Harold Burnham Curlewis | |
|---|---|
 Harold Curlewis standing middle back row | |
| Born | (1875-10-06)6 October 1875 Geelong |
| Died | 8 June 1968(1968-06-08) (aged 92) Perth |
| Occupation | Astronomer |
Harold Burnham Curlewis (6 October 1875 – 8 June 1968)[1] was an Australianastronomer. He was Acting Government Astronomer and Meteorologist inWestern Australia from 1912 until his appointment as Government Astronomer in 1920. He held that position until 1940 and is credited with keeping thePerth Observatory[2] open in face of government opposition. The asteroid3898 Curlewis is named in his honour.
Curlewis was born inGeelong, Victoria to Edgar and Louisa Curlewis and attendedNewington College (1884–1893).[3] In 1892 he won the Wigram Allen Scholarship, awarded bySirGeorge Wigram Allen, 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.[4] He went up to the University of Sydney and in 1897 graduated as aBachelor of Arts.[5]
In 1920 and 1921 Curlewis was involved with the Government Astronomer ofSouth Australia, in determinations to fix positions for marking of theWestern Australia border on the ground with theSouth Australian border atDeakin, Western Australia. In 1921 the same group from the Deakin determinations travelled by the State Ship,MV Bambra to Wyndham, where they were guided byMichael Durack to a point nearArgyle Downs close to the129th meridian eastlongitude (129° east). They used wireless radio time signals, and other methods to fix a position for theNorthern Territory border with Western Australia.[6] These early determinations led to the 1968 agreement for the formation ofSurveyor Generals Corner and a fact that not many will know, that the WA border is not as straight as you may think. In fact at the26th parallel southlatitude (26° south)latitude there is an approximately 127 metre "sideways" section of theWA/NT border, which runs east-west.[6]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Schofield Scholarship Dux of Newington College 1893 | Succeeded by |
{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
