Esther Lathy was the daughter of a Honiton sergemaker John and was born in Honiton in 1800, three years after her sister Amy.

The sisters became lace manufacturers. Esther married Theophilus Clarke, a tea dealer and tobacconist in 1825. The following year, Amy and Esther dissolved their partnership in their lace manufacturing and lace dealing business.

In 1827, members of the Clarke family attended a service at St Michael’s church. Theophilus Clarke, John Pidgeon and Amy Lathy sat beside each other in a pew opposite Theophilus’s parents, Hender and Nancy and his sister Eliza. As the service was about to start Theophilus and Nancy attempted to remove Amy’s feet from a hassock with great violence. They verbally abused her and Theophilus (with iron in the heels of his boots) kicked Amy on the shins three times. After several witnesses were examined at the Archdeacons Court in Exeter the charge of irreverent behaviour was proved. Theophilus and Nancy were warned to be of good conduct in the future and ordered to pay the costs of £38 2s 6d.

Amy married Albion Davey, a maltster in 1837 and that year Esther Clarke was appointed Honiton Lace Manufacturer in ordinary to Queen Victoria. In 1844 Theophilus protested that he had been falsely accused of paying his workers using the truck system and that for several years he had paid his workpeople in the coin of the realm.

By 1851 Esther, Theophilus and Eliza had moved to Margaret Street, Marylebone, London. Prince Albert was organising the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. Lady Rolle and Sir John Buller commissioned Esther to 'furnish an example of Honiton lace such as never yet had been exhibited' for the exhibition.

The Honiton lace flounce was designed by Esther's sister-in-law Eliza Clarke. Forty women were employed for eight months and during the last month 10 more women were employed to work through the night to create the lace. The patrons paid the expenses which included £400 for wages. The Great Exhibition Jury X1X awarded Esther the prize medal for 'design and quality unequalled in its class'.

Midweek Herald: The medal awarded to Esther Clarke for her lace flounce at an exhibition at the Crystal PalaceThe medal awarded to Esther Clarke for her lace flounce at an exhibition at the Crystal Palace (Image: Honiton Museum)
Over 100,000 objects were on display and six million people visited. The money raised was used to set up the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Allhallows Museum purchased the Esther Clarke flounce from a Christies auction in 2003.