CLARKE, MARY ANNE (c. 5776-1852), mistress of Frederick, duke of York, second son of George III., married before she was 18 a Mr. Clarke, a stonemason, whom she soon left. She became in 1803 the mistress of the duke of York, then commander-in-chief. The duke's promised allowance was not regularly paid, and to escape her financial difficulties Mrs. Clarke trafficked in her protector's position, receiving money from vari ous promotion-seekers, military, civil and even clerical, in return for her promise to secure them the good services of the duke. These proceedings caused a public scandal, and in 1809 Col. Wardle, M.P., brought eight charges of abuse of military patron age against the duke in the House of Commons, and a committee of inquiry was appointed, before which Mrs. Clarke herself gave evidence. The Duke of ' ork was shown to have been aware of what was being done, but to have derived no pecuniary benefit himself. He resigned his appointment as commander-in-chief and terminated his connection with Mrs. Clarke, who subsequently obtained from him a considerable sum in cash and a pension as the price for withholding the publication of his numerous letters to her. Mrs. Clarke died at Boulogne on June 21, 1852.
See Elizabeth Taylor, Authentic Memoirs of Mrs. Clarke (1809) ; W. Clarke, "Life of Mrs. M. A. Clarke," in the Annual Register, vol. li. p. 61.