[1][2] The Clerk family is primarily a member of the Ga coastal people of Accra[6] and in addition, has Euro-Afro-Caribbean heritage, descending from Jamaican,[1][7] German[6][8][9] and Danish[2][10] ancestry.

[16] Furthermore, Clerk and the other West Indian missionary emigrants introduced new seedlings such as breadfruit, guava and pear to the Gold Coast food economy and their progeny was instrumental in the expansion of the science and practice of agricultural education in the country.

[1][2][17][18] During the colonial era, the Clerks were among an illustrious group of thinkers, often from the coastal areas of Ghana, who flourished in the arts and sciences, spanning multiple familial generations.

[26][27] In the broader context, this era of creative ferment, marked by an outpouring of educational achievement, was a catalyst for the eventual push for the country's independence by the Gold Coast intelligentsia.

Other learned persons were the Accra literati, linked by intermarriage, as well as trade and commerce along the Gold Coast, such as the Bannerman, Bruce, Hutton-Mills, Meyer, Quist, Reindorf and Vanderpuije families.