Thomas Curnow | |
|---|---|
 Curnow, 1880 | |
| Born | 4 June 1855 |
| Died | 20 December 1922 (aged 67) |
Thomas Curnow (4 June 1855 – 20 December 1922) was an English-born Australian schoolteacher who helped prevent the derailment of a police train by the Kelly gang, led by bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly. Curnow's actions are credited with saving the lives of 27 passengers, including civilians.
Raised in Ballarat, Victoria, Curnow taught at the state school in Glenrowan, a small town north-east of Melbourne. In 1880, the Kelly gang took over the town and held many of its residents hostage, including Curnow and his wife. The outlaws had nearby railway tracks torn up in order to derail and ambush a police special train. After learning of the plot, Curnow aimed to thwart it by pretending to be a sympathiser of the gang. Having won Kelly's confidence, the outlaw allowed him and his wife to return home. Curnow then headed to the railway line and, as the train approached, he improvised a warning signal using a lit candle behind a red scarf. This successfully flagged down the pilot engine, which had been sent in advance of the police special as a lookout. After telling the driver of the Kellys and sabotaged track, Curnow returned home while the police proceeded to Glenrowan. In the resulting siege and shootout, Kelly was captured and the other three gang members (Joe Byrne, Steve Hart and Dan Kelly) were killed.
Due to his role in the gang's demise, Curnow received death threats from Kelly sympathisers, and the Victorian government subsequently relocated him and his family to Ballarat, where he spent the rest of his life. Among the claimants for the £8,000 bounty on the gang's heads, Curnow received the largest portion with £1,000, and was awarded the Victorian Humane Society's annual medal for bravery. Today, Curnow is a relatively obscure figure in Australian history, overshadowed by the widespread fame of the Kelly gang.