He was born at Workington Hall, the son of Henry Curwen, rector of Workington in Cumberland; his father was a younger son of Henry Christian Curwen (1783–1860), and his mother Dora Goldie was daughter of Alexander John Goldie.
[1][2][3] He was educated at Rossall School, and then worked in London for John Camden Hotten the publisher.
Curwen wrote in the paper an account of a tour through districts affected by the Great Famine of 1876–78.
[1] For Hotten, Curwen was involved in compiling books including The Golden Treasury of Thought.
[1] In the Westminster Review Curwen wrote between 1871 and 1873 his own account of Poe's career, and also detailed articles on Henri Murger, Novalis, Sándor Petőfi, Honoré de Balzac, and André Chenier.