John Clark House

John Clark House

john and Elizabeth Clark and their two sons were part of the exodus of Protestant yeomen from Ireland, nineteenth century emigrants to North America. John purchased the 100 acres of Lot 5, Concession 1, London Township, from the Canada Company in 1829 (present address: northwest corner of Dundas Street - formerly the Governor’s Road - and Clark(e) Road). The Clark family were hard workers and by 1834 were able to pay off their debt to the Canada Company. By the time of the 1842 census, John and his two sons, John Jr. and Samuel, had already cleared 30 acres, built a log cabin and barn, and reported ample crops, cattle, sheep, hogs and other produce. 

In 1857, John Clark Jr. built on the property this brick house for his parents and his large family of children. The Clark farm increased in acreage cleared, the number of outbuildings and farm vehicles in daily use, and the complexity of agricultural production; a notable crop was hops marketed to the growing brewing industry in the nearby city of London. On the death of John Jr. in 1893, his son, David Bailey Clark, inherited the land and brick house. Other sons had purchased land nearby and the crossroads was known locally as Clark Corners. John Jr.’s son, Thomas, farmed land at the southeast corner of Dundas and Clark where later both the Argyle Mall and Clarke Road Secondary School were built. Thomas Clark’s participation in many organizations was an example of his family’s involvement in the local community. He was a farmer and auctioneer, spent time as a cavalry officer in the local militia, was a member of the Masons, served on the Middlesex County Council, and was Warden in 1920.

In 1912, the land that John Clark had purchased in 1829 and on which the 1857 brick house was built passed out of the family when David Bailey Clark sold it to a land developer, Abraham J. Montague. 

Descendants of John Clark have presented extensive archival material about their family to the Ivey Family London Room.