'It was my very earnest desire to assist in providing the most liberal and advanced education for women that could be procured in this colony and when I asked Sir William's consent he gladly helped me in this good cause. It was a token of love as I think very strongly that every woman should take pride in cultivating her intellect and learning all that is possible'. (Janet Lady Clarke, 1899)Janet Lady Clarke was one of Australia's great philanthropists. Born Janet Snodgrass in rural Victoria, she was employed at nineteen as governess to the four children of Sir William and Mary Clarke. In 1873 (following Mary's death as the result of a riding accident) she married Sir William Clarke - a major figure in Victoria and its largest landowner, who was later granted an hereditary peerage and the title of Baronet for his work towards the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880. Sir William and Janet Clarke were married for 25 years until Sir William's death in 1897, and had eight children to add to the four already born of Sir William's first marriage.
Janet was particularly interested in the advancement of women. She donated regularly to the Governesses' Institute, co-founded the Australian Institute of Domestic Economy, and founded the Australian Women's National League. Her interest in women's education led Sir William Clarke to provide for the establishment of Merton Hall (now Melbourne Girls Grammar School).
The first major philanthropic gift to be made in Janet Clarke's own name was her largest single donation and perhaps her greatest legacy. Janet and Sir William had been supporters of Trinity College when it began to rent a pair of terrace houses for female residents in 1886. Responding to a public appeal for a permanent hall of residence in 1888, Janet offered 5,000 pounds - the key support for what became the Janet Clarke Building - supplementing this gift with a further 1,000 pounds before the building opened officially on 15 April 1891 and helping to raise a further 1,050 pounds as president of the Ladies' Committee for Trinity. As one of twelve on the Ladies' Committee charged to assist in the management of the Hostel, Janet retained her connection with the Hostel until the end of her life.
The foundation stone for the Janet Clarke Building was laid by the Governor's wife Lady Hopetoun on 17 March 1890, on the basis of a winning design by Charles D'Ebro. In 1921, in acknowledgement of her role, the Hostel was officially renamed Janet Clarke Hall, and in 1961 the College formally separated from Trinity College under this name.
On her death in 1909, a newspaper noted that Janet Lady Clarke 'stood at the head and front of almost every philanthropic movement'. Her patronage ranged from the Women's Hospital Committee and the Charity Organization Society to presidency of the City Newsboys' Society, the Melbourne District Nursing Society and the Hospital for Sick Children. She was vice-president of the Austral Salon and president of the Alliance Francaise, the Dante Society, and later, the National Council of Women and the Women's National League.
Janet Lady Clarke was one of the most popular people in her day, much loved for her charitable work - thousands gathered for her funeral, and a rotunda was built in her honour which still stands near the Royal Botanical Gardens. A century after her death, her philanthropic legacy remains among the most enduring in Victoria in the areas of education, the arts and social welfare.