Grimes was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, the son of William Grimes and his wife Mary (née Douglas). After arriving in Australia in 1849 on board the Chaseley, he took up farming at Kurilpa with his brother Samuel in 1857 before moving to Coongoon at Fairfield where he grew arrowroot and sugar in 1863.
On 16 June 1863 Grimes married Mary Rogers (died 1919) and together had a son and five daughters.[2] Grimes died in January 1910[1] and his funeral proceeded from Ashby House, his residence at Fairfield to the South Brisbane Cemetery.[3][4]
^"Family Notices". The Brisbane Courier. No. 16, 240. Queensland, Australia. 29 January 1910. p. 4. Retrieved 4 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Bulimba Election.d". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXXI, no. 2, 965. Queensland, Australia. 20 November 1876. p. 3. Retrieved 4 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Bulimba Election". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXXIII, no. 3, 600. Queensland, Australia. 30 November 1878. p. 5. Retrieved 4 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.