William Clifton was not only the first Secretary of the Western Australian Turf Club but also one of the longest serving, occupying the pivotal role from the organisation's establishment in 1852 until his resignation in 1867.
William Clifton was not only the first Secretary of the Western Australian Turf Club but also one of the longest serving, occupying the pivotal role from the organisation's establishment in 1852 until his resignation in 1867.
Born in Bruges in what was the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1816, Clifton was a son of a senior British clergyman. Clifton migrated to Western Australia aboard the Ameer, arriving in 1849 and finding employment in the state's civil service. Clifton was WA's Registrar of Deeds at the time of the WATC's foundation and, as well as being an accomplished thoroughbred racing administrator, he was a magistrate, first in Toodyay and later in Northam. Clifton fathered 15 children with his wife, Caroline, of whom only four reached adulthood. Clifton retired to York, where he died in 1885.