Edward Blomfield Clarke was born on 20 October 1885 at Waimate North. His mother Emily died giving birth to him. He was raised by his aunt Martha Elizabeth Clarke, and later farmed at Waimate North, spending periods also at Russell and Whakatane.
He married Mabel Kathleen Neumann (born 1 March 1880 at Waimate North) in 1905. They had four children:
- Eileen Mabel (1906),
- Cynthia (1908),
- Phyllis (1910), and
- Emily Mavis (1912, died at twenty months).
The family grew up at Rodmar, the farm across from the present Waimate North showgrounds.
Mabel Kathleen died at Russell on 27 November 1941.
In February 1943, Edward married Rita Hargraves, the widow of Harold Hugh Clarke (a descendant of Hopkins Clarke's line), who had one child, Trevor.
In 1947 he wrote and published The Early History of Paihia — a small booklet issued by Reed's, continuing the family's long tradition of writing down what they had witnessed. He was present at the Diamond Jubilee of the Waimate A&P Show in 1951, having attended the original show in 1888 as a child of three.
In 1966, when the Waimate Mission House was opened to the public, Edward turned the key.
He spent his final years in Matamata with his daughter Phyllis and her family. He died there on 10 February 1972.