Alexander Clerk was also a pioneer of the precursor to the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and a leader in education in colonial Ghana, co-establishing a boarding middle school for boys, the
Salem School, Osu in 1843.[15] 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][16][17]
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.[1][2][6][10][18][19][20] Outside academia, the family was also active in ecclesiastical circles and the upper echelons of government, including
diplomacy. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, several prominent members of the Clerk family dominated various spheres of public life in Gold Coast society and later, modern Ghana, making significant and pioneering social and scientific contributions to the domestic and regional
knowledge economy through the growth of
architecture,
church development,
civil service,
education,
journalism,
medicine,
natural sciences,
public administration,
public health,
public policy and
urban planning.[2][21][22][18][23][24] The Clerk family is related through marriage to several distinguished indigenous Ga families of
Accra like the
Adom,
Nikoi,
Odamtten,
Ollennu,
Quao and
Sai families among others.
Some historically renowned Gold Coast families, mainly from southern Ghana, of
Akyem,
Anlo Ewe,
Fante and
Ga ethnicities that thrived in various intellectual pursuits within this period include the
Baëta,
Bartels,
Brew,
Casely-Hayford,
Easmon,
Gbeho and
Ofori-Atta families.[25][26] 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.[27][28][29] Other educators such as
Hall and
Miller were based in the
peri-urbanAkan hinterland.[1][6][17]
Notable members
Notable members of the Clerk family across successive generations include:
Nicholas Timothy Clerk (1862 – 1961), a Basel-trained theologian and pioneering missionary, was elected the first Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1918 to 1932. He was a founding father of the all boys' boarding high school, the
Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School, established in 1938.[2][21]
Third generation
Carl Henry Clerk (1895 –1982) was an
agricultural educationist, administrator, journalist, editor and church minister who served as the fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1950 to 1954. From 1960 to 1963, he was also the Editor of the
Christian Messenger, established in 1883 by the Basel Mission, as the news publication of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.[23][30][31][32]
Jane Elizabeth Clerk (1904 – 1999) was a schoolteacher and pioneer woman education administrator on the Gold Coast.[33][34]
Theodore Shealtiel Clerk (1909 – 1965) was the first formally trained, professionally certified Ghanaian architect of the Gold Coast who received the Rutland Prize from the
Royal Scottish Academy in 1943. A presidential advisor to Ghana's first leader,
Kwame Nkrumah, Clerk was the chief architect, town planner and the first chief executive officer (CEO) of the
Tema Development Corporation, a role in which he planned, designed and developed the post-independent metropolis of
Tema, the location of the largest seaport in Ghana, the
Tema Harbour. He was an Associate of the
Royal Institute of British Architects and the
Royal Town Planning Institute. In 1964, Theodore Clerk became the first president of the first national professional society, the
Ghana Institute of Architects, started in 1963, for the promotion of the architectural practice, education and accreditation in Ghana.[19][22][35][36][37][38]
Matilda Johanna Clerk (1916 – 1984) was the second Ghanaian woman and the fourth West African woman to become a medical doctor. M. J. Clerk was also the first Ghanaian woman in any field to win an academic merit scholarship for university education abroad and the first woman in Ghana and West Africa to attend graduate school and earn a postgraduate diploma. Additionally, she was the joint second Ghanaian woman and joint fifth woman in West Africa to receive a baccalaureate degree.[18][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]
Commemorative plaque attached to the chapel of the Grace Presbyterian Church,
Nungua-North, Accra, in memory of Nicholas T. Clerk
Commemorative plaque in the sanctuary of the
Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu in honour of A. W. Clerk, his son, N. T. Clerk and other Basel Mission pastors from Osu
Commemorative tablet in the sanctuary of the
Christ Presbyterian Church, Akropong, in memory of A. W. Clerk, Joseph Miller, John Hall, John Rochester, James Mullings, John Walker, James Green and Jonas Horsford
Hanover Street,Akropong, where the Caribbean Moravians originally resided
Jamaica, a
well at Aburi, dug by John Rochester in the 1850/60s, dedicated to the memory of the West Indian Moravians by the Jamaican Community in Ghana
N. T. Clerk Congregation, Volta Presbytery,
Worawora
Presbyterian Day, also Ebenezer Day, Presbyterian Church of Ghana, special Sunday in the
Almanac in remembrance of the Basel and West Indian missionaries
T. S. Clerk Street, between Akojo School Park and Tweduaase Primary School, Site 6, Community I, Tema
The Rev. N. T. Clerk Memorial International School, Worawora
^
abClerk, Nicholas, Timothy (1943). The Settlement of West Indian Emigrants on the Gold Coast 1843–1943 – A Centenary Sketch. Accra.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^Jena, Geographische Gesellschaft (für Thüringen) zu (1891).
Mitteilungen (in German). G. Fischer. p.
77. nicholas timothy clerk basel.
^
abKwakye, Abraham Nana Opare (2018). "Returning African Christians in Mission to the Gold Coast". Studies in World Christianity. 24 (1): 25–45.
doi:
10.3366/swc.2018.0203.
^
abcPatton, Adell Jr. (13 April 1996). Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa (1st ed.). University Press of Florida. p. 29.
ISBN9780813014326.
^Clerk, Nicholas, T. (27 July 1999). Obituary: Jane Elizabeth Clerk, 1904 -1999. Accra: Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Funeral Bulletin. p. 1.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^"History". gia.org.gh. Archived from
the original on 27 July 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^Clerk, Nicholas, T. (5 January 1985). Obituary: Dr. Matilda Johanna Clerk, MBChB, DTM&H. Accra: Presbyterian Church of Ghana Funeral Bulletin.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^Clerk, Daniel (13 June 2019).
"In memoriam: George Carver Clerk, 87". Nature Research Ecology & Evolution Community. Nature Research. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
^Clerk, Daniel (July 2019).
"Obituary of George Carver Clerk, 1931-2019"(PDF). ISPP Newsletter. 49 (7). International Society for Plant Pathology: 5.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
^LSHTM Malaria Centre.
"2004-05 Report". zdoc.site. pp. 29–30.
Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
^Gates Malaria Partnership (2003).
Annual Report(PDF). London: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. pp. 47–48. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
^Clerk, Christine Alexandra; Bruce, Jane; Greenwood, Brian; Chandramohan, Daniel (1 June 2009). "The epidemiology of malaria among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in an area with intense and highly seasonal malaria transmission in northern Ghana". Tropical Medicine & International Health. 14 (6): 688–695.
doi:
10.1111/j.1365-3156.2009.02280.x.
ISSN1365-3156.
PMID19392740.
S2CID3150052.
Alexander Clerk was also a pioneer of the precursor to the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and a leader in education in colonial Ghana, co-establishing a boarding middle school for boys, the
Salem School, Osu in 1843.[15] 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][16][17]
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.[1][2][6][10][18][19][20] Outside academia, the family was also active in ecclesiastical circles and the upper echelons of government, including
diplomacy. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, several prominent members of the Clerk family dominated various spheres of public life in Gold Coast society and later, modern Ghana, making significant and pioneering social and scientific contributions to the domestic and regional
knowledge economy through the growth of
architecture,
church development,
civil service,
education,
journalism,
medicine,
natural sciences,
public administration,
public health,
public policy and
urban planning.[2][21][22][18][23][24] The Clerk family is related through marriage to several distinguished indigenous Ga families of
Accra like the
Adom,
Nikoi,
Odamtten,
Ollennu,
Quao and
Sai families among others.
Some historically renowned Gold Coast families, mainly from southern Ghana, of
Akyem,
Anlo Ewe,
Fante and
Ga ethnicities that thrived in various intellectual pursuits within this period include the
Baëta,
Bartels,
Brew,
Casely-Hayford,
Easmon,
Gbeho and
Ofori-Atta families.[25][26] 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.[27][28][29] Other educators such as
Hall and
Miller were based in the
peri-urbanAkan hinterland.[1][6][17]
Notable members
Notable members of the Clerk family across successive generations include:
Nicholas Timothy Clerk (1862 – 1961), a Basel-trained theologian and pioneering missionary, was elected the first Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1918 to 1932. He was a founding father of the all boys' boarding high school, the
Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School, established in 1938.[2][21]
Third generation
Carl Henry Clerk (1895 –1982) was an
agricultural educationist, administrator, journalist, editor and church minister who served as the fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1950 to 1954. From 1960 to 1963, he was also the Editor of the
Christian Messenger, established in 1883 by the Basel Mission, as the news publication of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.[23][30][31][32]
Jane Elizabeth Clerk (1904 – 1999) was a schoolteacher and pioneer woman education administrator on the Gold Coast.[33][34]
Theodore Shealtiel Clerk (1909 – 1965) was the first formally trained, professionally certified Ghanaian architect of the Gold Coast who received the Rutland Prize from the
Royal Scottish Academy in 1943. A presidential advisor to Ghana's first leader,
Kwame Nkrumah, Clerk was the chief architect, town planner and the first chief executive officer (CEO) of the
Tema Development Corporation, a role in which he planned, designed and developed the post-independent metropolis of
Tema, the location of the largest seaport in Ghana, the
Tema Harbour. He was an Associate of the
Royal Institute of British Architects and the
Royal Town Planning Institute. In 1964, Theodore Clerk became the first president of the first national professional society, the
Ghana Institute of Architects, started in 1963, for the promotion of the architectural practice, education and accreditation in Ghana.[19][22][35][36][37][38]
Matilda Johanna Clerk (1916 – 1984) was the second Ghanaian woman and the fourth West African woman to become a medical doctor. M. J. Clerk was also the first Ghanaian woman in any field to win an academic merit scholarship for university education abroad and the first woman in Ghana and West Africa to attend graduate school and earn a postgraduate diploma. Additionally, she was the joint second Ghanaian woman and joint fifth woman in West Africa to receive a baccalaureate degree.[18][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]
Commemorative plaque attached to the chapel of the Grace Presbyterian Church,
Nungua-North, Accra, in memory of Nicholas T. Clerk
Commemorative plaque in the sanctuary of the
Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu in honour of A. W. Clerk, his son, N. T. Clerk and other Basel Mission pastors from Osu
Commemorative tablet in the sanctuary of the
Christ Presbyterian Church, Akropong, in memory of A. W. Clerk, Joseph Miller, John Hall, John Rochester, James Mullings, John Walker, James Green and Jonas Horsford
Hanover Street,Akropong, where the Caribbean Moravians originally resided
Jamaica, a
well at Aburi, dug by John Rochester in the 1850/60s, dedicated to the memory of the West Indian Moravians by the Jamaican Community in Ghana
N. T. Clerk Congregation, Volta Presbytery,
Worawora
Presbyterian Day, also Ebenezer Day, Presbyterian Church of Ghana, special Sunday in the
Almanac in remembrance of the Basel and West Indian missionaries
T. S. Clerk Street, between Akojo School Park and Tweduaase Primary School, Site 6, Community I, Tema
The Rev. N. T. Clerk Memorial International School, Worawora
^
abClerk, Nicholas, Timothy (1943). The Settlement of West Indian Emigrants on the Gold Coast 1843–1943 – A Centenary Sketch. Accra.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^Jena, Geographische Gesellschaft (für Thüringen) zu (1891).
Mitteilungen (in German). G. Fischer. p.
77. nicholas timothy clerk basel.
^
abKwakye, Abraham Nana Opare (2018). "Returning African Christians in Mission to the Gold Coast". Studies in World Christianity. 24 (1): 25–45.
doi:
10.3366/swc.2018.0203.
^
abcPatton, Adell Jr. (13 April 1996). Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa (1st ed.). University Press of Florida. p. 29.
ISBN9780813014326.
^Clerk, Nicholas, T. (27 July 1999). Obituary: Jane Elizabeth Clerk, 1904 -1999. Accra: Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Funeral Bulletin. p. 1.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^"History". gia.org.gh. Archived from
the original on 27 July 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^Clerk, Nicholas, T. (5 January 1985). Obituary: Dr. Matilda Johanna Clerk, MBChB, DTM&H. Accra: Presbyterian Church of Ghana Funeral Bulletin.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^Clerk, Daniel (13 June 2019).
"In memoriam: George Carver Clerk, 87". Nature Research Ecology & Evolution Community. Nature Research. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
^Clerk, Daniel (July 2019).
"Obituary of George Carver Clerk, 1931-2019"(PDF). ISPP Newsletter. 49 (7). International Society for Plant Pathology: 5.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
^LSHTM Malaria Centre.
"2004-05 Report". zdoc.site. pp. 29–30.
Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
^Gates Malaria Partnership (2003).
Annual Report(PDF). London: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. pp. 47–48. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
^Clerk, Christine Alexandra; Bruce, Jane; Greenwood, Brian; Chandramohan, Daniel (1 June 2009). "The epidemiology of malaria among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in an area with intense and highly seasonal malaria transmission in northern Ghana". Tropical Medicine & International Health. 14 (6): 688–695.
doi:
10.1111/j.1365-3156.2009.02280.x.
ISSN1365-3156.
PMID19392740.
S2CID3150052.