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The Scottish Years
William Nairne Clark (1804 - 1854) was an early emigrant to, and explorer of, Western Australia. He was born in the village of Couper Angus in Perthshire, Scotland. His father was Charles Clark and his mother Marjory Barclay. Clark had some early education at Dunsinnan House, the seat of his great uncle Sir William Nairne who was a senator of the College of Justice in Scotland. Following the family tradition, Clark read law, receiving a commission from the Supreme Court of Scotland and became a notary for life.

In 1830, at the age of twenty-six, William Nairne Clark, for reasons unknown, decided to emigrate to what is now Western Australia. He arrived in the port of Fremantle, south of Perth, onboard the convict ship 'Eliza.'

The Western Australian Years
In March 1831 Clark began practising law. In 1832 he had some unsatisfactory dealings with a fellow settler, George French Johnson, (1797? - 1832), which came to a head when Clark was accosted by Johnson on a Fremantle street. After berating Clark with some heated words Johnson returned home. After ruminating on the matter further, Johnson decided he could not the matter rest. He sent a friend, Thomas Newte Yule, to Clark's home - Richmond House - with a letter challenging Clark to a duel with flintlock pistols.