Alfred Harper Curtis died in London after a very brief illness, on January 10th, 1923, at the age of 59. He was the second surviving son of the late Mr. Alfred Curtis, Town Clerk of Neath, Glamorgan.
In 1881 he was articled for three years to Messrs. Taylor and Struve, Neath and Briton Ferry, during which period he obtained a medal, prize, and certificate in mechanical engineering from the City and Guilds of London Institute, and other science certificates. By means of a course of evening study he graduated in 1884 as B.A. first class, London University. For the session, 1884-5, he studied civil engineering at Owens College, Manchester, under Professor Osborne Reynolds, and having obtained a Student ship in open competition in 1885 he had a two years’ course at the Royal School of Mines, obtaining the 1st class certificate in mining, surveying, assaying etc.
During 1887-8 he held the position of mining engineer and assayer with the Komati Goldfields Syndicate in the Transvaal, and in 1889, practising as a mining engineer, he visited the United States and Honduras, developing, inspecting and reporting on gold and other mines. He also visited Cornish, Welsh and Shropshire mines.
In 1890 he joined the staff of Messrs. Bewick, Moreing and Co., in whose service he visited Colorado. Algeria, India, and Western Borneo, and in 1893 paid a protracted visit to the United States to study mining and metallurgical practice at various centres. From 1896 to May, 1902, he represented Messrs. Bewick, Moreing and Co. in New Zealand, and during that period had full charge of the development of mining properties, and designed and supervised the erection of machinery and plant, in addition to directing mining operations and examining and reporting on numerous properties in New Zealand, and elsewhere.
On leaving New Zealand in 1902, Mr. Curtis was commissioned to examine and report on a gold-dredging proposition in Brazil, following which he examined a zinc-mining concession in the South of France. In 1905-6 he was acting as manager of a gold-mine in Rhodesia. In 1907 he joined the London staff of Messrs. Hooper, Speak and Co., and while in that capacity, up to June, 1912, examined mines in British Guiana, Cornwall, and Devon.
In 1912 he was appointed external examiner in mining and metallurgy for the Camborne School of Mines. In the same year, and 1913, he investigated gold, copper, and coal mines in Korea and Japan, and oil-fields in the latter country.
In September, 1913, he started to practise as a consulting engineer in London, and during the War he acted as advisory engineer to the Anglo-French Exploration Company, in addition to compiling monographs and doing a large amount of technical work at the Imperial Institute on the mineral resources of the British Empire and foreign countries. This work paved the way to his obtaining the appointment of chief of the Intelligence and Publications Department of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau in 1919, which position he held up to his death.
Mr. Curtis was elected a Member of the Institution in 1892.
Vol. 33, Trans I.M.M. 1923-4, p. 537
