Education
Born in Manchester in 1807, Curtis was initially apprenticed to the firm of Joseph Chessborough Dyer, subsequently becoming foreman, and then succeeding in 1836 to the ownership of Dyer"s business, which became Curtis, Parr & Walton.
Born in Manchester in 1807, Curtis was initially apprenticed to the firm of Joseph Chessborough Dyer, subsequently becoming foreman, and then succeeding in 1836 to the ownership of Dyer"s business, which became Curtis, Parr & Walton.
He was Mayor of Manchester three times. By trade, Curtis was a wire-card manufacturer and a machine-maker. These firms were involved in the manufacture of equipment for spinning cotton, the former in the production of Dyer"s Frame and the latter producing Smith & Orr"s Self-Acting Mule.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, Curtis"s firms were the largest manufacturers of cotton-spinning machinery in Britain.
In December 1875, during his second term as Mayor of Manchester, Curtis put in place the copper ball on the summit of the Albert Square tower of the new Manchester Town Hall, which was nearing its completion in 1877. He resided at Thornfield in Heaton Mersey, south of the city, and died on 9 June 1887 or 11 June 1887, during his third term as Mayor.
Curtis"s great-granddaughter Lettice Curtis was a noted aviator.
Curtis was a council member of the Manchester Anti-Corn Law Association and a founding director of the Manchester Athenaeum. The lych gate (1927) of Street John"s Church, Heaton Mersey carries an inscription, much faded, dedicated to Curtis and other, later members of the Curtis family.