The Papers of Sir Thomas Fife Clark

Thomas Fife Clark was born at Thornaby-on-Tees, Yorkshire, 29 May 1907, the son of Thomas Fife Clark and Jane Nevison. He was educated at Middlesbrough High School. He married Joan Mould in 1945 (died 1977), with whom he had two sons and one daughter.

He worked as a journalist for the provincial newspapers owned by Westminster Press, 1924-39, eventually becoming the parliamentary and diplomatic correspondent. He was a press officer in the Ministry of Health, 1939-49. He became Home Controller, 1949-52, and Director-General, 1954-71, of the Central Office of Information, a successor to the wartime Ministry of Information. He also advised the Prime Minister on public relations, 1952-5, and the Earl Marshal on arrangements for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 1953.

He retired in 1971 and acted as a consultant to several organisations, including the Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations, 1971-5, and Trident Television, 1976-8. He died on 28 March 1985.

He was awarded a knighthood, 1965.

Papers comprising official papers, speeches, correspondence, press cuttings, photographs and audio tapes.

The papers were given to Churchill Archives Centre by Sir Thomas Fife Clark, 1979, and by his son, David Clark, 1985.

The papers are owned by Churchill College, Cambridge.

The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives Centre is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. A prior appointment and two forms of identification are required.

Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holders and should seek advice from Archives Centre staff.

Please cite as Churchill Archives Centre, The Papers of Sir Thomas Fife Clark, FICA

Copies of this finding aid are available for consultation at Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, the National Register of Archives, London and on the Janus website, http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk.

This collection level description was prepared by Sophie Bridges, February 2005, and the rest of the catalogue was converted from an existing list by Katharine Thomson in December 2005. The papers were originally catalogued in 1988. Biographical information was obtained from Sir Thomas Fife Clark's obituary in "The Times", 1 April 1985; "Who's Who 1897-1996"; and the website of the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography".