Thomas James BLOOMFIELD

1920 - Abt 2010  (90 years)

• Name	Thomas James BLOOMFIELD
  Birth	27 Apr 1920	Great Yarmouth, Norfolk   [1]
  Gender	Male
  _UID	941095362AEE4C3685A7039868C08E3BC11E
  Death	Abt 17 Jul 2010	Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
  Notes	Obituary from The Eastern Daily Press 17 July 2010: Tom Bloomfield: Marquee entrepreneur in Great Yarmouth 17 July 2010 09:23 One of the country's long-established marquee hire businesses in Great Yarmouth was expanded rapidly by Tom Bloomfield, who has died aged 90. His original designs earned the family company a reputation for hard-wearing and quality marquees at sale and showgrounds throughout britain. The only grandson of the founder of Bloomfield Marquees, which dates from 1874, he insisted on the highest standards for his marquees. His marquees all had hand-sown hooks and eyelets. As as a result, his tents lasted - vital in the competitive hire business. Thomas James Bloomfield, who was born on April 27, 1920, started worked as butcher's boy after leaving Great Yarmouth Grammar School. On the outbreak of war, he joined the Royal Navy, serving initially in minesweepers from his home town. He was posted to the eastern Mediterranean and served in corvettes, based at Alexandria, and then at Karachi and Colombo in the Indian theatre. He returned home in March 1946 and considered moving to Lincoln to get a job on the railways. However, he stayed in Yarmouth to help his father, also James, with the family carting, billposting and marquee business. As demand grew for tents post-war, he started designing better and larger marquees, which were made at first on the town's Jetty car park. He stitched many of his first tents himself, using a Singer industrial sewing machine and the business grew rapidly. Soon, there was hardly an outdoor event in Norfolk and even further afield without one of the range of the 52 designs of Bloomfield tents. He supplied tenting for the Royal Norfolk Show, Suffolk Show and the country's largest one-day agricultural show, Aylsham, and other events including Worstead Festival over the years. He remained active in the business, which was based at Lancaster Road, until about five years ago. Bloomfield Marquees also supplied the film industry and one of his first commissions involved a tent for the cricket match scenes for The Go-Between, starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates, at Melton Constable in 1970. He even once set up a marquee on the flat stern of a rig supply vessel moored in the River Yare. He married Alice Minter in St Peter's Church on August 24, 1944. He is survived by an older sister, Norah, and his two sons, Jonathan, who is a chartered accountant in Yarmouth, and David, who is now the fourth generation to head the business in 136 years. He leaves four grandchildren. A funeral service has been held.
  Person ID	I63	Fritton, Norfolk
  Last Modified	11 Oct 2011

  
  

  Family	Alice Evelyn Minter,   b. Mar 1920, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk d. Yes, date unknown
  Marriage	24 Aug 1944	St Peter's Church, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk   [1, 2]
  Children	1. Jonathan C BLOOMFIELD   2. David J BLOOMFIELD
  Family ID	F16	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	8 Aug 2011

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 27 Apr 1920 - Great Yarmouth, Norfolk Death - Abt 17 Jul 2010 - Great Yarmouth, Norfolk  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S65] 2010 obituary. [S21] BMD index.