Adrian Curlewis

Sir Adrian Herbert Curlewis (13 January 1901 to 16 June 1985) was an Australian barrister, judge and sports administrator who is also remembered as one of the early surfers in Sydney. Born in Mosman to the author Ethel Turner and the barrister Herbert Raine Curlewis, he studied law at the University of Sydney and was called to the New South Wales Bar in 1927. He bought his first surfboard in 1923, a 70-pounder, and could ride it standing on his feet or standing on his head. After witnessing a drowning in 1920 he became a life saver, was a founding member of the Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club and was involved in the sport locally, nationally and internationally for over 50 years, serving as President of the Surf Life Saving Association of Australia. He was a captain in the Second World War, was held as a prisoner of war at Changi and on the Thai-Burma Railway, and was appointed a judge of the District Court of New South Wales in 1948. He founded the Outward Bound movement in New South Wales in 1956 and later led the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Australia.