Born in Norfolk, England, Grimwade arrived in Victoria in 1863. In 1867 he bought a pharmaceutical company and renamed it Felton Grimwade & Co.,[2] which 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 he passionately and successfully advocated for the legalization of cremation.[3]
Grimwade's children included Major General Harold Grimwade, who was a businessman and pharmacist and served as an artillery officer in France during World War I, and Russell Grimwade, who was a chemist, botanist, industrialist and philanthropist.