Clere, Frederick de Jersey 1856 - 1952

Frederick de Jersey Clere [also known as F. de Jersey Clere] was born in Walsden, West Yorkshire, England, on 7 January 1856 and from 1872 was articled to Edmund Evan Scott (1828-1895) in Brighton, Sussex. From 1875 to 1877 he was chief assistant in the London office of Robert Jewell Withers (1823?-1894). He also attended classes at the Architectural Association in London. In 1877 he emigrated with his family to New Zealand.  They arrived in Wellington on 12 December 1877.

After working briefly in Wellington, Clere moved north to Feilding where he practised from 1879 to 1883. He then moved south to Wanganui where he was in practice from 1883 to 1886.  In 1883 he married and in 1886, with his family, returned to Wellington, where he worked as  a partner in a succession of architectural firms. From 1883 to 1888 he was architect to the Wanganui Education Board.

Clere is primarily known as a church architect. In 1883 he was appointed the Diocesan Architect for the Anglican Church in Wellington, and subsequently designed over 100 churches in Wellington and across the lower North Island. He also designed schools, town houses, large country houses and office buildings. Notable among his commissions were the Wellington Harbour Board Head Office and Bond Store (1890-92),  the Wellington Harbour Board Wharf Office Building (completed in 1896), and St Patrick's Church, Palmerston North (completed in 1925).

Clere was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1882 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1886. He was President of the Wellington District Branch of the Association of Architects, and  a founding member and Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. He was a Life Member of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. In 1935 he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.

Clere was working until the age of 92. He died in Wellington on 13 August 1952.