Frederick Sheppard Grimwade (10 November 1840 – 4 August 1910) was a businessman and Victorian member of parliament

Parliament of Victoria

The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of The Queen, represented by the Governor of Victoria; the Legislative Council ; and the Legislative Assembly...

.

Born in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, England, Grimwade arrived in Victoria in 1863. In 1867 he bought a pharmaceutical company and renamed it Felton Grimwade & Co.; 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

Victorian Legislative Council

The Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...

 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

Cremation

Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....

.

Legacy

Frederick Grimwade was buried in St Kilda Cemetery on 5 August 1910. His mansion, "Harleston" (1875), was later donated by his family to Melbourne Grammar School

Melbourne Grammar School

Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

 and renamed Grimwade House. His country retreat at Somers

Somers, Victoria

Somers is a small town approximately 72 km south east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the south eastern corner of the Mornington Peninsula on Western Port. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Mornington Peninsula.-History:...

 on the Mornington Peninsula

Mornington Peninsula

The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its protrusion...

, "Coolart"

Coolart Wetlands and Homestead Reserve

The Coolart Wetlands and Homestead Reserve, or just Coolart, is an 87.5 ha estate on the Western Port coast of the Mornington Peninsula of Victoria, south-eastern Australia, about 70 km south-east of Melbourne. It comprises a late 19th century mansion-like homestead and surrounding...

, eventually became a public wetlands reserve.

Grimwade's son, Major General Harold Grimwade, served as an artillery officer in France during World War I.