Grimwade Clocktower

Description

General Harold William Grimwade CB, CMG, VD (1869-1949) was one of Frankston’s most prominent residents and benefactors. The son of a wealthy wholesaler and parliamentarian Frederick Sheppard Grimwade, Harold trained as a pharmacist before being made a partner in the family business in 1893. At the outbreak of the First World War he was appointed chief embarkation officer for the Australian Imperial Force in Victoria, before commanding the 4th Field Artillery Brigade in Egypt and France from August 1915.

Grimwade returned to the family business after the war and played an important role in the development of Australia’s pharmaceutical, glass, plastics and chemical manufacturing industries. Following Grimwade’s death at Marathon in 1949, the citizens of Frankston formed a committee to erect a monument in his memory. It was not until May 1956 that architect John Butler of Mount Eliza was appointed to design the memorial which was to take the form of a clock tower clad in green Dromana granite. The architect offered the following explanation of his design: ‘as this granite with polished face is rich and strong in appearance, we propose a simple shape consisting of only the tower column and two flank walls which will in effect be seats’. A clock manufactured by Gent & Co. of Leicester, England was obtained after numerous different makes and designs had been considered. The clock tower was eventually completed in July 1956 after protracted negotiations concerning traffic routing.