His first occupation was as a grocer and draper in Suffolk, his shop established opposite the gates of Easton Park, the residence of the dukes of Hamilton, and near Wickham Market.
[3] Clarke made many communications to the association's journal, predominately concerning his own finds, which the BAA referred to as "numerous, if [...] not of any great importance".
[3] Clarke's closest partner in his antiquarian studies was Edward Dunthorne (1792–1853), a fellow grocer in nearby Dennington and antiquary.
[1] Clarke was also an amateur poet, publishing an antiquarian-inspired collection of 115 four-line stanzas, in his The Suffolk antiquary; containing a brief sketch of the sites of ancient castles, abbeys, priories … also notices of ancient coins and other antiquities found in the county … concluding with a petition for calling in all defaced coins, and other changes to quiet the public mind (1849).
[3][1] His wife survived him and he was buried at Church of All Saints, Easton, where his gravestone was engraved with a final stanza of his "doggerel rhyme".