Educated locally, Clarke undertook his apprenticeship with Longbridge's Iron Works in Bedlington and at Armstrong, Mitchell & Co. in Newcastle upon Tyne.
In 1864, he set up a small engineering business on the South Shore in the same area as Hawks and Abbots iron foundries.
[1] William Clarke played an active part in the affairs of Gateshead and was a JP and a Council member for some years as well as an organiser for the local Volunteer Corps, treasurer of the Children's Hospital and a supporter of the Northern Counties Institute for the Deaf.
[1] Clarke was a staunch Methodist and the first Treasurer of the 'New Durham Road Wesleyan Mission Committee' in 1885.
[1] He also introduced a number of reading rooms and science classes for Gateshead people.