Sir John Stoughton Bloomfield (9 October 1901 – 30 June 1989) was an Australian politician. He was born in Toorak to accountant Arthur stoughton Bloomfield and Ada Victoria McGuigan. He attended

Geelong Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"(1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ty ...

before entering

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in 1921 while studying at

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Law Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. He practised as a solicitor from 1927, and on 21 March 1931 married Beatrice Madge Taylor, with whom he had two children. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served in the AIF in the Middle East and New Guinea, rising to the rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

. On his return he was called to the bar. A member of the

Liberal and Country Party The Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), branded as Liberal Victoria, and commonly known as the Victorian Liberals, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1949 as ...

, he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

in 1953 in a by-election for the seat of

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

. In 1955 he joined the frontbench as Minister of Labour and Industry and of Electrical Undertakings, but he soon moved to the Education portfolio in February 1956, where he remained for eleven years. He

took silk In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1965 and was knighted on his retirement from the frontbench in 1967. Bloomfield retired in 1970 and died in 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomfield, John 1901 births 1989 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Australian King's Counsel Australian Knights Bachelor 20th-century Australian politicians People educated at Geelong Grammar School People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian colonels