MARWICK Warren

Warren Marwick (1869-1955) was an outstanding member of an outstanding pioneering family. He was one of the sons of William Marwick, a successful Avon Valley pioneer farmer who retired to England in 1897, leaving Warren and his brothers to work the family properties as a joint business, Marwick Brothers Estate.
They grew crops productively in the York district, and Warren, in particular, gained a reputation as one of the country’s most respected breeders of high quality sheep and horses. With the opening of the Goldfields in the 1890s the Marwicks expanded their enterprise eastwards and Warren was the first farmer to take up the challenge of growing crops in the Southern Cross district. The success of his trials eventually led to the opening of the whole of the eastern wheat belt which now contributes substantially to the agricultural wealth of this State. About the same time, Warren Marwick and his brothers developed an extensive coaching and carrying business in conjunction with the railway at Northam and in the Goldfields, and at one time were proprietors of Cobb and Co in Western Australia.
He was not simply a successful farmer and businessman but a prominent community man, leader and mentor. He was a committeeman and president of the York Agricultural Society, the York Municipal Council and the York Road Board for many years and, in a wider sphere, a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia. He was a founding director of Wesfarmers and served for 37 years during the crucial foundation years of that company. In the words of Governor Sir Gerald Strickland, “Warren Marwick set the sort of good example to his community which every large landowner ought to set.”