Background
Amy Key Clarke was born at 121 Elgin Crescent, Kensington, London, England.
Amy Key Clarke was born at 121 Elgin Crescent, Kensington, London, England.
Clarke was educated at Street Paul"s Girls" School and at The Cheltenham Ladies" College where she was a student at Street Hilda’s House from 1905–1906 – the senior house of the College.
After reading Classics at Newnham College she returned in 1924 to teach as Senior Classical Mistress, becoming successively Head of Classics, Head of Upper College, and Director of University Entrants. She was away from 1939 to 1947, when she returned as House Mistress of Street Hilda’s House until 1948, and then finally retired in 1953. In 1917 Amy stayed for seven weeks with Florence Cunningham (1871–1950, grand-daughter of writer Peter Cunningham) at her home in Bayswater.
Florence was a mystic who believed herself to be a prophet whom the voices she heard addressed as “Mary”: she compared herself to Abraham, Isaiah and The Messiah, but it should be said that she was later, for a short period, committed to the care of the Holloway Sanatorium in Virginia Water, Surrey.
Florence"s daughter was Edith Cunningham, then 18, whom Amy had met at Street Paul"s Girls" School. Amy Clarke was enamoured of the spirituality of the poems of Florence, and wrote to Florence from Newnham College saying that she was leaving there by inspiration in order to come and stay at her flat.
Florence related that definite miracles happened which were witnessed by her family during Amy’s sojourn in order to demonstrate that she was under the control of higher powers. Amy left as suddenly as she came, in an agreeable way: she wrote to Florence on Christmas Eve, 1917, addressing her as "My dear Mother".
When Amy Key Clarke died at the age of 87 in, her home was Saint Ninian"s, Victoria Street, Cambridge.