Born and educated in Birmingham, England, Clark worked for a large iron-smelting firm until failing health forced him to a change of lifestyle and environment. He and his family migrated to South Australia in 1850.
In Adelaide, Clark held various business positions before becoming editor of the South Australian Register (1870-1878), the Adelaide Observer and the Evening Journal. He was also involved in the establishment of the Adelaide Philosophical Society and the South Australian Institute, and served on the Board of the Institute for fifteen years, having a particular concern for the development of the country Institutes
Clark contributed verse to various South Australian newspapers and periodicals including the short-lived Knightsbridge Papers, and edited a column called 'Echoes from the Bush' in The Register. He wrote verse under the pseudonyms 'Geoffry Crabthorn' and 'Pleeceman X', although it would appear that these were noms de plume shared by others including Henry Morgan Hawkes.
His health failing him once again, Clark died of consumption at the age of forty-eight.