Harold Burnham Curlewis (6 October 1875 – 8 June 1968) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either obse ...

. He was Acting Government Astronomer and Meteorologist in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

from 1912 until his appointment as Government Astronomer in 1920. He held that position until 1940 and is credited with keeping the

Perth Observatory The Perth Observatory is the name of two astronomical observatories located in Western Australia (WA). In 1896, the original observatory was founded in West Perth on Mount Eliza overlooking the city of Perth (obs. code 319). Due to the city ...

open in face of government opposition. The asteroid 3898 Curlewis is named in his honour.

Birth and education

Curlewis was born in

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

to Edgar and Louisa Curlewis and attended

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West (Sydney), Inner West and Lower North Shore (Sydney), Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinate ...

(1884–1893). In 1892 he won the Wigram Allen Scholarship, awarded by

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

George Wigram Allen Sir George Wigram Allen (16 May 1824 – 23 July 1885) was an Australian politician and philanthropist. He was Speaker in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1875–1883. Allen was held in high esteem. As speaker he showed dignity, courtes ...

, for mathematics, and in 1893 he won it for classics. At the end of 1893 Curlewis was named Dux of the College and received the Schofield Scholarship.''Newington College Register of Past Students 1863–1998'' (Sydney, 1999) Part 2 – The Lists He went up to the University of Sydney and in 1897 graduated as a Bachelor of Arts.

Western Australian border

In 1920 and 1921 Curlewis was involved with the Government Astronomer of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, in determinations to fix positions for marking of the

Western Australia border The land border of the state of Western Australia (WA) bisects mainland Australia, nominally along 129th meridian east longitude (129° East). That land border divides WA from the Northern Territory (NT) and South Australia (SA). However, for v ...

on the ground with the South Australian border at

Deakin, Western Australia Deakin is a remote locality and is the last railway siding in Western Australia on the Trans-Australian Railway, and the closest to the border of Western Australia and South Australia, which is the 129th meridian east. Deakin is important in the ...

. In 1921 the same group from the Deakin determinations travelled by the State Ship, ''MV Bambra'' to Wyndham, where they were guided by

Michael Durack Michael Patrick Durack, (22 July 1865 – 3 September 1950) was a pastoralist and Western Australian pioneer, known as "M.P." or to the family as "Miguel". He was the son of Patrick Durack and Mary Costello, both Irish-Australians. Life and ...

to a point near

Argyle Downs Argyle Downs is a pastoral lease and cattle station located about south east of Kununurra in the Kimberley region near the border of Western Australia and Northern Territory. It is operated by the Consolidated Pastoral Company. Descripti ...

close to the

129th meridian east The meridian 129° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, Australia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 129th meridian east forms a grea ...

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...

(129° east). They used wireless radio time signals, and other methods to fix a position for the Northern Territory border with Western Australia. These early determinations led to the 1968 agreement for the formation of

Surveyor Generals Corner Surveyor Generals Corner (or Surveyor-Generals Corner) is a remote point where the Australian state boundaries of South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory meet. These boundaries meet at the easternmost point of the appro ...

and a fact that not many will know, that the WA border is not as straight as you may think. In fact at the

26th parallel south The 26th parallel south latitude is a circle of latitude that is 26 degrees south of Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Australia, the Pacific Ocean and South America. Around the world Startin ...

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...

(26° south)

there is an approximately 127 metre "sideways" section of the WA/NT border, which runs east-west.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curlewis, Harold 1875 births 1968 deaths People from Geelong People from Perth, Western Australia 20th-century Australian astronomers People educated at Newington College University of Sydney alumni