At Rosebank, his home in Battery Point,
Clark amassed a considerable library, and on Saturday evenings there
gathered in the room many of the best minds of Hobart to discuss
the latest ideas and issues. His coterie was known for its free-thinking
and its radicalism, and acknowledged his intellectual leadership
by referring to him as padre.
(See also
Two remembrances of Clark).
Despite his onerous professional engagements,
Clark remained an avid reader and from his pen flowed poems, reviews
and essays, including items privately circulated, on a surprising
range of subjects. He corresponded with overseas luminaries, visited
the United States of America in 1891 and 1897, and was a member
of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
Clark naturally supported the establishment of
the University in Tasmania in 1889, and played a critical role in
parliament in fending off a cost-cutting measure that would have
stifled it at birth. From 1901 to 1903 he served as Vice-Chancellor.
Vice-Chancellor's robe probably worn by Clark
Law exam papers written by Clark
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