James Herbert Curle (18 October 1870 – 26 December 1942) was a Scottish

mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

, traveler, writer, eugenicist, and philatelist. He wrote ''The Gold Mines of the World'' as well as autobiographical and travel works of a philosophical turn. He was a member of the

Eugenics Society Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

and published ''To-day and To-morrow: The Testing Period of the White Race'' (1926) in which he surveyed the races of the world and argued that the white race was being out-bred by other races and its purity being eroded through inter-breeding with other races. He won awards for his collection of stamps of the Transvaal and in 1940 jointly won the Crawford Medal of the Royal Philatelic Society, London, for his book on the postage stamps of that province.

Early life

James Curle was born in Melrose, Scotland, on 18 October 1870, one of eleven children. His father was also James Curle and his mother was Marion Passmore Whyte Newlyn.James Herbert Curle Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564–1950.
Family Search. Retrieved 23 March 2019. The family lived in the south of Scotland at the foot of the

Eildon Hills Eildon Hill lies just south of Melrose, Scotland in the Scottish Borders, overlooking the town. The name is usually pluralised into "the Eildons" or "Eildon Hills", because of its triple peak. The high eminence overlooks Teviotdale to the Sout ...

. He was educated at a preparatory school in Worcestershire but did not attend a

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

due to "an overcharged nervous system".Curle, ''The Shadow-show'', pp. 20–21.
/ref> In 1885 he travelled to Australia in the care of a physician whose passage had been paid by Curle's father. The physician drank the brandy from Curle's flask, attributing its disappearance to "evaporation" and, according to Curle, much of the rest of the alcohol on the ship. Curle arrived in Australian at the age of 14 and after visiting relatives and staying in "the bush", visited his first gold mine at

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

. He visited Tasmania before returning to Scotland in 1886.Curle, ''The Shadow-show'', pp. 21–23.
/ref> Later in 1886 he travelled to South Africa, visiting the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

and Natal before returning to Scotland where he spent two years at the University of St Andrews before matriculating at

Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

.Curle, ''The Shadow-show'', pp. 23–27.
/ref>

Career

In 1891, Curle arrived in Witwatersrand, South Africa. In 1894 he was appointed mining editor of the Johannesburg ''

Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

'' but he left that job fairly soon after to work in mine evaluation which he did during his extensive travels. In the course of his work he acquired a great deal of financial insight into mining companies that enabled him to become wealthy by trading shares on the stock exchange."J.H. Curle of The Curle Collection", Wilhelm J. Verwoerd, ''The South African Philatelist'', Vol. 90, No. 2 (April 2014), Whole No. 923, p. 40. In 1899 he published ''The Gold Mines of the World'' which had a second edition in 1902 and a third in 1905. He also wrote a number of autobiographical and travel works of a philosophical turn such as ''The Shadow-show'' (1912) and ''This World of Ours'' (1921). According to his obituary, he travelled with a large map of the world on which he recorded his journeys which for a prolonged period of time averaged 50,000 miles per annum. The writer

Manfred Nathan Manfred Nathan (1875–1945) was a South African lawyer, judge, and writer. He served as President of the Special Appeals Court for Income Tax matters. Nathan was a member of the first executive of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies in 191 ...

, who worked with Curle on ''The Star'', described him as "a tall man with thick eye-brows and a sort of stammer" who was taciturn and did not encourage confidences. His obituary in ''

The Eugenics Review The ''Journal of Biosocial Science'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the intersection of biology and sociology. It was the continuation of ''The Eugenics Review'', published by the Galton Institute from 1909 till 1968. It ...

'', described him as "very much a Border Scot", shy, deflecting praise with a joke, an agnostic, of strong views but personally generous. Tall at , he was, however, not robust and his extensive travels were the result of determination and an inherently roving nature.

Racial views

Curle was a member of the Eugenics Society"J. H. Curle"
R.C., ''The Eugenics Review'', 1943, pp. 26–27. and in 1926 published ''To-day and To-morrow: The Testing Period of the White Race'' in which he surveyed the races of the world and argued, as was common in eugenicist circles before the Second World War, that the white race was being out-bred by other races and its purity being eroded through inter-breeding with other races.Curle, ''To-day and To-morrow'', 2nd. pp. 97–98.
/ref> He described the " Negro" as the "hero of Africa", capable of great good and a gentleman, but characterized him as unsophisticated and child-like with "vivid emotions", a ready laugh, and an innate gentleness. Described as having a smaller brain than other races, Curle argued that "Evolution does not need the Negro" and saw the growth in their population in Africa as a "vast futility" but one that "we he white racemust make the best of". Curle placed the races of the world in a pecking-order with the white race at the top but even there he saw significant differences between different groups, seeing whites from Western Europe as more advanced than those from Eastern Europe whom he described as inferior, unstable, and ruled by emotion.

Philately

He was a specialist in the stamps of Transvaal. In 1940, with Albert Basden, he was awarded the Crawford Medal by the Royal Philatelic Society London for his work ''Transvaal Postage Stamps''.''The Society's Medals and Honorary Fellowship''. The Royal Philatelic Society London, 2009, p. 3. He was a signatory to the

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists of South Africa The Philatelic Federation of South Africa (PFSA) is responsible for inviting philatelists to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists of Southern Africa (RDPSA) (originally the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists of South Africa). The roll is mo ...

. He was unmarried and it was said of him in his obituary in '' The London Philatelist'' that his stamp collection was his "wife and children" to him and that there was no distance he would not travel to add to his collection."Obituary J. Herbert Curle." in ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. LII, No. 613, January 1943, p. 1.

Death and legacy

Curle died at the

Royal Jubilee Hospital Royal Jubilee Hospital is a 500-bed general hospital in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada located about east of the city centre, in the Jubilee neighbourhood (itself named after the hospital). Overview Its name commemorates the Golden Jubilee o ...

on 26 December 1942, in Victoria, B.C., from cancer of the pharynx.James Herbert Curle South Africa, Transvaal, Probate Records from the Master of the Supreme Court, 1869–1958
Family Search. Retrieved 24 March 2019. He left his stamp collection to the

Africana Museum Museum Africa or MuseuMAfricA (formerly known as the Africana Museum) is an historical museum in Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa. History The museum was established in 1933, when the Johannesburg Public Library bought a large quantity of ...

, Johannesburg.Who Was Who in British Philately

Association of British Philatelic Societies The Association of British Philatelic Societies, commonly known as the ''ABPS'', is the British national association of philatelic societies, regional philatelic federations, and specialist philatelic societies.Archived here.
/ref> It was displayed at the JOMAPEX 2013 stamp exhibition. He left £2,000 to the Eugenics Society.

Selected publications

*
The Gold Mines of the World: Containing concise and practical advice for investors gathered from a personal inspection of the mines of the Transvaal, India, West Australia, Queensland, New Zealand, British Columbia and Rhodesia &c.
' Waterlow, London, 1899. (2nd ed. 1902)
3rd ed. 1905
* "The origin of the gold in the Rand banket", ''

Journal of the Chemical, Metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy is a professional organisation for the mining and metallurgical industry in southern Africa. References Mining organizations Mining in South Africa {{SouthAfrica-org-stub ...

'', Vol. 8 (1907/08), pp. 198–202. *
The Shadow-show
'. Methuen, London. 1912. *
This World of Ours
'. Methuen, London, 1921. *
To-day and To-morrow: The Testing Period of the White Race
'. Methuen, London, 1926. (U.S. edition titled ''Our Testing Time: Will the White Race Win Through?'') * ''This World First''. Methuen, London, 1931.British Library catalogue search. bl.uk 2 April 2019. * ''The Face of Earth''. Methuen, London, 1937. * ''Transvaal Postage Stamps''. Royal Philatelic Society, London, 1940. (With Albert Basden) * ''Eskimo Pie''. Methuen, London, 1942.