Albert Percy Blesing

Who was Albert Percy Blesing?

Albert Percy Blesing was a farmer and politician from South Australia who served as Minister for Agriculture, for Local Government and for Afforestation. He was a founding member of the Country Party Association and served in the governments of Richard Layton Butler and Thomas Playford IV.

Percy Blesing was born in Hamilton, South Australia to Ernst Gotthilf Blesing and his wife Elizabeth. Percy's grandparents had emigrated from Germany in 1841 and his family settled in the northern farming areas of South Australia. In 1893, Percy's family moved to Glenholme, a 1400ha mixed farm at Bangor in the lower Flinders Ranges. After several years working as a farmhand and shearer around Australia and in New Zealand, Percy married Eliza Muriel Annie Glasson and took over Glenholme. Percy and Annie had five children, Ida, Gwen, Ned, Lloyd and Jabez. Jabez died of whooping cough at a young age.