British caricaturist and illustrator who worked under the pseudonym "Kyd". Born in Onchan on the Isle of Man, Clarke had many occupations during his lifetime, including designer of cigarette cards and postcards. From 1927 Clarke earned his living from watercolor sketches, mainly of Dickens' characters, which he sold to and through the London book trade.
Apart from his Dickens work, "Kyd" also illustrated humorous series such as "Some Typical Newspaper Readers" (c.1900), "The Book and Its Reader", and "London Types”. He also illustrated a series of 50 smokers for Gallaher Ltd., issued as a set of cigarette cards entitled 'Votaries of the Weed' in 1916.
Six of his illustrations were issued as stamps by the Royal Mail in 2012 to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.
Clarke died at the New End Hospital in Hammersmith, London in August 1937.
