condensed discuss document expanded export feedback print share remove reset document_white enquire_white export_white report_white

Cenotaph record

William Swanson Read Bloomfield

-
Lay a poppy
Portrait of Captain William Swanson Read Bloomfield, Auckland Weekly News, 2 November 1916. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19161102-40-7. Image has no known copyright restrictions.

Portrait of Captain William Swanson Read Bloomfield, Auckland Weekly News, 2 November 1916. Sir Geor …

Identity

About

Contribute ›
  • Title
    Flight Commander Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - Military record
  • Forenames
    William Swanson Read AWMM
  • Surname
    Bloomfield AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
  • Service number
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
    Iwi Māori, Māori AWMM
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

Contribute ›
  • Birth
    1885 Public Source
  • Date of birth
    1885 Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - research
  • Place of birth
    Gisborne, NZ Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - research
  • Birth notes
    son of Thomas Edward Read BLOOMFIELD & Mary nee' SWANSON Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - research
  • Address before enlistment
    WW1 Gisborne AWMM
  • Post war occupation
    Architect Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - research
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    father: T E R Bloomfield Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - research
  • Relationship status
    single
    1920 married Rhoda Audrey Swift CRIBBIN Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - research

Service

Wars and conflicts

Contribute ›

Military decorations

Contribute ›
  • Medals and Awards

Training and Enlistment

Contribute ›
  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Embarkations

Contribute ›

Prisoner of war

Contribute ›
  • Capture details
    • WW1 POW - Holzminden, Holzminden, Lower Saxony, Germany New Zealand High Commission, (1917).
      Aug 1917? AWMM
      Offizier Gefangenelager AWMM
    • 1st advised Apr 1917 - missing since Mar 1917 Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - Newspaper Reports
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
    1919 Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - Newspaper Reports
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

Contribute ›
  • Medical notes

Last known rank

Contribute ›

Biographical information

Biographical information

Contribute ›
    • A Captain in the Royal Flying Corps, 57 Squadron

      In 1926 he was involved as a member of the Building Committee for St Augustine's Church, Calliope Road, Devonport AWMM
    • William Swanson Read Bloomfield, was the first known qualified architect practicing in New Zealand of Maori descent. He was the grandson of William Swanson and Ani Rangitunoa. Born in Gisborne, he studied in England, on the European Continent, and also the University of Pennsylvania, USA. During World War I he served as Captain in the Royal Flying Corps, 57 Squadron, and was shot down behind enemy lines in 1917, serving time as a prisoner of war in Germany until the end of hostilities. In November 1929, he married Rhoda Gribbin at Holy Trinity Church in Devonport. During the 1920s, he became a foundation member of the Auckland Aero Club.
      He practiced in Auckland from the mid 1920s until his retirement in 1959, either in sole practice or with a number of partnerships.
      In 1954, Home & Building published a brief biography on Bloomfield, in which it was stated he was “interested in early English and Chinese china, old Italian bronzes, and water colours.” An undated thesis of his still survives in the School of Architecture records: at the University of Auckland “The Structural Development of the Early Christian Basilica to Amiens Cathedral”.
      His ashes were interned at Purewa Cemetery in 1969 Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - http://timespanner.blogspot.co.nz/2010/06/timespanner-visits-titirangi-village.html
    • Mar 1916 - Mrs Bloomfield has received a cable from the Secretary of tho British War Office, stating that her son, Lieut. W. S. R. Bloomfield, of the Royal Flying Corps, was admitted to the Bed Cross Hospital, Rouen, on March 3, with a gunshot wound on the knee (slight). Flying-Lieutenant Bloomfield had gone to England to study architecture, and when war broke out he was about to sit first final examination. On the outbreak of hostilities he joined the aviation department and made such good progress that he received promotion, and, as stated, now occupies the rank of lieutenant. He is a brother of Mrs Harold Bright. Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13934, 6 March 1916, Page
Read more

Death

About death

Contribute ›
  • Death
    1 December 1969 Public Source
  • Date of death
    Dec 1969 Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - BMD NZ & Purewa Cemetery records
  • Age at death
    84yrs Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - BMD NZ & Purewa Cemetery records
  • Place of death
    Auckland Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - BMD NZ & Purewa Cemetery records
  • Cause of death
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
    Purewa Cemetery, Auckland Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 14 January 2016 - BMD NZ & Purewa Cemetery records
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

Contribute ›
  • Memorial name

Roll of Honour

Remember William Swanson Read Bloomfield by laying a poppy.

Leave a note

Leave a tribute or memory of William Swanson Read Bloomfield

Leave a note

Contribute ›

Sources

Sources

Contribute ›

Contributors

Command item
Command item
Add new record Refresh
DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
19 September 2022William ReadAucklandDirect descendant
21 March 2022RebekahCambridgeOther relative
18 August 2017JeniferwairarapaResearcher
14 January 2016Lorraine MGisborne, NZResearcher

The development of the Online Cenotaph is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.

Creative Commons LicenseOnline Cenotaph Data by Auckland War Memorial Museum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.