Lawrence Somerset Clarke
Encyclopedia
Charles Lawrence Somerset Clarke was born in Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 12 March 1990. He commonly goes by his second name, Lawrence. Lawrence is the son of Sir Toby Clarke, 6th Baronet
Sir Toby Clarke, 6th Baronet
Sir Charles Mansfield Tobias Clarke, 6th Baronet , known as Sir Toby Clarke since 1973 after succeeding to the baronetcy upon the death of his father....

 and is the heir apparent to the baronetcy.

Education

Educated at Preparatory school Summer Fields
Summer Fields School
Summer Fields is a boys' independent preparatory school based in Summertown, Oxford, England.-History:Originally called Summerfield, it became a Boys' Preparatory School in 1864 with seven pupils. Its owner, Archibald Maclaren, was a fencing teacher who ran a gymnasium in Oxford; he himself was...

, then Eton College, Berkshire
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

. He went on to study Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...

.

Family

His maternal grandfather was the Conservative MP Somerset de Chair
Somerset de Chair
Somerset Struben de Chair DSC was a British author, politician and poet.-Early and personal life:Younger son of Admiral Sir Dudley Rawson Stratford de Chair, KCB, KCMG, MVO...

. Lawrence's uncle is Jacob Rees-Mogg
Jacob Rees-Mogg
The Hon. Jacob William Rees-Mogg is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for North East Somerset since the 2010 general election....

 MP for North East Somerset
North East Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)
North East Somerset is a county constituency created by the Boundary Commission for England as the successor seat to the Wansdyke Parliamentary Seat. It came into being at the 2010 general election.- Boundaries :...

, who is married to Mr de Chair's last daughter, Helena de Chair. Helena's mother is Lady Juliet Wentworth-Fitzwilliam
Lady Juliet Tadgell
Lady Juliet Tadgell , previously the Marchioness of Bristol, is a British heiress, race horse breeder and landowner...

, only child of Peter Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 8th Earl FitzWilliam
Peter Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 8th Earl FitzWilliam
William Henry Lawrence Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam, DSO , styled Viscount Milton before 1943, was a British soldier and aristocrat.-Biography:...

. Former Clarke Baronets include Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke, 1st Baronet who was Royal Physician to Queen Adelaide
Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen
Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and of Hanover as spouse of William IV of the United Kingdom. Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, is named after her.-Early life:Adelaide was born on 13 August 1792 at Meiningen, Thuringia, Germany...

, General Sir Charles Clarke
Sir Charles Clarke, 3rd Baronet
General Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke, 3rd Baronet GCB GCVO was Quartermaster-General to the Forces.-Military career:Educated at Eton College, Clarke was commissioned into the 57th Regiment of Foot in 1856....

 GCB
GCB
GCB may stand for:* Gaming Control Board, any governmental body that regulates gambling in its jurisdiction* Generator circuit-breaker, a special circuit breaker in the high-current connection between generator and generator transformer...

 GCVO, 3rd Baronet, and Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet
Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet
Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet CBE He married Elfrida Roosevelt, daughter of Alfred Roosevelt, on 19 June 1905....

 CBE
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

. Through his father (via his great-grandmother, Elfrida Roosevelt) he is first cousin, four times removed from President Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States.

Athletics career

British-born Lawrence placed fourth in the 110m hurdles at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games
2008 Commonwealth Youth Games
The 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games were held in Pune, India, a city in the state of Maharashtra. They were the third Commonwealth Youth Games, which are held every four years; they were the first Commonwealth Youth Games to be held in Asia....

 in Pune, India. He was also the British University (BUCS) champion in the 60m hurdles (2009) with a time of 7.83 seconds and 110m Champion (2010) in a time of 13.85 seconds.

Lawrence held the number one spot on the British All Time list for the Under 20 mens 3"3 110m Hurdles until 23 May 2010. He established a new National Junior Record with a personal best of 13.37 seconds whilst also winning gold at European Junior Athletics Championships
2009 European Athletics Junior Championships
The 20th European Athletics Junior Championships were held between 23 and 26 July 2009 in the Stadion Karađorđe in Novi Sad, Serbia.- Men's results :- Women's results :- Medal table :- References :Day reports...

 in July 2009, in Novi Sad, Serbia. http://www.thepowerof10.info/rankings/rankinglist.aspx?event=110HU20M&agegroup=U20&sex=M&alltime=y. Jack Meredith won the 2010 Loughborough International U20 Invitation 110m in a new British Record of 13.36, beating Clarke's record by 0.01.

In June 2010, Lawrence won the UK National Under23 Title in a wind-assisted time (+2.5 m/s) of 13.60secs. He successfully defended this title in June 2011 in his season debut that year. In July 2011 he won the Aviva Senior UK Trials and Championships in a new personal best of 13.58 (-0.8 m/s).

On Friday 8 October 2010, Lawrence won the Bronze medal at the XIX Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. He finished 3rd behind two other English hurdlers: Andy Turner
Andy Turner (athlete)
Andrew Steven "Andy" Turner is an English track and field athlete, competing in the 110 metres hurdles, and occasionally the 100 and 200 metres sprints as well as long jump...

 (2010 European Champion) and William Sharman
William Sharman
William "Will" Sharman is a British athlete who specialises in the 110 metres hurdles. He started his career as a junior high jumper and decathlete, but focused entirely on hurdling after a shoulder injury. He made his international debut for Great Britain at the 2006 European Athletics...

. It is the first time in history that England have completed a 1-2-3 clean sweep in the 110m hurdles.

He competed at the 2011 World Athletics Championships
IAAF World Championships in Athletics
The World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations . Originally, it was organised every four years, but this changed in 1991, and it has since been organised biennially.-History:...

 in Daegu
Daegu
Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...

, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 where he went out in the first round with a time of 13.65s (-0.2 m/s). The winner of his heat was Jason Richardson
Jason Richardson (athlete)
Jason Richardson is a American track and field athlete who specialises in the 110 meter hurdles. His personal best for the event is 13.08 seconds, set in August 2011...

 who went on to win the Championships after Dayron Robles
Dayron Robles
Dayron Robles is a track and field athlete who specialises in the 110 metre hurdles.He won his first major medal in the 60 metres hurdles at the 2006 World Indoor Championships. He finished the 2006 season having improved his outdoor best to 13 seconds and become the Central American and...

, the 2008 Olympic Champion and World Record holder, was disqualified after the final.

Lawrence is coached in Bath by Malcolm Arnold, the former coach of Colin Jackson
Colin Jackson
Colin Ray Jackson CBE is a British former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. Over his career representing Great Britain and Wales he won an Olympic silver medal, became world champion three times, went undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years and...

 and John Akii-Bua
John Akii-Bua
John Akii-Bua was a Ugandan hurdler and the first Olympic champion from his country.Akii-Bua started his athletic career as a hurdler on the short distance, but coached by British-born athletics coach Malcolm Arnold, he was introduced to the 400 m hurdles...

.
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