Cecil Belfield Clarke (1894-1970)

Cecil Belfield Clarke was a doctor born in Barbados. He travelled from Barbados more than 100 years ago to study at Cambridge University. He had to travel across the Atlantic Ocean during World War I. This would have been very dangerous. He finished his training in London and opened a medical practice in Elephant and Castle in South London.

He practised medicine for nearly 50 years. By 1936, he became a District Medical Officer and was the only Black man to have this job at this time. In the 1950s, he was elected to the British Medical Association’s Council as a representative for the West Indies and appointed as a Medical Adviser to the newly independent government of Ghana.  

Cecil developed a way to make sure children got the right amount of medicine. This is known as Clark’s rule (note that this name has been spelt incorrectly). In 1952, he suggested that a prize should be given to people who did really well in their exams. This is now called the Belfield Clarke Prize.

He was also a leader for racial equality. He was one of the founders of the League of Coloured Peoples in 1931. This organisation worked hard to make sure that Black people in the UK were treated the same as everybody else.

Cecil lived with his lifelong partner Edward G. Walker, who was known as Pat. Pat also worked as Cecil’s secretary and would go with him whenever he travelled to other countries.