Russell Grimwade

Walter Stoneman (1950) Sir Wilfrid Russell Grimwade. National Portrait Gallery, London

Sir Wilfrid Russell Grimwade CBE (15 October 1879 – 2 November 1955) was an Australian chemist, botanist, industrialist and philanthropist. He was the son of Frederick Sheppard Grimwade and brother of Harold Grimwade.[1]

Education

Grimwade was born at his father's mansion 'Harleston' in Caulfield, which was given in 1916 to his school Melbourne Grammar, from which he went to Ormond College at the University of Melbourne, where he earned a B.Sc. in science in 1901, then spent time in London to become familiar the latest developments in chemistry.[2]

Career

Calcium Hypochlorite Snakebite antidote by Felton Grimwade & Co

Grimwade then joined the family pharmaceutical firm Felton Grimwade & Company, as director of the new research laboratory in 1903 and was made a partner in 1907. He became wealthy as the company diversified into such enterprises as the incorporation of Bosisto's Eucalyptus Oil.[3] In 1909 he married Mabel Louise Kelly, and the couple lived at 'Miegunyah' in Orrong Road,[2] its name is from an Aboriginal Australian language, meaning 'my house'.[4]

Over his career, Grimwade was director of Drug Houses of Australia, Australian Glass Manufacturers, Cuming Smith & Company, and chaired the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research as well as the National Gallery of Victoria.

In 1924 Grimwade built 'Westerfield', a holiday home in Frankston South, set on 45 hectares (110 acres), completed in the Federation Arts and Crafts style.[5]

Forestry

Chief Executive Officer, David Rivett, Russell Grimwade, who donated the lathe, and Isaac Boas, Chief of the Division of Forest Products, watching the peeling of the first log in the Veneer Laboratory.
A CSIR Council Meeting at the McMaster Laboratory, Sydney in 1935 with Grimwade at left of back row
Russell Grimwade (c.1920) Eucalypt specimen photographic study. Carbon print

A vocal advocate for the appreciation and commercialisation of the eucalyptus, during the 1910s and 1920s Grimwade produced a book on the species, examining local examples in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens (where he served on its advisory committee) and other specimens suggested by gum-tree enthusiast associates. He planted them extensively in his Toorak garden and at his farm in Melbourne's south-east. An Anthography of the Eucalypts,[6] illustrated with his own photographs of their flowers (carbon prints held now in The University of Melbourne Art Collection) was published in 1920 and expanded in 1930, and now, as noted by Bunbury, regarded as "important in its time for its accessible language and the quality of its illustrations".[3]

An endowment by Grimwade in 1929 was used to create the Russell Grimwade Prize, a scholarship for study of forestry. As of 2018, the annual prize value is $40,000.[7][8]

Honours

Grimwade was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1935 and was knighted in the 1950 King's Birthday Honours List.[9][10]

Philanthropy and legacy

Grimwade donated £50,000 for a purpose-built facility to house the School of Biochemistry at the University of Melbourne, which bore his name from its construction in 1956 until its demolition in 2008.[11]

He was an honorary member of the British Medical Association, and served on the advisory council that established the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (now CSIRO), later sponsoring its forestry division.

In 1934, he presented Cooks' Cottage to Victoria after purchasing it in England and having dismantled and shipped to Australia.[12]

An imprint of Melbourne University Press, named for his mansion 'Miegunyah', was established in 1967 under Grimwade's bequest to subsidise publication of illustrated scholarly works that would otherwise be uneconomic to publish. Grimwade's great-grandnephew Andrew Grimwade was its patron.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "The Grimwades of Melbourne". Smith's Weekly. Vol. XXVIII, no. 38. New South Wales, Australia. 16 November 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 16 August 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. 1 2 3 Poynter, J. R. (1983). "Grimwade, Sir Wilfrid Russell (1879–1955)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 9. Melbourne University Press.
  3. 1 2 Bunbury, Alisa; Gerhard, Sophie, eds. (2026). Ngarn Wa'ngal: Art of the gum tree: breathing for us. Melbourne: Miegunyah Press, an imprint of Melbourne University Publishing. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-522-88252-0.
  4. ↑ "The Miegunyah Press". Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  5. ↑ "Westerfield, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2200, Heritage Overlay HO5". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  6. ↑ "Sir Wilfrid Russell Grimwade CBE | Melbourne Grammar School". mgs.vic.edu.au. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "FORESTRY". The Canberra Times. Vol. 3, no. 419. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 February 1929. p. 5. Retrieved 16 August 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Russell Grimwade Prize worth $40,000". Forest and Wood Products Australia.
  9. ↑ "He 'melted' the air..." The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 3 November 1955. p. 5. Retrieved 16 August 2018 – via Trove. National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "AUSTRALIANS WHO WERE KNIGHTED". Northern Star. New South Wales, Australia. 8 June 1950. p. 1. Retrieved 16 August 2018 – via Trove. National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "Russell Grimwade School of Biochemistry". University of Melbourne Archives. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "Captain Cook's' Cottage Handed Over". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 16 October 1934. p. 16. Retrieved 16 August 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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