William Lee Clarke was born in Shapton Mallet, Somerset, England on 14 September 1878 and was articled to an unknown architect from 1894 to 1897. He also attended the Royal Academy Schools in London. He worked as an assistant to William Venn Gough (1841?-1918) for over three years; to Henry Thomas Gordon (1845?-1922) and Josiah Gunton (1861-1930) of Gordon & Gunton for over four years; and in the Construction Department of Waring & White Building Company for over three years.
Clarke commenced independent practice in London in 1909. By the mid-1920s he was in partnership with Herbert Owen Ellis (1857-1940) as Herbert O. Ellis & Clarke. The partnership was possibly dissolved following the death of Ellis in 1940.
Clarke was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911 and was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1925.
His address was given as 45 Donovan Avenue, Muswell Hill, London in 1911; 46 Fenchurch Street, London in 1911 and 1914; 5, Old Queen Street, Westminster in 1923 and 1926; 3, 5, 7 Old Queen Street, Westminster, London in 1926 and 1939 and 18c Broadlands Road, Highgate, London 1956. He died in London on 23 September 1956
By Ellis & Clarke: The Daily Express building, 120-129 Fleet Street, London (1929-30), a noted example of Egyptian Revival architecture.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 191, 1956 p.544