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Australia

Colonel Sir Richard Arthur BLACKBURN (1918-1987)

From the Australian DIctionary of Biography - see link below

Sir Richard Arthur (Dick) Blackburn (1918-1987), judge, was born on 26 July 1918 at Mount Lofty, South Australia, eldest of four children of Arthur Seaforth Blackburn, solicitor, and his wife Rose Ada, née Kelly, both born in South Australia. Richard, known as Dick, was educated at the Collegiate School of St Peter, Adelaide. At the University of Adelaide (BA, 1939), where he resided at St Mark’s College, he won the Stow and John Howard Clark prizes, studied some law subjects and graduated with first-class honours in English literature. Developing a strong interest in the arts, especially drama, he appeared in a number of plays. He was named South Australian Rhodes scholar for 1940.

Having enlisted in the Militia on 4 September 1939, Blackburn deferred his scholarship. He transferred to the Australian Imperial Force in May 1940 and, commissioned as a lieutenant, embarked for the Middle East in November 1941. Posted to the 9th Division Cavalry Regiment, he served in Syria, Palestine and Egypt, before returning to Australia early in 1943. In August that year he was promoted to temporary captain (substantive August 1945) and sent to New Guinea with his division. By March 1944 he was back in Australia, where he performed instructional duties in staff schools. As a staff officer, from March 1945, with the 3rd Operational Report Team, he took part in the invasion of British North Borneo in June. He transferred to the Reserve of Officers on 8 November in Adelaide.

Taking up his Rhodes scholarship, Blackburn studied law at Magdalen College, Oxford (BA, 1948; BCL, 1949), where he became president (1948-49) of the junior common room. He won the Eldon scholarship and was called to the Bar of the Inner Temple on 17 November 1949. In 1950 he returned to the University of Adelaide as (Sir John Langdon) Bonython professor of law. Against some opposition from the profession, he initiated changes to the curriculum and employed more full-time staff. An excellent teacher known for his clear exposition, he demanded high standards from his students. He took a positive interest in university life, as a member of the debating club, and as a councillor (1950-61) of St Mark’s College, the constitution of which he helped to reform. Active (1950-57) in the Adelaide University Regiment, Citizen Military Forces, he commanded the unit in 1955-57 as a lieutenant colonel.

Blackburn had married with Presbyterian forms Bryony Helen Carola Curkeet, née Dutton, on 1 December 1951 at her family’s home, Anlaby, at Kapunda, South Australia. As she was a divorcee, they had been unable to marry in the Church of England. The rift was healed in 1953 when the Bishop of Adelaide received them back into full communicant membership. Blackburn had been admitted to practise as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia on 23 October 1950. When he resigned from the university in 1957, he became a partner in an Adelaide law firm, Finlayson Phillips Astley & Hayward (Finlayson & Co.), specialising in commercial work. Resuming his CMF service in 1962 as a colonel, he commanded the 1st Battalion, Royal South Australia Regiment, until 1965. For leadership in his two commands he was appointed OBE (1965). He served as a governor (1965-66) of St Peter’s College.

More............ (adb.anu.edu.au)

Citation  - Richard Refshauge, 'Blackburn, Sir Richard Arthur (Dick) (1918–1987)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/blackburn-sir-richard-arthur-dick-114/text21909, published first in hardcopy 2007, accessed online 26 July 2024.

This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 17, (Melbourne University Press), 2007