John Ignatius Bleasdale (1822–28 June 1884) was an English-born Roman Catholic priest, chemist and mineralogist active in Australia and president of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1865.
He was educated at private schools in Preston, then trained to become a priest (1835 to 1845), first at the English College, Lisbon, in Portugal then, forced to return to England by ill health, at St Mary’s College, Oscott in [1] Birmingham.
Following his ordination by Cardinal Wiseman, Bleasdale served as a military chaplain in Weedon[1] in Britain.
Bleasdale migrated to California in 1877, where he held honorary positions as secretary of the Microscopical Society and the Viticultural Society, and provided advice to Californian vinegrowers.
[2] Frank Potts (1815–1890) named his Bleasdale Winery in Langhorne Creek, South Australia, for him though there is no evidence the two ever met.