Sir William Henry Clerke, 8th Baronet (25 November 1751 – 10 April 1818) was an English clergyman, rector of Bury, Lancashire.
[1] In 1778 he succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his older brother Francis, who was the favourite aide-de-camp to General John Burgoyne in North America, and was mortally wounded at Saratoga.
He paid much attention to the physical health of his parishioners, vaccinating the children of the poor, and even going to Rochdale once a week for a considerable time to perform the same operation.
Appended to the sermon was the speech made on the reception of the colours by the lieutenant-colonel commandant of the Bury Volunteers, the first Sir Robert Peel, whose second wife was Clerke's sister.
[4] Clerke was fond of agricultural pursuits and enterprises, and dealt extensively in corn, malt, and lime, borrowing largely in the course of his undertakings.