Robert Garvie first came to Tasmania in 1914, where his father took up an appointment as Chief Engineer of the Launceston Marine Board. Robert received some of his early education at Scotch College, Launceston, before returning to England where he graduated from the University of Manchester in 1929 with a B.Sc. in engineering. In 1951, after working on construction projects in Iraq and India, Garvie returned to Tasmania and in 1955 became Assistant to the Commissioner of the Hydro-Electric Commission. A member of the Tasmanian Historical Research Association and the Australian Society of Authors, Garvie also wrote A Million Horses, published by the H.E.C. in 1962, and penned the biography of William Sorrell for the ADB.
