Frank Mitchell's biography of Sir Fred Clarke, one of the most influential British educationists of the first half of the twentieth century, was published in 1967. This article by Claudia Clarke draws upon previously unknown material and her own recollections to provide new insights into her father's personal and professional lives and to modify Mitchell's account. Clarke's early career is examined from his education in Oxford through posts at York and Southampton to his appointment as Professor of Education in Cape Town in 1911.