Frederick Sheppard Grimwade
Frederick Sheppard Grimwade (10 November 1840 – 4 August 1910) was a businessman and Victorian member of parliament.
Born in Norfolk, England, Grimwade arrived in Victoria in 1863. In 1867 he bought a pharmaceutical company and renamed it Felton Grimwade & Co.;[1] it soon became the largest in the colony, prospering well into the next century. Today some of Australia's largest public companies have a lineage going back to his family and businesses.
Grimwade represented North Yarra Province in the Legislative Council for thirteen years from 1891. He opposed gambling, workers' compensation, old-age pensions and the national harmonization of time zones, but passionately advocated the legalization of cremation.
Legacy
Frederick Grimwade was buried in St Kilda Cemetery on 5 August 1910.[2] His mansion, "Harleston" (1875), was later donated by his family to Melbourne Grammar School and renamed Grimwade House.[3] His country retreat at Somers on the Mornington Peninsula, "Coolart", eventually became a public wetlands reserve.
Grimwade's son, Major General Harold Grimwade, served as an artillery officer in France during World War I.
References
- Australian Dictionary of Biography entry
- Geoffrey Blainey, Black Kettle & Full Moon: Daily Life in a Vanished Australia, Penguin Books Australia Ltd., Vic., 2004.