John Stephen Curlewis, PC (31 March 1863 – 24 August 1940) was a South African lawyer and judge who served as the Chief Justice of the Union of South Africa between 1936 and 1938.

Background

Curlewis was born in

Paarl Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, the son of Rev. J.F. Curlewis the local

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

at the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

. He was educated at the

Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established on ...

Rondebosch Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town. History Four years after the first Dutch s ...

, before joining the Cape Civil Service. He then took the LL.B at

Cape University The University of the Cape of Good Hope, renamed the University of South Africa in 1916, was created when the Molteno government passed Act 16 of 1873 in the Cape of Good Hope Parliament. Modelled on the University of London, it offered examinati ...

, and was called to the Bar of the Cape Supreme Court in 1887. He began to practice in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

in 1888, before being appointed as a judge of the Transvaal High Court in 1903. In 1924 he became the Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division and in 1927 he was made a Judge of Appeal. Curlewis became Chief Justice of the Union of South Africa in 1936, and was made a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United King ...

the following year. He resigned from the bench in 1938. He was also acting

Governor-General of South Africa The governor-general of the Union of South Africa ( af, Goewerneur-generaal van Unie van Suid-Afrika, nl, Goeverneur-generaal van de Unie van Zuid-Afrika) was the highest state official in the Union of South Africa between 31 May 1910 and 31 ...

in 1933 from June until December under a

dormant commission A dormant commission is a commission in a Commonwealth realm that lies dormant or sleeping until it is triggered by a particular event. Historically, a dormant commission was given in relation to a military command. During the Crimean War, Sir ...

that was invoked.

References

1863 births 1940 deaths People from Paarl 19th-century South African lawyers 20th-century South African judges South African members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom South African Queen's Counsel Chief justices of South Africa Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Alumni of Diocesan College, Cape Town Cape Colony people {{SouthAfrica-bio-stub