet

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Sir Humphrey Orme Clarke

Birthdate:
Birthplace: London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
Death: January 22, 1973 (66)
Bibury, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom (Suicide by gunshot)
Place of Burial: Wotton Under Edge, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom
Immediate Family:

Son of Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet, CBE and Elfrida Clarke
Ex-husband of Constance Elizabeth Clarke; Elisabeth Clarke and Frances Mary Powys Clarke
Father of Orme Roosevelt Clarke and Sir Tobias Clarke, 6th Baronet
Brother of Alfred Clarke and Charles Frederick Clarke

Managed by: Alissa Ann Smith
Last Updated:

About Sir Humphrey Orme Clarke, 5th Baronet

Sir Humphrey Orme Clarke, 5th Baronet

Baron Clarke was an English diplomat.

Early Life

Clarke was born on 6 July 1906, in London, United Kingdom. He was the son of Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet and Elfrida Roosevelt. Humphrey had two younger brothers, Alfred Roosevelt Orme Clarke (who died young), and Charles Frederick Orme Clarke. His father was a barrister who had inherited the baronetcy from his uncle, General Sir Charles Clarke, 3rd Baronet, in 1932.

His paternal grandparents were Frederick Clarke (second son of the Rev. Sir Charles Clarke, 2nd Baronet) and Adelaide Catherine Kerrison. His maternal grandparents were Alfred Roosevelt (a son of James A. Roosevelt) and Katherine Lowell (a daughter of Augustus Lowell). Through his mother, he was a first cousin, twice removed from U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and a second cousin, twice removed from President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

He was educated at Eton College, where he was Captain of the Oppidans, and Christ Church, Oxford.

Career

Sir Humphrey was with the British Embassy in Washington between 1941 and 1944. He was with the Foreign Office between 1944 and 1946. He succeeded to the title of 5th Baronet Clarke, of Dunham Lodge, County Norfolk (UK, 1831) on 31 March 1949.

Personal Life

On 12 June 1931, Clarke was married to Frances Mary Powys Sketchley, a daughter of Maj. Frederick Powys Sketchley. They divorced in 1936.

On 1 September 1938, he married Elisabeth Irene (née Cook) Campbell, the daughter of Dr. William Alexander Cook of Tulsa, Oklahoma and former wife of Colin Leiter Campbell. They were the parents of:

Sir Charles Mansfield Tobias Clarke, 6th Baronet (1939–2019), who married Charlotte Walter, daughter of Roderick Walter, in 1971. They divorced in 1979 and he married Teresa Lorraine Aphrodite de Chair, daughter of Somerset de Chair and Margaret Patricia Field-Hart, in 1984.

He married, thirdly, Constance Elizabeth (née Gibbs) Langton, daughter of Herbert Gray Gibbs, on 11 February 1947. She was previously married to John Stephen Langton. Before their divorce in 1953, they were the parents of:

Orme Roosevelt Clarke (1947–1992), who married Joanna Valentine Schuster, daughter of Major John Schuster and Hon. Lorna Frances Hermon-Hodge (a daughter of Roland Hermon-Hodge, 2nd Baron Wyfold), in 1971. They divorced in 1989 and he married Christine V. O'Flaherty, daughter of J.G. O'Flaherty, in 1991.

Sir Humphrey committed suicide by shotgun on 22 January 1973, at the age of 66, at his estate in Bibury, Gloucestershire. He left an estate valued at £786,274, was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, Toby.

Descendants

Through his eldest son Toby, he was a grandfather of three: Theodora Roosevelt Clarke (MP for Stafford), Augusta Elfrida Clarke, and Olympic athlete Lawrence Somerset Clarke.
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5th Baronet. He was the son of Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Bt. and Elfrida Roosevelt. He married, firstly, Frances Mary Powys Sketchley, daughter of Major Frederick Powys Sketchley, on 12 June 1931. He and Frances Mary Powys Sketchley were divorced in 1936.3 He married, secondly, Elisabeth Cook, daughter of Dr. William Alexander Cook, on 1 September 1938. He married, thirdly, Constance Elizabeth Gibbs, daughter of Herbert Gray Gibbs, on 11 February 1947. He and Constance Elizabeth Gibbs were divorced in 1953. He was educated at Eton College, Eton, and at Christ Church, Oxford University, Oxford. He was with the British Embassy to Washington between 1941 and 1944, and with the Foreign Office between 1944 and 1946.

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Sir Humphrey Orme Clarke, 5th Baronet's Timeline

1906
July 6, 1906
London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
1939
September 8, 1939
Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, California, United States
1947
November 30, 1947
1973
January 22, 1973
Age 66
Bibury, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom