A series of portraits of outstanding members of the English Bar by Lord Birkett
3: Sir Edward Clarke , K.C.
1841-1931
Edward Clarke retired from the Bar in 1914, the year after Norman Birkett was called. Outstanding perhaps among his great cases was his defence of Adelaide Bartlett in 1886, when the jury's verdict of Not Guilty was received with tremendous acclaim both inside the Old Bailey and outside in the surrounding streets. And he will long be remembered for his part in the trials of Oscar Wilde, where his loyalty to his client in adverse circumstances was worthy of the highest traditions of the English Bar.
Production by Joe Burroughs