Russell Grimwade, benefactor and businessman, had a passion for science, appreciation of art and sense of obligation to preserve the past. He was a man of extraordinary diversity. Active in some of the largest and most enterprising business concerns in Australia, prominent in such bodies as the National Museum, the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, The Felton Bequests’ Committee, the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science and the University of Melbourne, he also pursued hobbies such as woodwork, photography, golf club design, research into eucalypts and pioneered motoring in Australia.

In 1934 he donated Captain Cook’s cottage to the people of Victoria. He was appointed CBE in 1935 and knighted in 1950. The Miegunyah Press was established in 1967 through the vision and bequests of Sir Russell Grimwade and his wife Mab.