He held that position until 1940 and is credited with keeping the Perth Observatory[2] open in face of government opposition.

At the end of 1893 Curlewis was named Dux of the College and received the Schofield Scholarship.

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 to a point near Argyle Downs close to the 129th meridian east longitude (129° east).

They used wireless radio time signals, and other methods to fix a position for the Northern Territory border with Western Australia.

[6] These early determinations led to the 1968 agreement for the formation of Surveyor Generals Corner and a fact that not many will know, that the WA border is not as straight as you may think.