Person
Clark, Matthew Symonds (Symonds) (1839 - )
- Born
- 19 January 1839
Birmingham, England - Occupation
- Ornithologist and Aviculturalist
Summary
Symonds Clark was an ornithologist whose career was with the firm Francis Clark and Sons, accountants and merchants, founded by his father Francis, and in which he was joined by brothers Sidney and Howard. Symonds kept nature diaries from 1859 to 1916 in which he recorded observations of birds and other animals. Clark taught himself taxidermy: the early results were not successful, but he improved. His attempts at keeping birds also saw mixed results. Both Symonds and Howard were active in the Adelaide Philosophical Society and its successor, the Royal Society of South Australia. Symonds was twice President of the South Australian Ornithological Association.
Details
Chronology
- 1850
- Life event - Migrated to South Australia with his family
- 1865 - 1866
- Life event - Visited the United Kingdom
- 1899
- Career position - Foundation member, South Australian Ornithological Association
- 1901
- Career event - Founding member, Australasian Ornithological Union
- 1902 - 1903
- Career position - President, South Australian Ornithological Association
- 1909 - 1910
- Career position - President, South Australian Ornithological Association
Related entries
Colleague
Sibling
Archival resources
South Australian Ornithological Association
- Matthew Symonds Clark - Records, 1862 - 1916; South Australian Ornithological Association. Details
State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana
- Clark Family - Records, 1850 - 1869, PRG 389; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Anon, 'Obituary: the late Mr. Matthew Symonds Clark', Emu, 20 (1921), 253-4. Details
- Clark, M. S., 'Our native parrots', Proceedings of the Field Naturalists’ Section of the Royal Society of South Australia, 1888/9 (1889), 28-46. Details
- Paton, Penelope, 'Mathew Symonds Clark 1839 - 1920, part 3', The birder, 260 (2021), i-ov, https://resources.birdssa.au/wp-content/uploads/Historical77.pdf. Details
- Paton, Penelope, 'Mathew Symonds Clark 1839 - 1920, part 2', The birder, 259 (2021), i-iv, https://resources.birdssa.au/wp-content/uploads/Historical76.pdf. Details
- Paton, Penelope, 'Mathew Symonds Clark 1839 - 1920, part 1', The birder, 258 (2021), i-iv, https://resources.birdssa.au/wp-content/uploads/Historical75.pdf. Details
- Paton, Penelope, 'Mathew Symonds Clark 1839 - 1920, part 4', The birder, 261 (2022), i-iv, https://resources.birdssa.au/wp-content/uploads/Historical78.pdf. Details
- Sutton, J., 'Extracts from the late Mr. M. Symonds Clark's diaries.', South Australian ornithologist, 10 (1929), 144-53. Details
Resources
- 'Clark, Matthew Symonds', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476139. Details
McCarthy, G.J. and Helen Cohn
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 28 July 2026
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education