THE Governor of His Majesty's Prison in Glasgow entered the Government service in 1868, serving first in Edinburgh Prison. In 1873 he was appointed Governor of the prison in Greenock. and in 1886 he was transferred to the General Prison at Perth as Deputy-Governor under Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell. The Perth Prison was then fully completed, and contained nearly seven hundred convicts, but it has since been relieved to some extent by the additions to Barlinnie and the opening of Peterhead Convict Settlement. When Mr. Clarke went to Perth there was no Prisoners' Aid Society, and discharged convicts could hardly avoid falling back upon criminal resources. The new Deputy-Governor, however, took a deep interest in the discharged inmates, and went to much trouble to find situations to enable them to make a fair start in life again. In September, 1895, without making application for the post, and against a heavy list of candidates from elsewhere, Mr. Clarke was appointed by Lord Balfour of Burleigh to the Governorship of Dundee Prison. Upon leaving Perth on that occasion he was presented by the officials, at the hands of Colonel Campbell, the Governor, with an inscribed salver for himself and a tea service for Mrs. Clarke, as a token of esteem. During his Governorship in Dundee the prison there was largely reconstructed and enlarged, 75 additional cells being built, and the work was mostly accomplished by prison labour, a feat unrivalled elsewhere. Here again he took a deep personal interest in the prisoners, especially the young and the first offenders, and under his aegis Bible classes were started with considerable result. After five years, in March, 1901, Mr. Clarke was re-transferred to Perth, to the Governorship of the General Prison, then vacant by the promotion of his former chief, Colonel Campbell, to Edinburgh, and on this occasion also he was presented with a token of esteem and regret by his officials. Two years later, in February, 1903, he was promoted to the charge of the prison in Glasgow. Here, as elsewhere, he takes interest in the future of the prisoners committed to his charge, and the officials of the Prisoners' Aid Society, who offer hospitality and help to every individual discharged from the grim gates, certainly find no obstacle put in their way by the Governor within the walls. Mr. Clarke received the honour of the I.S.O. in 1906.

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