Somers Clarke

George Somers Clarke (22 July 1841 – 31 August 1926) was an architect and English Egyptologist who worked on the restoration and design of churches and at a number of sites throughout Egypt, notably in El Kab, where he built a mud brick house. He was the son of solicitor Somers C. and Sarah Blaker in Brighton, where he was born and privately educated. Clarke began as an apprentice to the law for five years before beginning work with Sir G. Gilbert Scott. He was one of the pupils of Sir Charles Barry, who was also a British architect.

As an architect he mainly worked on restoring churches. He entered the offices of Sir Gilbert Scott and later worked in partnership with John Micklethwaite from offices at 15 Dean's Yard, Westminster, London. In this partnership they accomplished numerous church restorations and repairs, for St. Martin's in Brighton, St. John the Divine Church in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and many others.He joined the Society of Antiquaries of London 1881. Later became a fellow member of the Royal Society of Arts in 1892. In Hierakonpolis, with Green and Quibel, he helped with excavations along with exploring El Kab in 1893 with J.J. Tylor. He was Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral from 1897 to 1906. He was the architect in charge of St. Paul's Cathedral, and during his time working on the conservation of the cathedral, he would write to The New York Times about the poor conditions the cathedral was in. As Surveyor of St Paul's Cathedral, he designed the new lighting, funded by a gift from Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, and the stalls for the chapel of the Order of St. Micheal and St. George. Working alongside Sir W. B. Richmond, he organized internal decorations for the chapel and relocated, from a small side-chapel, Alfred Stevens' Monument to the Duke of Wellington. After he was done with his work at St. Paul's Cathedral, he was succeeded by Mervyn Macartney as the Surveyor of St. Paul's Cathedral in 1907.

After he retired in 1922, Clarke continued to live in Egypt. His interpreter, Daud Hasan of Argin, and Nubian servant lived with him in his retirement home. While in Egypt, he became an honorary member of Comite de Conservation des Monuments de l' Art Arabe and assisted in repairing several ancient temples. He was also an original member of The Royal Musical Association. He died in Mahamid in August 1926. Provided by Wikipedia