Seremban State Secretariat, Negeri Sembilan - 1912

During the recent Chinese New Year Festivities, I decided to journey down south, making a point to take photos of The Seremban State Secretariat (1912) of Negeri Sembilan, commonly known as The Negeri Sembilan State Library today, another building designed by A. B. Hubback. Driving up to the location, I was extremely gratified to find that the building was majestically nestled amidst the lush greenery of the Seremban Lake Gardens, it's character warm and persuading, reminiscent of Carcosa Seri Negara .....

View The Seremban State Secretariat - 1912 in a larger map.
[Author's note : Estimated location as the building was not marked on Google Maps]

Placed regally right in front of The Seremban State Secretariat was a monolith dedicated to the fallen heroes that had fought during World War I, World War II and the Communist Insurgency of Malaya. This Monolith looked extremely similar to the ones found at the beginning and end of Victory Avenue, Kuala Lumpur. Victory Avenue sound familiar? We'll leave that for another article ....

Carcosa - Norman or Hubback?

Many a time, when writing this tribute to the Hubback Brothers, I feel like a scribe, shrouded with a feathered pen, lamenting in the shadows of lighted candles, catching glimpses of what life must have been like during that particular period. Unfortunately, there are times when i do get extremely frustrated and confused, as there is so much conflicting information on the works of the Hubbacks in Malaya. This is mainly due to poor documentation in Malaya during the late 1800's.

One such example is Carcosa Sri Negara ~ in today's terms is actually a reference to 2 separate, individual properties located within the vicinity of Taman Tasik Perdana. Historically, Carcosa Sri Negara originally began life as;

Carcosa [opened around 1896-1897] : The Official Residence of the Resident General of The Federated Malay States [which will later evolve to be called Governor / British High Commissioner] built specifically for Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham.

King's House [opened 1913 *] : The Official Guest House of the Governor; and after Malaysia's independence in 1957, renamed as Istana Tetamu.

In 1987, Carcosa was returned to the Government of Malaysia, and in 1989, after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II stayed at Carcosa during the meeting of the commonwealth nations - Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), both mansions were administered together forming what is now called Carcosa Seri Negara.**

Google Map showing the location of Carcosa & Sri Negara [Istana Tetamu] respectively.

* contains excerpts and references from Wikipedia.
** contains excerpts and references from Archipelago Hotels & Resorts.

Incidentally, if you were to look up Carcosa in any journals and periodicals, there is a very high probability that the architect credited to Carcosa would be A.C. Norman. In some cases, journals/publications would remain impartial and perhaps hint that it was the work of A. C. Norman. So why then did Arthur Benison Hubback submit Carcosa as his work to the R.I.B.A.? And why in that very same article on wikipedia, Sir Frank Swettenham in a letter to the editor of British Malaya dated 1936, only credits C. E. Spooner and A. B. Hubback?

Charles Edwin Spooner - Arthur Hubback's Boss?

 

Image from http://www.memori-kedah.com.

Charles Edwin Spooner C.M.G., or better known as C. E. Spooner was the third son of Charles Easton Spooner (1818-1889) who was the Secretary and Engineer of the Festiniog Railway Company from 1856 until 1886.  According to an obituary obtained from ICE (Institute of Civil Engineers, United Kingdom), CHARLES EDWIN SPOONER, C.M.G., General Manger of the Federated Malay States Railways, died at Kuala Lumpur on the 14th May, 1909. Born in 1853, he graduated in Engineering at Trinity College, Dublin, and entered the Survey Department, Ceylon, in 1876. Subsequently he was transferred to the Public Works Department, in which he served 14 years. He then joined the same service in the Straits Settlements, and after acting its State Engineer of Selangor from 1892 to 1901, was appointed in the latter year to the management of the State Railways. He received the C.M.G. in 1904. Mr. Spooner was elected an Associate Member of The Institution on the 23rd May, 1882, and was transferred to the class of Members on the 12th May, 1896.

Obituary from ICE Virtual Library

Now, this solves 2 things to me. One, why the photo of C. E. Spooner from http://www.memori-kedah.com states the year 1901 - 1909; was because Spooner had been elected to the management of the F.M.S. Railways in 1901. Secondly, this may solve the question on why buildings around Kuala Lumpur were built in Mogul fashion, I believe, must have been C. E. Spooner's idea together with R. A. J. Bidwell as Spooner was trained in Ceylon Sri Lanka. According to Ms. Yvonne Barbor (nee Hubback), her father A.B. Hubback has never been to or anywhere near India!

Kate Middleton and Jane Austen Are Distant Cousins.

As I was driving home today, I heard the radio news cast about Ancestry.com revealing that Kate Middleton and Jane Austen were related. Oh dear, that is news indeed!

According to Time.com; "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Jane Austen might have written those words but who would have known that all these years later, a distant relative might indeed be able to relate?

Ancestry.com has done some digging and revealed that the newest member of the royal family, Catherine Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, and the legendary author, Jane Austen, are related.

Their common ancestor? That would be a certain Henry Percy, who was the 2nd Earl of Northumberland in the first half of the 15th century.  Percy is Kate's 16th great-grandfather and Austen's 10th great-grandfather, making them – but of course! – 11th cousins, six times removed.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/28/stranger-than-fiction-kate-middleton-and-jane-austen-are-distant-cousins/#ixzz1QZezDkpl

So, everyone's best loved Princess who, will undoubtedly go on to do many great things are also related to A. B. Hubback and T. R. Hubback, as a distant cousin despite being removed a few times! You can read  our article on The Hubback's relationship with Jane Austen here. My goodness! With the Hubback's contribution to Malaya, I do hope that this will stir more interest into our local history here in Malaysia with this news! What better way then to finish off, and I quote Mr. Ian Anderson, "I've had a Hubback Day!", unquote.

 

ANDERSON SCHOOL - IPOH, PERAK

It is with great thanks to our reader En. Omar Ibrahim, as well as Mr. Ian Anderson from Ipoh World and Singapore Press Holdings, that give me the drive to keep this project going. Recently, En. Omar Ibrahim pointed out to us that the Boy's School Ipoh as stated in A. B. Hubback's submission to the R.I.B.A. was Anderson School Ipoh. Now, there were 3 Anderson School's that we know of today in Ipoh, but the closest one built in 1909 was at Douglas Road, in matching with Hubback's submission. We were still a little unclear about which of the Anderson School's were designed by Hubback as the first picture to hit me was a school with a clock tower.

 Anderson School 1909 - Douglas Road. Picture courtesy of IpohWorld and used with persmission.

After looking at all 3 pictures, we thought that the closes building that resembled much of Hubback's flair would logically be the one on Douglas Road (now known as Jalan Dato Panglima Bukit Gantang), and in keeping with the year it was built. Thanks to Mr. Ian Anderson from Ipoh World, with references from the Kinta Masonic Lodge, they have confirmed that Anderson School - Douglas Road was in fact, A. B. Hubback's work. Please note that post war publications credit Anderson School - Douglas Road to C. H. LaBrooy, a Dutchman. We are happy to note however that C. H. LaBrooy designed the second Anderson School at Maxwell Road. You can view that Maxwell Road building here.

Here is a newspaper clipping from The Straits Times, that clearly shows Arthur Benison Hubback being named as the architect responsible for Anderson School in Ipoh, Perak.

 

 The Straits Times, 21 October 1908, Page 7; courtesy of SPH and used with permission.

Ok, so there you have it. The Anderson School at Douglas Road was designed by A. B. Hubback. As clearly shown in his submission to the R.I.B.A; even Mr. J. H. Tyte is confirmed as the first headmaster of Anderson School in that press clipping, that would be later chronicled by Malaysian Historians. And the school was named after the then High Commissioner of the Malay States, Sir John Anderson.

Once again, I would like to thank our reader En. Omar Ibrahim for his selflessness in sharing all the information and for pointing out this to us. It is people like him that really drives this project! :)