Inaugural Hawker Scholar Appointed to Key Position

25th July 2024

1990 C.A.S. Hawker Scholar MARC ALLGROVE has been appointed to the key role of Secretary to the Trustees of the Charles Allan Seymour Hawker Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund.

Marc Allgrove replaces long serving Secretary Cesare Silvestri who retired from Adelaide based Australian Executor Trustees in December. Mr. Allgrove is a Director of Evans + Ayers, an Adelaide based strategy, property, accounting and investment firm.

Evans + Ayers has been engaged by the Trustees to manage the C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship, established by Mrs. Lilias Needham in memory of her brother the scholar, soldier, pastoralist and statesman Charles Allan Seymour Hawker.

Evans + Ayers was established in 1881 to manage the affairs of Henry Ayers, one of Australia’s pre-eminent businessmen. The Company has been assisting clients to operate and grow their businesses for over 140 years. Both the Hawker and Ayers families have made major contributions to South Australia business for many generations.

Marc Allgrove

“I’m delighted to be offered the opportunity to assist the Trustees of a scholarship which was life changing for me, when Anthony Roediger and I were awarded the inaugural C.A.S. Hawker Scholarships in 1990,” Marc Allgrove said.

Since its inception in 1990, the $75,000 scholarships have provided more than six million dollars to 139 students who are now members of a growing Scholarship Alumni.

“I’m looking forward to working with them, the colleges and the universities associated with the C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship to perpetuate the memory and commemorate the achievements of one of Australia’s most respected pastoral pioneers and politicians,” Marc Allgrove said.

Each year the C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship Trustees offer a number of scholarships to capable students of principle and character who are committed to Australia’s future.

“Charles Hawker was a most remarkable person. He had a lasting impact on Australian politics. Members of the federal house during his time as the Minister for Commerce in the Lyon’s Government in the 1930s had enormous respect for him. He was a great Australian who offered his best through his commitment to this country,” Chair of the Trustees and Hawker family member Andrew Hawker said.

“Marc’s appointment is a perfect fit for the next chapter in the Hawker Scholarship story. As a former C.A.S. Hawker scholar and current St Mark’s College board member, he understands the essence of what we want to achieve with the scholarship.”

Prior to joining Evans + Ayers, Marc Allgrove had more than 25 years experience at senior levels in the Australian wine industry. He provided significant experience with particular focus on strategy development, marketing, sales, management and exports.

Marc Allgrove is a former chair and board member of the McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association and the South Australian Wine Industry Association executive, and currently on the boards of Rural Business Support, Olivers Taranga Pty Ltd, The David Roche Foundation, Barossa Australia and St. Mark’s College.

The 2025 C.A.S. Hawker residential scholarships, valued at up to $75,000 over three years, open on  Monday 18 November and close on 6 January 2025. The C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship is one of the most generous privately funded scholarships available to undergraduate and postgraduate students in Australia. Selection is based on personal qualities as well as academic ability.

Born on 16 May 1894 at Bungaree homestead near Clare in South Australia, Charles Hawker was educated at Geelong Church of England Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge. Along with a number of South Australian wine industry leaders, Charles Hawker died in the Kyeema air disaster on October 25th, 1938.

Online application forms will be available from the scholarship website when the scholarship opens in November. For further information about Charles Hawker and the Scholarship named in his memory, visit www.hawkerscholarship.org

More Information:

 Ian Doyle OAM
B Ec. Dip Ed
Comms Coordinator
C.A.S Hawker Scholarship.
0417 819 189
hawker@hawkerscholarship.org