Sir Robert David Garrick Agnew was born on 21st September 1930 in Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia. Garrick, as he was known, was the son of Robert Gordon Carlisle Agnew and Dorothy Jean Wilson. He attended Perth Modern School, Subiaco, and in 1949 entered the University of Western Australia (UWA), Crawley, to study engineering.
Garrick was a champion freestyle swimmer, winning the Gold Medal in the 440-yards freestyle at the 1948 London Olympic Games, both the 440-yards and the 880-yards finals at the 1950 Australian championships, and the Gold Medal for the 440-yards freestyle at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, New Zealand. That year, he secured a sporting scholarship to the Ohio State University, where he majored in psychology and earned his Bachelor of Science (BS) two years later. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, he competed in the 1500-metres event. He undertook postgraduate studies at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business Administration, earning his MBA in 1954; before returning Perth.
He formed Garrick Agnew Pty Ltd and went into business as an ore broker.
Garrick married Fay Ma-belle Ferguson, a stenographer, on 4th April 1959 at the Perth Society of the New Church, Adelaide Terrace.
In 1966 he established an evaporative salt and gypsum mine at Shark Bay, near Carnarvon. In 1970 the Agnew group of companies merged with Clough Holdings Pty Ltd to form Agnew Clough Ltd, with Garrick as chairman.
His wife passed away in 1981 and his younger daughter in 1983. Making this time very bitter-sweet, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1978 and was created Knight Bachelor in 1982.
Garrick married a second time, to Elizabeth Ahern, a divorcee and interpreter, on 29th November 1986 in St Columba’s Presbyterian Church, Mosman Park. Elizabeth became entitled as Lady Agnew.
Aged 56 years, he passed away of a heart attack on 3rd August 1987 in the swimming complex of the UWA. [1]
This week's featured connections have Italian roots: Garrick is 22 degrees from Frank Sinatra, 30 degrees from Pasquale Aleardi, 22 degrees from Lucrezia Borgia, 23 degrees from Frank Russell Capra, 21 degrees from Stefano Casiraghi, 30 degrees from Guy Lombardo, 25 degrees from Sofia Loren, 16 degrees from Guglielmo Marconi, 23 degrees from Pope Urban VIII Barberini, 18 degrees from Umberto di Savoia, 19 degrees from Martin Scorsese and 22 degrees from Rudolph Valentino on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
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