Sir Adrian Herbert Curlewis, (13 January 1901 – 16 June 1985) was an Australian

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

WW2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising ...

, a

Changi Changi ( ) is a planning area located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah in the East Region of Singapore. Sharing borders with Pasir Ris and Tampines to the west, Changi Bay to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east and the ...

and

Thai-Burma Railway The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 by ...

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

and later District Court

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

. He was also a sportsman, one of the early

surfers Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

in Sydney and later a sports administrator.

Early life

Adrian Curlewis was born to

Ethel Turner Ethel Turner (24 January 1872 – 8 April 1958) was an English-born Australian novelist and children's literature writer. Life She was born Ethel Mary Burwell in Doncaster in England. Her father died when she was two, leaving her mother Sarah ...

, author and Herbert Raine Curlewis, barrister and later judge, at Mosman. Both his parents were involved in the community. Curlewis started school at

Mosman Preparatory School The Mosman Preparatory School, officially the Mosman Church of England Preparatory School and commonly abbreviated as ''Mosman Prep'', is a dual-campus independent Anglican single-sex primary day school for boys, located on the Lower North Sh ...

, attended

Sydney Church of England Grammar School The Sydney Church of England Grammar School (commonly known as Shore or Shore School) is an independent Anglican school for boys located on Sydney's Lower North Shore, New South Wales, Australia. The school operates across two campuses, offer ...

(Shore) where he became a senior

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

and after

matriculating Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

attended

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. He studied law. He volunteered to work cleaning engines during the Australian General Strike of 1917. While still a student, he met his wife Betty at a party, and taught her to surf. She learnt easily and they were married at St Philips, Church Hill in December 1928. They had two children, Phillipa and Ian. He was called to the NSW Bar in 1927.

Military service

Curlewis had wanted to enlist in World War I but his parents would not permit this until he was 18 years old, by which time to armistice was signed. He became an officer in cadet corp at school in 1920 and at university joined the University Regiment as an orderly room corporal becoming an officer after a year before the militia was disbanded. He was commissioned in the Militia on 6 June 1939 one week before the start of the war and transferred to the AIF, in September 1940, in February 1941 he was a Captain, General Staff Officer, in Headquarters 8th Division AIF, in Malaya and Singapore, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese with the surrender of Singapore on 15 February 1942. As with all allied troops he was sent to Changi POW Camp. He participated in the early set up of the so-called Changi University in the POW camp. He worked under Brigadier H B Taylor, dubbed the

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

and Curlewis was dubbed the Dean of Law. Within 10 day of surrender Curlewis worked with Lesley Greener to develop a diverse range of courses. The objective of the Changi University was to address the boredom of being a prisoner of war, provide education to the men some who had missed a lot of school due to the depression and enlisting in the army. Curlewis also worked on the wharves unloading vessels for the Japanese until April 1943 after which he was sent with a working party to the Thai-Burma Railway. During his time as a POW, Curlewis kept two secret diaries. The Australian War Memorial holds two recordings of Captain Adrian Curlewis' memory of the war on 11 April 1984. The Army discharged him at 4pm on 26 January 1946 to civilian life and the reserve of officers. He was in his chambers as a civilian Barrister by 4:30pm the same day and had a barrister's brief the next day.

The judiciary

In 1948 Curlewis was appointed a judge of the

District Court of New South Wales The District Court of New South Wales is the intermediate court in the judicial hierarchy of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a trial court and has an appellate jurisdiction. In addition, the Judges of the Court preside over a rang ...

and retired in 1971. Curlewis participated in a number of inquiries: * 1950 Royal Commission into the Claremont Hospital for the Mentally Insane, Western Australia * State shark menace advisory committee (1934–35) * commission of inquiry (1973–74) into Privately Operated Omnibus and Tourist Vehicle Services in New South Wales. The painting ''His Hon. Judge Adrian Curlewis'' by Henry Aloysius Hanke was a finalist in the

Art Gallery of NSW The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

, 1962

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

Sport and community

In his early youth, Curlewis used to swim every morning at Chinaman's Beach or the Spit Baths, at Shore he stroked (rowed) with the

First Four The First Four is a play-in round of the NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments. It consists of two games contested between the four lowest-ranked teams in the field (usually the four lowest-ranked conference champions), an ...

and was captain of the

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

Firsts. After witnessing a drowning in 1920, Curlewis decided to become a Life Saver. He was a founding member of the

Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club The Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club is an Australian Surf Life Saving Club. The Club offers a range of activities and encourages members to continually develop and update their lifesaving skills. It is located at the southern end of Palm Beach, N ...

and was involved in the sport, locally, nationally and internationally for over 50 years. He is one of the early surfers in Australia. He purchased his first surfboard in 1923, a 70-pounder, and his second of similar design in 1926. Curlewis could ride the board either standing on his feet, or standing on his head.

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organisations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt in 1941 based on the educational principles of Kurt Hahn. Today there are organisations, called schools, i ...

movement in New South Wales, was founded by Curlewis in 1956. In 1960 Curlewis chaired the International Convention on Lifesaving Techniques that recommended and led to general adoption of the 'kiss of life' for resuscitation drowning victims. There is a national scholarship program to build leadership in young adults called the Sir Adrian Curlewis Scholarship. The scholarship program provides mentoring for one young person, over the age of 21 years, in each state in surf life saving for a period of one year. He was the first National Co-ordinator appointed in 1958 by HRH Prince Philip and the first National Chair for the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award – Australia from 1962 to 1973.

Awards

Adrian Curlewis has been recognised with the following awards for service to the community: *

Australian Father of the Year award The Australian Father of the Year Award is presented annually to "a distinguished father who has demonstrated support, guidance and love to his children or other children through his working role or family life." Awards The award was inaugurated ...

in 1961; *

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 1962 for his service as "President of the Surf Life Saving Association"; *

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

– Commander (CVO) in 1974, for his service as "Co-Ordinator – Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme "; *

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in 1967, "In recognition of service to the community"; * In 2017 Duke of Edinburgh's International Award – Gold Distinguished Service Medal was posthumously awarded to Adrian.

Membership

Curlewis was a member and active participant in the following organisations: * State Shark Menace Advisory Committee (1934–35) *

New South Wales Bar Association The New South Wales Bar Association is a professional body of lawyers responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The body administers the bar examination in accordance with the Legal Profe ...

* Youth Policy Advisory Committee NSW (Chairman 1961) * Surf Life Saving Association of Australia (President 1934–41, 1945–75) * International Council of Lifesaving (President * National Fitness Council (NSW) (Chairman 1949–71) * Outward Bound (Founder 1956) * Duke of Edinburgh Award (National Co-ordinator 1962–73) *

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near drowning. Hi ...

NSW (President 1968–84) *

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

Appeals Committee (Chairman) * Shore (school) Council * 8th Division Council * International Convention on Life Saving Techniques (Convenor and Chairman 1960)

Books

The following books reference the work, achievements and writings of Adrian Curlewis: * Of Love and War: The Letters and Diaries of Captain Adrian Curlewis and his family 1939–1945, by Phillipa Poole (Adrian's daughter), 1983 – 280 pages. * The sportsmen of Changi, Kevin Blackburn, Sydney, New South Publishing, 2012, P127. * LEGENDARY SURFERS Volume 3: The 1930s, Malcolm Gault-Williams, Lulu.com, 12 Dec 2012, P18. * Across the Sea to War, Peter Plowman, Rosenberg Publishing, 2014, P208. * The Changi Brownlow, Roland Perry, Hachette UK, 31 Jul. 2012, P23. * Australian's Century of Surf, Tim Baker, Random House Australia, 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curlewis, Adrian 1901 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Australian judges People educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School University of Sydney alumni Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Australian Knights Bachelor Australian surf lifesavers Australian surfers Australian sports executives and administrators Australian Army personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Judges of the District Court of NSW Australian Army officers Australian prisoners of war Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Lawyers awarded knighthoods Sportspeople awarded knighthoods